Spatial prioritization and systematic conservation planning methods are designed to improve land use decisions and conservation outcomes, yet remain underutilized in many biologically-rich places that need them most. This thesis applies the theory and methods developed in the discipline of spatial prioritization to conservation and land use decisions in the Central African country of Gabon. Creating a spatial information base of priority species, habitats and land uses in a region that is notoriously data-poor, I reveal that many features important for both conservation and natural resource production are highly localized; their coincidence has important implications for management. Setting conservation targets for species and habitats, I find that representation in existing protected areas is relatively low, and identify a number of near-optimal solutions that meet all targets, with minimal impact on land used for local livelihoods. I distill these solutions down to a handful of critical biodiversity sites that are top priority to protect, and make management actions explicit for the species and habitats they contain. To make the work more widely applicable, I also develop a novel method to identify where field surveys are most likely to improve decisions about protected area expansion, providing decision-makers with more options of places that could be protected to achieve conservation goals. This study contributes to the research, development and practice of conservation prioritization and spatial planning, particularly in data-poor contexts like Gabon, which still have a wealth of biodiversity, and need to carefully plan for its conservation alongside development.

Submitted by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-08-29T13:46:34Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Tatiel Venâncio Gonçalves - 2016.pdf: 6853907 bytes, checksum: 69bf3736e5f980e199f591591188c078 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-08-29T13:47:22Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Tatiel Venâncio Gonçalves - 2016.pdf: 6853907 bytes, checksum: 69bf3736e5f980e199f591591188c078 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-08-29T13:47:22Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Dissertação - Tatiel Venâncio Gonçalves - 2016.pdf: 6853907 bytes, checksum: 69bf3736e5f980e199f591591188c078 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2016-03-04 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / We live in a current loss of biodiversity crises, elapsed population growth and uncontrolled use of resources. One of the alternatives to reverse this situation is to maximize the use of available resources for conservation, mainly because these are often limited. The spatial prioritization is an important tool for this purpose. In this paper, the main objective is to identify the priority ecoregions of the Americas for biodiversity conservation. Six criteria were used in the prioritization: loss of vegetation cover, endemism, the presence of threatened species, size of ecoregion, presence of protected areas and economic value. Moreover, was identified the protection status of each ecoregion, the highest priority group animal, the threat category and the proportion of Data Deficient species (DD). Ecoregions were found in four categories of priority (B3-A3). The highest priorities are the small size, especially islands, and ecoregions located in the Caribbean, Midwest and Southern South America, Mexico and the United States. About 75% of ecoregions not have protected areas or these are insufficient. Moreover, nearly half of the ecoregions of the Americas are threatened. The group of birds was considered the highest priority in most ecoregions. The proportion of Data Deficient species was lowest in North America and most biologically diverse regions in the most, especially in the group of amphibians. This paper added a new spatial prioritization tool, which should be applied in other regions and scales and contribute to decision makers, who will have the challenge of maximizing the use of available resources for conservation in detriment of social and economic reality of each country. / Vivemos numa atual crise de perda de biodiversidade, decorrida do crescimento populacional e do uso desordenado dos recursos. Uma das alternativas para reverter essa situação é maximizar a eficiência do uso dos recursos disponíveis para a conservação, principalmente porque estes sempre são limitados. A priorização espacial é uma ferramenta importante para este fim. Neste trabalho, o objetivo principal é identificar as ecorregiões das Américas prioritárias para a conservação da biodiversidade. Foram utilizados seis critérios na priorização: perda de cobertura vegetal, endemismo, presença de espécies ameaçadas, tamanho da ecorregião, presença de Unidades de Conservação e valor econômico. Além disso, foi identificado o status de proteção de cada ecorregião, o grupo mais prioritário, a categoria de ameaça e a proporção de espécies Deficiente de Dados (DD). Foram encontradas ecorregiões em quatro categorias de prioridade (da B3 ao A3). As mais prioritárias são as de pequeno tamanho, principalmente ilhas, e ecorregiões localizadas no Caribe, centro-oeste e sul da América do Sul, México e parte dos Estados Unidos. Cerca de 75% das ecorregiões não possuem Unidades de Conservação ou estas são insuficientes. Além disso, quase a metade das ecorregiões das Américas estão ameaçadas. O grupo das aves foi considerado o mais prioritário na maioria das ecorregiões. A proporção de espécies DD foi menor na América do Norte e maior nas regiões mais diversificadas biologicamente, principalmente no grupo dos anfíbios. Este trabalho adicionou uma nova ferramenta de priorização espacial, que deve ser aplicado em outras regiões e escalas e contribuir para os tomadores de decisão, que terão o desafio de maximizar o uso dos recursos disponíveis para a conservação em detrimento da realidade social e econômica de cada país avaliado.

