Hannes, Gaisberger and Tobias, Fremout and Kettle, Chris J. and Muraca, Barbara and Kemalasari, Della and Kanchanarak, Tania and Thomas, Evert and Serra-Diaz, Josep M. and Svenning, Jens-Christian and Slik, Ferry and Eiadthong, Wichan and Palanisamy, Kandasamy and Gudasalamani, Ravikanth and Bodos, Vilma and Sang, Julia and Warrier, Rekha R. and Wee, Alison K. S. and Elloran, Christian and Tolentino Ramos, Lawrence and Henry, Matieu and Hossain, Akhter and Theilade, Ida and Laegaard, Simon and K. M. A., Bandara and Panduka Weerasinghe, Dimantha and Changtragoon, Suchitra and Yuskianti, Vivi and Wilkie, Peter and Hoang Nghia, Nguyen and Elliott, Stephen and Pakkad, Greuk and Tiansawat, Pimonrat and Maycock, Colin and Bounithiphonh, Chaloun and Mohamed, Rozi and M., Nazre and Nur Siddiqui, Baktiar and Lee, Soon-Leong and Lee, Chai-Ting and Farhanah Zakaria, Nurul and Hartvig, Ida and Lehmann, Lutz and Dzulkifli David, Dzaeman B. and Barnekow Lillesø, Jens-Peter and Phourin, Chhang and Yongqi, Zheng and Ping, Huang and Volkaert, Hugo A. and Graudal, Lars and Hamidi, Arief and Thea, So and Sreng, Sineath and Boshier, David and Tolentino Jr., Enrique and Ratnam, Wickneswari and Aung, Mu Mu and Galante, Michael and Siti Md Isa, Fatimah and Quoc Dung, Nguyen and Thi Hoa, Tran and Chan Le, Tran and Miah Md., Danesh and Lateef Mohd Zuhry, Abdul and Alawathugoda, Deepani and Azman, Amelia and Pushpakumara, Gamini and Sumedi, Nur and Siregar, Iskandar Z. and Kyung Nak, Hong and Linsky, Jean and Barstow, Megan and Koh, Lian Pin and Jalonen, Riina (2022) Tropical and subtropical Asia’s valued tree species under threat. Conservation Biology, 36: e13873. pp. 1-15.

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Abstract

Tree diversity in Asia’s tropical and subtropical forests is central to nature-based solutions. Species vulnerability to multiple threats, which affect provision of ecosystem services, is poorly understood. We conducted a region-wide, spatially explicit assessment of the vulnerability of 63 socioeconomically important tree species to overexploitation, fire, overgrazing, habitat conversion, and climate change.Trees were selected for assessment from national priority lists, and selections were validated by an expert network representing 20 countries. We used Maxent suitability modeling to predict species distribution ranges, freely accessible spatial data sets to map threat exposures, and functional traits to estimate threat sensitivities. Species-specific vulnerability maps were created as the product of exposure maps and sensitivity estimates. Based on vulnerability to current threats and climate change, we identified priority areas for conservation and restoration. Overall, 74% of the most important areas for conservation of these trees fell outside protected areas, and all species were severely threatened across an average of 47% of their native ranges. The most imminent threats were overexploitation and habitat conversion; populations were severely threatened by these factors in an average of 24% and 16% of their ranges, respectively. Our model predicted limited overall climate change impacts, although some study species were likely to lose over 15% of their habitat by 2050 due to climate change. We pinpointed specific natural areas in Borneo rain forests as hotspots for in situ conservation of forest genetic resources, more than 82% of which fell outside designated protected areas. We also identified degraded areas in Western Ghats, Indochina dry forests, and Sumatran rain forests as hotspots for restoration, where planting or assisted natural regeneration will help conserve these species, and croplands in southern India and Thailand as potentially important agroforestry options. Our results highlight the need for regionally coordinated action for effective conservation and restoration.

Item Type: Article
Additional Information: Copyright of this article belongs to the authors.
Uncontrolled Keywords: climate change analysis, conservation hotspots, conservation priorities, restoration hotspots, restoration priorities, spatially explicit threat assessment, species distribution modeling, tree species, vulnerability mapping
Subjects: A ATREE Publications > G Journal Papers
Divisions: SM Sehgal Foundation Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation > Biodiversity Monitoring and Conservation Planning
Depositing User: Ms Suchithra R
Date Deposited: 26 Nov 2025 06:33
Last Modified: 05 Dec 2025 07:24
URI: http://archives.atree.org/id/eprint/886

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