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| Broad-scale priority regions for conservation can be identified using
databases on species distribution through the application of
site-selection algorithms. However, the influence of scale on
large-scale priority setting is still unclear. Using a data set of all
939 sub-Saharan mammal species, we wanted to know if continental
conservation priorities derived at the scales of 1degrees, 2degrees,
4degrees and 8degrees latitude-longitude grid cells are consistent. We
tested whether (1) geographical location of minimum sets were nested
across scale, (2) the selection sequence (priority) of areas within a
minimum set were scale dependent, and (3) these coarse-scale priorities
can act as a cost-effective shortcut for the identification of
fine-scale priorities. We found that minimum sets at smaller scales
were largely represented within minimum sets at larger scales,
especially when flexibility was considered. However, the geographical
location of the grid cells with highest priority in the minimum sets
was only scale independent if ranked by number of endangered species,
total species richness or rare quartile species richness, but
surprisingly not by complementary species richness. Minimum sets at a
1degrees scale were generally identified within the areas of the
2degrees, 4degrees and 8degrees minimum sets. Therefore, coarse-scale
priorities may provide a pragmatic basis for immediate assessment of
priorities for conservation. | |
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