abstract: Biodiversity is required to guarantee proper ecosystem structure and function. However, increasing anthropogenic threats are causing biodiversity loss around the world at an unprecedented rate, in what has been deemed the sixth mass extinction. To counteract this crisis, conservationists seek to improve the methods used in the design and implementation of protected areas, which help mitigate the impacts of human activities on species. Marine mammals are ecosystem engineers and important indicator species of ocean and human wellbeing. They are also disproportionally less known and more threatened than terrestrial mammals. Therefore, surrogates of biodiversity must be used to maximize their representation in conservation planning. Some of the most effective surrogates of biodiversity known have only been tested in terrestrial systems. Here I test complementarity, rarity, and environmental diversity as potential surrogates of marine mammal representation at the global scale, and compare their performance against species richness, which is the most popular surrogate used to date. I also present the first map of marine mammal complementarity, and assess its relationship with environmental variables to determine if environmental factors could also be used as surrogates. Lastly, I determine the global complementarity-based hotspots of marine mammal biodiversity, and compare their distributions against current marine protected area coverage and exposure to global indices of human threats, to elucidate the effectiveness of current conservation efforts. Results show that complementarity, rarity, and environmental diversity are all efficient surrogates, as they outcompete species richness in maximizing marine mammal species representation when solving the minimum-set coverage problem. Results also show that sea surface temperature, density, and bathymetry are the top environmental variables most associated with complementarity of marine mammals. Finally, gap analyses show that marine mammals are overall poorly protected, yet moderately exposed to hotspots of cumulative human impacts. The wide distribution of marine mammals justify global studies like the ones here presented, to determine the best strategy for their protection. Overall, my findings show that less popular surrogates of biodiversity are more effective for marine mammals and should be considered in their management, and that the expansion of protected areas in their most important habitats should be prioritized. / Dissertation/Thesis / Doctoral Dissertation Biology 2019

Large-scale land-use change across the tropics has led to the decline of animal populations and their habitat. With large investments into mining, hydropower dams and industrial agriculture this trend is likely to continue. Consequently, there is a need for systematic land-use planning to set aside areas for protection and allocate scarce conservation funding effectively. Even though primates are relatively well studied, data-driven systematic planning is still rarely implemented. The overall aim of this dissertation was to investigate population parameters needed for evidence-based conservation planning for the critically endangered western chimpanzee (Pan troglodytes verus) in West Africa. To this end, I compiled density datasets covering the entire geographic range of this taxon from the IUCN SSC A.P.E.S. database and modeled chimpanzee densities as a function of 20 social-ecological variables. I found that western chimpanzees seemingly persist within three social-ecological configurations: rainforests with a low degree of anthropogenic threats, steep areas that are less likely to be developed and are harder to access by humans, and areas with a high prevalence of cultural taboos against hunting chimpanzees. The third configuration of reduced hunting pressure is not yet reflected in commonly implemented conservation interventions, suggesting a need for designing new approaches aimed at reducing the threat of hunting. Based on the modeled density distribution, I estimated that 52,811 (95% CI 17,577-96,564) western chimpanzees remain in West Africa, and identified areas of high conservation value to which conservation interventions should be targeted. These results can be used to inform the expansion of the protected area network in West Africa, to quantify the impact of planned industrial projects on western chimpanzees, and to guide the systematic allocation of conservation funding. In addition, this thesis highlights the unique position of taxon-specific databases of providing access to high-resolution data at the scale needed for conservation planning. Data-driven conservation planning has the potential to enable conservationists to respond more proactively to current and emerging threats, and ultimately improve conservation outcomes.

