Enhanced risk assessment framework integrating distribution dynamics, genetically inferred populations, and morphological traits of Diploderma lizards

稿件作者:Qi Xiao, Xiu-Dong Shi, Lin Shi, Zhong-Yi Yao, You-Hua Chen, Wei-Zhao Yang, Zi-Yan Liao, Yin Qi
通讯作者:Zi-Yan Liao, Yin Qi
刊物名称:Zoological Research
发表年份:2024
卷:
期:45
页码:1-12
影响因子:
文章摘要:

the threat status of species in response to global change is critical for biodiversity monitoring and conservation efforts. However, current frameworks, even the IUCN Red List, often neglect critical factors such as genetic diversity and the impacts of climate and land-use changes, hindering effective conservation planning. To address these limitations, we developed an enhanced extinction risk assessment framework using Diploderma lizards as a model. This framework incorporates long-term field surveys, environmental data, land-use patterns, and genetically inferred effective population sizes (Ne) to predict distributional changes for 10 recently described Diploderma species on the Qinghai-Xizang Plateau, which hold ecological significance but remain underassessed in conservation contexts. By integrating these data, we conducted scenario analyses and used a rank-sum approach to calculate risk ranking scores (RRS) for each species. This approach revealed significant discrepancies with the IUCN Red List assessments. Notably, D. yangi and D. qilin were identified as facing the highest extinction risk. Furthermore, D. vela, D. batangense, D. flaviceps, D. dymondi, D. yulongense, and D. laeviventre, currently classified as “Least Concern”, were found to warrant reclassification as “Vulnerable” due to considerable threat from projected range contractions. Exploring the relationship between morphology and RRS revealed that traits such as snout length and relative tail length could serve as potential predictors of extinction risk, offering preliminary metrics for assessing species vulnerability when comprehensive data are unavailable. This study enhances the precision of extinction risk assessment frameworks and demonstrates their capacity to refine and update risk assessments, especially for lesser-known taxa.