Conservation gaps, taxon-specific mechanisms, and synergistic benefits of amphibian-centered planning in a karst biodiversity hotspot

Abstract

Habitat loss, climate change, and disease are driving global amphibian declines, making amphibians valuable indicators for conservation assessment. We integrated field surveys (2013–2025) covering 120 amphibian species in Guizhou, a karst biodiversity hotspot, with species distribution models, spatial prioritization, and functional trait analysis. Amphibian richness is higher in eastern Guizhou and lower in the west, with isothermality (bio03) and precipitation of coldest quarter (bio17) as primary climatic correlates, while road distance was the strongest anthropogenic correlate. Protected areas cover only 36.5% of suitable habitat for 79 SDM-modelled species, and 63.4% of Amphibian Conservation Priority Areas (ACPAs) remain unprotected. Gaps differed markedly between taxa: for 11 Caudata, gaps were larger under provincial-level and above protected areas than under the full network, indicating local reserves complement dispersal-limited species; for 68 Anura, higher dispersal scores correlated with larger gaps, suggesting breeding wetlands and overwintering caves are overlooked. Despite these gaps, ACPAs showed high conservation efficiency. Protecting 17% of Guizhou's land covered ≥17% habitat for 97.5% of SDM-modelled species and provided umbrella benefits for 88.5% of protected mammals and 60.9% of protected birds. The same areas captured 38.7% of natural vegetation carbon storage, 42.2% of soil retention, and 36.8% of water yield at 17% target; at 50% target, all three services exceeded the natural vegetation baseline. Our findings show amphibian-centered planning can achieve biodiversity conservation and ecosystem service maintenance, and integrating dispersal traits clarifies gap differentiation across taxa and PA levels, offering a transferable framework supporting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.