Submitted by Franciele Moreira (francielemoreyra@gmail.com) on 2018-05-03T13:47:25Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Fernando de Moura Resende - 2018.pdf: 4605014 bytes, checksum: 2397a374e99ba4f3fd551e979f073e31 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2018-05-03T14:52:43Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Fernando de Moura Resende - 2018.pdf: 4605014 bytes, checksum: 2397a374e99ba4f3fd551e979f073e31 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2018-05-03T14:52:43Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Fernando de Moura Resende - 2018.pdf: 4605014 bytes, checksum: 2397a374e99ba4f3fd551e979f073e31 (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2018-03-23 / Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior - CAPES / The concept of ecosystem services (ES) has attracted great scientific and policy interest over the last years. Although the concept has influenced the conservation discourse, it is still poorly understood if strategies focused on ES are useful to address the need for biodiversity protection. In addition, more efforts are needed to integrate ES into the decision-making process. To develop ES-focused conservation strategies in a region, it is important to understand the effectiveness of conservation strategies already established in that region and how they safeguard ES. This understanding allows the developing of future conservation plans and their actions. In the first chapter of this thesis, we discussed opportunities and challenges arising from the use of ES as a strategy to conserve biodiversity. We also presented ways to build an ES approach more aligned with conservation interests. We highlighted that ES and biodiversity should be seen as complementary strategies to foster conservation. In the second chapter, we assessed the effectiveness of protected areas and indigenous lands in representing ES and biodiversity in the Brazilian Cerrado. We mapped six ES (i.e. water yield, sediment retention, nutrient retention, carbon storage, net primary productivity and wild food provision) and the distribution of threatened vertebrate and plant species. We found that most reserves were not effective to capture ES and biodiversity in the Cerrado. In addition, most effective reserves were suitable for safeguarding just one out of six ES. In the third chapter, we evaluated the impact of postponing conservation actions to safeguard ES in the Cerrado. We used land use maps for the present, 2025 and 2050 and modeled the provision of the six aforementioned ES for these three time steps. We identified priority areas for safeguarding ES in the present and future and evaluated changes in basic properties of those priority areas. We found that land use changes will impact ES provision over time. Moreover, priority areas identified for the future will encompass greater amounts of altered environments when compared to priority areas defined right now. As a consequence, postponing conservation actions will increase conflicts between the implementation of conservation actions and human activities. Our study is the first to provide spatially explicit information on multiple ES in the Cerrado. We hope our results might guide policies aiming to establish an effective conservation plan focused on ES in the region. / O conceito de serviços ecossistêmicos (SE) tem atraído grande interesse científico e político nos últimos anos. Embora este conceito tenha influenciado o discurso conservacionista, ainda é pouco compreendido se abordagens baseadas em SE também são úteis para lidar com as necessidades para conservar a biodiversidade. Além disso, ainda são necessários mais esforços para integrar SE na tomada de decisão. Para desenvolver estratégias de conservação de SE em uma região, é importante compreender a efetividade de estratégias de conservação já estabelecidas nesta região e como elas protegem os SE. Essa compreensão permite o desenvolvimento de planos de conservação futuros e de suas ações. No primeiro capítulo dessa tese, discutimos oportunidades e desafios derivados do uso de SE como uma estratégia para conservar a biodiversidade. Também apresentamos formas para que abordagens baseadas em SE sejam mais alinhadas com interesses conservacionistas. Destacamos que SE e biodiversidade devem ser vistos como estratégias complementares para incentivar a conservação. No segundo capítulo, avaliamos a efetividade das unidades de conservação e terras indígenas em representar SE e biodiversidade no Cerrado, Brasil. Mapeamos seis SE (i.e. produção de água, retenção de sedimentos, retenção de nutrientes, estocagem de carbono, produtividade primária líquida e provisão de alimentos silvestres) e a distribuição de espécies ameaçadas de vertebrados e plantas. Encontramos que a maioria das reservas não é efetiva para capturar SE e biodiversidade do Cerrado. Ainda, a maioria das reservas efetivas foi adequada em proteger apenas um dos seis SE. No terceiro capítulo, avaliamos o impacto de adiar ações de conservação para proteger SE no Cerrado. Geramos mapas de uso do solo para o presente, 2025 e 2050 e modelamos a provisão dos seis SE para os três períodos. Identificamos áreas prioritárias para proteger SE no presente e no futuro e avaliamos mudanças nas propriedades básicas dessas áreas prioritárias. Encontramos que as mudanças no uso do solo afetarão a provisão de SE ao longo do tempo. Além disso, as áreas prioritárias identificadas no futuro incluirão maior quantidade de ambientes alterados quando comparadas a áreas prioritárias definidas no presente. Como consequência, adiar ações de conservação aumentará os conflitos entre conservação e atividades humanas. Nosso estudo é o primeiro a fornecer informações espacialmente explícitas de múltiplos SE no Cerrado. Esperamos que nossos resultados possam orientar políticas visando estabelecer um plano de conservação efetivo para SE no Cerrado.

