Related Experiment Video
Updated: Feb 24, 2026

A Push-pull Protocol to Reduce Colonization of Bird Nest Boxes by Honey Bees
Published on: September 4, 2016
Biodiversity conservation gaps in the Brazilian protected areas
Ubirajara Oliveira1,2, Britaldo Silveira Soares-Filho3, Adriano Pereira Paglia4
1Centro de Sensoriamento Remoto, Instituto de Geociências, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais - UFMG, Av. Antonio Carlos 6627, CEP 31270-901, Belo Horizonte, MG, Brazil. ubiologia@yahoo.com.br.
Abstract:
Although Brazil is a megadiverse country and thus a conservation priority, no study has yet quantified conservation gaps in the Brazilian protected areas (PAs) using extensive empirical data. Here, we evaluate the degree of biodiversity protection and knowledge within all the Brazilian PAs through a gap analysis of vertebrate, arthropod and angiosperm occurrences and phylogenetic data. Our results show that the knowledge on biodiversity in most Brazilian PAs remain scant as 71% of PAs have less than 0.01 species records per km2. Almost 55% of Brazilian species and about 40% of evolutionary lineages are not found in PAs, while most species have less than 30% of their geographic distribution within PAs. Moreover, the current PA network fails to protect the majority of endemic species. Most importantly, these results are similar for all taxonomic groups analysed here. The methods and results of our countrywide assessment are suggested to help design further inventories in order to map and secure the key biodiversity of the Brazilian PAs. In addition, our study illustrates the most common biodiversity knowledge shortfalls in the tropics.
More Related Videos
Related Concept Videos
Threats to Biodiversity
Habitat Fragmentation
Conservation of Small Populations
What is Biodiversity?
Conservation of Declining Populations
What is Conservation Biology?

