| Popis: |
Ecuador is regarded as being a mega-diverse country despite its limited land surface; it is home to around 602 amphibian species, of which 256 are endemic. However, Ecuador is also one of the countries that has a large number of endangered species, one of genus Pristimantis. Pristimantipopulation decline is attributed to synergy factors, such as pathogen outbreaks, habitat loss and climate change. The aim of this study is to generate potential distribution models for six Andean species belonging to the Pristimantis genus under different climate change scenarios. Potential distribution models were performed with bioclimatic variables together with each species records based on MaxEnt Entropy Models. The models’ quality was evaluated by AUC values, and the last step was the identification of highly responsive areas resulting in the most relevant to the preservation of the species included in this study. Categorization of MaxEnt research models are as follows: “Satisfactory” or “Excellent”. Predicted areas for the six species comply with suitable requirements for their subsistence. Potential future distribution shows the negative effects of climate change to include RCP 4.5 and RCP 8.5 environments, except for P. festae, which has a higher distribution area of 5.3% within RCP 4.5 and 6.3% at RCP 8.5. Protected areas partially contribute to species preservation, although 92% of P. cryophilius and 80% of P. festae specimens recorded were found within protected areas. |