Die anhaltende Entwaldung tropischer Regenwälder und die damit einhergehenden sozialen und ökologischen Folgen finden zunehmend Beachtung nationaler Regierungen und zivilgesellschaftlicher Akteure, die Initiativen zur Verringerung der Entwaldung und Strategien zum Schutz von Lebensräumen und Artenvielfalt entwickelt haben. Die Waldrestaurierung, d.h. die Wiederherstellung von Waldökosystemen, stellt hierbei, neben der Verringerung der Entwaldung, ein entscheidendes Ziel dar. Brasilien spielt in diesem Zusammenhang eine entscheidende Rolle. Der Großteildes Amazonas-Regenwaldes, der größte zusammenhängende tropische Regenwald der Welt, liegt auf brasilianischem Gebiet. Nahezu 18% des brasilianischen Regenwaldes sind bereits gerodet. Landspekulation, Bergbau, und Landwirtschaft stellen die stärkste Bedrohung für die Existenz des Regenwaldes dar. Im Rahmen des Pariser Abkommens hat sich Brasilien dazu verpflichtet die Netto-Entwaldung bis 2030 zu stoppen und 12 Millionen Hektar Waldökosysteme wiederherzustellen. Eine zentrale Rolle für die Umsetzung der Verpflichtung kommt dem brasilianischen Waldschutzgesetz (BFC) zu, der wichtigsten brasilianischen Umweltgesetzgebung, die die Rahmenbedingungen für die Landnutzung auf privatem Landbesitz regelt. Im brasilianischen Amazon verlangt das BFC den Schutz von 80% der natürlichen Vegetation, als sogenanntes Legal Reserves (LRs). In der neusten Gesetzesversion von 2012 wurde erstmals der Umgang mit denjenigen Landbesitzern festgelegt, die den Gesetzesvorgaben nicht entsprechen. Es wird erwartet, dass die Umsetzung des neuen BFCs auf der einen Seite den Schutz der Wälder in den LRs gewährleistet und auf der andern Seite, unter Mitwirkung der Landbesitzer, zu ein großflächige Waldrestaurierung führt. Vor diesem Hintergrund ist das Ziel dieser Dissertation die Potenziale des BFC für den Schutz der Ur- und den nachwachsenden Wäldern zu ermitteln. Im Speziellen habe ich in der vorliegenden Dissertation (i) die Raum-Zeitlichen Veränderungen der Waldflächen im Einflussbereich der Bundesstraße BR-163, zwischen Cuiabá und Santarém, analysiert; (ii) das Potenzial der BFC für den Schutz der des Regenwaldes und für die Waldrestaurierung bewertet; und (iii) prioritäre Gebiete für ein großflächige Waldrestaurierung, unter Einbezug von Kosten, Biodiversität und Kohlenstoffspeicherung, identifiziert. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass ein Großteil der massiven Entwaldung in der Region zwischen Cuiabá und Santarém auf privaten Grundstücken stattfand. Dies lässt auf eine weitverbreitete Nichteinhaltung des BFCs schließen. Hohe Netto-Entwaldungsraten und eine rückläufige Verbreitung nachwachsenden Waldes deutet darauf hin, dass die Region weit von einer Trendwende von Netto-Waldverlust, zu Netto-Waldzuwachs entfernt ist. Um eine Ausbreitung der Wälder voranzutreiben, ist es daher notwendig, das Management der Ur- und nachwachsenden Wälder zu verbessern. Die Ergebnisse dieser Dissertation zeigen, dass mehr als 6 Millionen Hektar der derzeitigen Waldregeneration geschützt und ein Drittel der LR-Defizite ausgeglichen werden könnten, wenn die nachwachsenden Wälder in die Schutzzonen der LRs einbezogen werden. Die künftige Regulierung der BFC-Ausgleichsmechanismen wird einen entscheidenden Effekt auf die Waldrestaurierung und den Schutz der Urwälder haben. Die Analyse möglicher Regulierungs-Szenarien hat deutliche Variation zwischen prioritären Gebieten für die Waldrestaurierung in Mato Grosso gezeigt. Die Ergebnisse zeigen, dass die Waldrestaurierung auf privaten Grundstücken entscheidend für den Schutz von Biodiversität ist. Demgegenüber zeigt sich die Wiederherstellung von Waldökosystemen auf öffentlichem Land kostengünstiger und effektiver für die Kohlenstoffspeicherung. Die Ergebnisse demonstrieren die Relevanz detaillierter räumlicher Informationen zu Landbesitz und Landnutzungsänderungen, um die Auswirkungen von neuen rechtlichen Rahmenbedingungen für den Waldschutz und die Waldrestaurierung in tropischen Gebieten zu untersuchen. Die Schätzungen der derzeit nachwachsenden Waldflache, und dessen Schutzstatus, sind entscheidend um die nationalen Ziele der Waldrestaurierung zu erreichen. Die Ergebnisse verdeutlichen, dass ein besseres Management von