Abdullah, S.S.; Cruz, K.C.D.; Casim, L.F.; Agduma, A.R.; Tanalgo, K.C. Leaping Forward or Crawling Backward? Efforts and Biases in Amphibian and Reptile Research on a Megadiverse Faunal Region in the Philippines. Conservation2023, 3, 363-378.
Abdullah, S.S.; Cruz, K.C.D.; Casim, L.F.; Agduma, A.R.; Tanalgo, K.C. Leaping Forward or Crawling Backward? Efforts and Biases in Amphibian and Reptile Research on a Megadiverse Faunal Region in the Philippines. Conservation 2023, 3, 363-378.
Abdullah, S.S.; Cruz, K.C.D.; Casim, L.F.; Agduma, A.R.; Tanalgo, K.C. Leaping Forward or Crawling Backward? Efforts and Biases in Amphibian and Reptile Research on a Megadiverse Faunal Region in the Philippines. Conservation2023, 3, 363-378.
Abdullah, S.S.; Cruz, K.C.D.; Casim, L.F.; Agduma, A.R.; Tanalgo, K.C. Leaping Forward or Crawling Backward? Efforts and Biases in Amphibian and Reptile Research on a Megadiverse Faunal Region in the Philippines. Conservation 2023, 3, 363-378.
Abstract
Research efforts toward Philippine biodiversity have increased significantly due to concerns about its natural resources and biodiversity. However, there is an imbalance in the distribution of published studies, with specific territories and organisms receiving more attention. Mindanao, a southern Philippine Island, is known for its high levels of endemism for amphibians and reptiles. Despite this, research on these groups remains unconsolidated. To address this gap, we conducted a biodiversity synthesis focusing on amphibians and reptiles in the faunal region of Mindanao. We found an increasing effort towards herpetofauna over the two decades, yet there is a clear bias in the effort towards amphibians compared to reptiles. In addition, we found that amphibians have a significantly higher species threat index than reptiles and all other vertebrate groups, regardless of ecological status. Yet, threatened herpetofauna species and those facing a greater number of threats are poorly studied, in general. Understanding the factors driving research biases in Mindanao and the Philippines is essential to allow us to redirect research efforts to the most needed areas, particularly to understudied and neglected taxa in Mindanao. This is especially urgent in the face of changing climate, where diverse communities of herpetofauna are at increased risk of extinction. Consequently, by bridging these gaps in biodiversity information, we can effectively contribute to the conservation and understanding of biodiversity in the region.
Biology and Life Sciences, Ecology, Evolution, Behavior and Systematics
Copyright:
This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
,
,