nachwachsenden Waldökosystemen durch Bundes- und Landesgesetze notwendig ist, und neue Strategien und Mechanismen, die den Schutz nachwachsenden Wäldern sicherstellen, erarbeitet werden müssen. / Continued tropical forests decline has drawn concerted attention by governments and distinct sectors of the civil society, which have responded with anti-deforestation policies and conservation strategies. Alongside conservation, large-scale forest restoration is crucial for counteracting the negative impacts of deforestation on socio-ecological processes. In this context, Brazil plays a pivotal role. Most of the Amazon, the largest continuous tropical forest in the world, lies within the Brazilian territory. Nearly 18% of the Brazilian Amazon forest cover was already lost, and land speculation, mining, and agricultural expansion continue to threaten the forest. Therefore, cutting back land use change emissions is a major pillar of Brazil’s commitment to the Paris Agreement, which includes the plan to achieve zero net deforestation in the Amazon and restore 12Mha of forests countrywide by 2030. In this thesis I focused on the Brazilian Forest Code (BFC), the flagship environmental legislation governing land use in private lands of Brazil. In forestlands of the Amazon biome, the BFC requires the protection of 80% of the native vegetation as Legal Reserves (LRs). The latest version of the law, from 2012, also established the compliance conditions for past law offenders. Particularly, there are high expectations that the enforcement of the BFC will secure the protection of forests in LRs, and drive large-scale forest restoration. Therefore, my overall goal was to advance the knowledge about the potential of the BFC enforcement for the conservation of old- and regrowing forests in the Brazilian Amazon. Specifically, I (i) investigated the spatio-temporal patterns of net forest cover change for the influence area of the Cuiabá-Santarém highway, crossing the federal states of Pará and Mato Grosso in the Brazilian Amazon; (ii) evaluated the potential of the BFC enforcement for the protection of old and regrowing forests in the Brazilian Amazon, and estimated the contribution of regrowing forests for LRs demarcation; and (iii) applied a multicriteria analysis to map priority areas for large-scale forest restoration in private and public lands of Mato Grosso, contrasting the costs of restoration with the gains for biodiversity and carbon enhancement. Results show that the Cuiabá-Santarém focus region accumulated substantial deforestation, most of which on private lands, indicating a widespread non-compliance to the BFC. High net deforestation rates and decreasing prevalence of forest regrowth on deforested lands, indicates that this region is not near experiencing a turnaround from net forest losses to net forest gains. Hence, to promote forest expansion, it will be necessary to improve old- and regrowing forests governance. In this regard, results showed that if regrowing forests are included in LRs demarcation, over 6Mha of ongoing forest regeneration could be protected, and one third of LRs deficits could be offset. Also, the future regulation of BFC compensation mechanisms will be key for determining the potential of the law for promoting restoration and old-growth forests protection additionality. Finally, a substantial variation in the spatial distribution of priority areas for forest restoration was identified across Mato Grosso, and for different scenarios. Private properties were key to enhance intensively deforested habitats, while restoration in public lands was more effective in reducing restoration costs and mitigating carbon. The findings of this thesis demonstrate the importance of detailed spatial information on land tenure and land use change in tropical areas, to support spatial planning, and address the potential of legal frameworks for promoting forest conservation and restoration. The estimates of legal protection of current regrowing forests have strong implications for Brazil’s restoration targets. They call for an improved treatment of second-growth forests by federal and state legislations, and the creation of policy and mechanisms able to secure the protection of high-value regrowing forests.

Submitted by Cássia Santos (cassia.bcufg@gmail.com) on 2016-09-16T13:35:24Z No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Priscila Lemes de Azevedo Silva - 2014.pdf: 8738399 bytes, checksum: ebb4f9ec58380c199dc16142d8009cac (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Approved for entry into archive by Luciana Ferreira (lucgeral@gmail.com) on 2016-09-16T15:35:18Z (GMT) No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Priscila Lemes de Azevedo Silva - 2014.pdf: 8738399 bytes, checksum: ebb4f9ec58380c199dc16142d8009cac (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) / Made available in DSpace on 2016-09-16T15:35:18Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 2 Tese - Priscila Lemes de Azevedo Silva - 2014.pdf: 8738399 bytes, checksum: ebb4f9ec58380c199dc16142d8009cac (MD5) license_rdf: 0 bytes, checksum: d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-03-18 / Global processes such as: habitat loss, overexploitation, invasive species and climate change are driving many species to extinction. In the face of these threats, the development of systematic planning which indicates the most important biodiversity conservation areas has become widely accepted. The establishment of protected areas is the main strategy for the protection of biodiversity and maintenance of ecosystem processes due to its feasibility and economic cost. However, species distribution can be altered by global climate change and, possibly, the current network of protected areas may not be sufficient for species representation in future scenarios. The impact of climate change on biodiversity can be anticipated by spatial prioritization for conservation through the development of dynamic conservation plans. However, it is clear that some species have a more important ecological role than others (due to their biological and life history characteristics) which includes the unique challenge of taking an integrated view of biodiversity in conservation planning into account. The Atlantic Forest is a lush biome which holds 7.7% of the world's known species of amphibians and high concentration of endemic species. However, the Atlantic Forest is also one of the most threatened tropical biomes of the world, mainly due to the loss and fragmentation of natural habitats. This thesis provides proposals for conservation efforts, considering the possible effects of climate change and also the wider aspects of biodiversity. For this, I used the available amphibian data from the Red List of Threatened Species of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, available climate models, information on protected areas by the World Database on Protected Areas, and attributes of species and the phylogenetic tree consistent with specific literature. Chapter 1 highlights a discussion on the impact of climate change and priorities for biodiversity conservation and the importance of including the functional and phylogenetic diversity in conservation efforts. Chapter 2 brings a discussion about available data for conservation studies, as well as the advantages and disadvantages of using maps of extent of occurrence in systematic planning for conservation. Chapter 3 shows the effectiveness of protected areas in maintaining species richness under climate change from consensual projections of species distribution models for amphibians inhabiting of the Atlantic Forest. In this chapter, we identified that protected areas may gain or lose species due to climate change according to the location of the current network of protected areas. Chapter 4 presents an alternative approach to complement the existence of protected areas and incorporates possible changes in species distribution. The prioritization is based mainly on the distribution of species in both present and future scenarios. This chapter outlines a conservation plan that minimizes the effects of climate change on species dispersion. Besides these effects on species dispersion, this solution also minimizes the uncertainty associated with distribution models and prioritizing areas of low uncertainty. Chapter 5 explains the spatial prioritization of conservation, including different aspects of biodiversity, such as: phylogenetic & functional diversity measures and their influence on evolutionary history and underlying ecological processes. The main objective is to identify and compare the places that contain the most information on the taxonomic, phylogenetic and functional diversity, while also indicating the conservation priorities for each biogeographical region of the Atlantic Forest. In conclusion, we present our new and original ideas for conservation and discuss the future prospects and predictions in this area. / Processos globais como a perda de habitat, a superexploração, a invasão de espécies exóticas e as mudanças climáticas estão conduzindo muitas espécies à extinção. Nesse contexto, o desenvolvimento de um planejamento sistemático que indique as áreas mais importantes para a conservação da biodiversidade tem sido amplamente aceito. O estabelecimento de áreas protegidas é a principal estratégia para proteção da biodiversidade e a manutenção dos processos ecossistêmicos devido à viabilidade e ao custo econômico. Todavia, a distribuição das espécies pode ser alterada pelas mudanças climáticas global e, possivelmente, a atual rede de áreas protegidas pode não ser suficiente para representar as espécies no futuro. A priorização espacial para a conservação pode antecipar os impactos das mudanças climáticas sobre a biodiversidade, além de mitigar tais impactos por meio do desenvolvimento de planos dinâmicos de conservação. No entanto, é evidente que algumas espécies têm um papel ecológico mais importante que outras devido às suas características biológicas e à história de vida, portanto, um novo desafio é adotar uma visão integrada da biodiversidade no planejamento da conservação. A Mata Atlântica é um exuberante bioma que detém 7,7% das espécies de anfíbios conhecidas do mundo e grande concentração de espécies endêmicas. Contudo, a Mata Atlântica é também um dos biomas tropicais mais ameaçados do mundo, sobretudo devido à perda e fragmentação dos hábitats naturais. Esta tese fornece propostas para os esforços de conservação, considerando os possíveis efeitos das mudanças climáticas e também os amplos aspectos da biodiversidade. Para tanto, utilizei os dados de anfíbios disponíveis na Lista Vermelha de Espécies Ameaçadas da União Internacional para a Conservação da Natureza para toda a Mata Atlântica,modelos climáticos disponíveis e informações sobre áreas protegidas oferecidas pelo World Database on Protected Areas. Os atributos das espécies e a árvore filogenética estão de acordo coma literatura específica. O capítulo 1 apresenta uma discussão sobre os impactos das mudanças climáticas e as prioridades para a conservação da biodiversidade. Ainda, é discutida a importância de incluir a diversidade funcional e filogenética nos esforços de conservação. O capítulo 2 apresenta os tipos de dados disponíveis para estudos de conservação, além das vantagens e das desvantagens do uso de mapas de extensão de ocorrência no planejamento sistemático para a conservação. O capítulo 3 apresenta a avaliação da eficiência das áreas protegidas em manter a riqueza de espécies no contexto de mudanças climáticas a partir de projeções consensuais dos modelos de distribuição das espécies para anfíbios da Mata Atlântica. Essa avaliação identifica se uma área protegida poderá ganhar ou perder espécies devido às mudanças climáticas considerando a localização da rede atual das áreas protegidas. O capítulo 4 apresenta uma abordagem alternativa para complementar a atual rede de áreas protegidas e incorpora as possíveis mudanças na distribuição das espécies. A priorização baseia-se, principalmente, na distribuição das espécies tanto no presente quanto no futuro e busca minimizar os efeitos dessa mudança na distribuição das espécies a partir de uma medida de dispersão no contexto de mudanças climáticas. Além da medida de dispersão, a solução também minimiza a incerteza associada aos modelos de distribuição, priorizando locais de baixa incerteza. O capítulo 5 apresenta a priorização espacial da conservação, incluindo diferentes aspectos da biodiversidade tal como a diversidade filogenética e funcional cujas medidas inferem tanto a história evolutiva quanto os processos ecológicos subjacentes. O principal objetivo é identificar e comparar os locais que conservam a maior informação sobre a diversidade taxonômica, filogenética e funcional quanto possível. Além disso, são indicadas as prioridades para a conservação para cada região biogeográfica da Mata Atlântica. Finalmente, em sua conclusão, são apresentadas as principais novidades da tese e discutidos os rumos para futuros trabalhos.