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© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.

Abstract

The Department of Beni, in the country of Bolivia, is thought to host a significant level of biodiversity as a result of its tropical, moist, and diverse climate and landscape. However, the biodiversity of Beni is also considered poorly known and understudied due to its inaccessible landscapes, socio-economic challenges, and an overall lack of biodiversity infrastructure. This emphasizes the need for comprehensive species inventories and the development of effective conservation policies and strategies. We conducted an assessment of biodiversity, environmental vulnerability, and conservation status of reptiles documented in Beni. We identified 169 reptile species, spanning three orders and twenty-five families that have been officially documented in Beni. Utilizing the Environmental Vulnerability Score (EVS), we classified these species into high (17.8%), medium (68.1%), and low (14.2%) vulnerability categories, while IUCN categorization revealed 1.8% of reptile species in Beni are classified as vulnerable and 0.6% as near threatened. We found significant differences in ecological drivers of vulnerability among species within all categories (high, medium, low), with habitat specificity and human persecution being significantly higher for high and medium-vulnerability species. Our results demonstrate the intricate vulnerabilities of Beni’s reptiles, highlighting the need for comprehensive, species-specific conservation strategies and planning. Most importantly, our results offer a consolidated framework of information on reptile biodiversity and conservation for researchers, conservationists, and policymakers to use and build upon in the future that will facilitate the development of biodiversity infrastructure not only in the Department of Beni but throughout Bolivia and the Neotropics

Details

Title
Reptile Biodiversity and Vulnerability in Bolivia’s Beni Department: Informing Conservation Priorities in a Neglected Frontier
Author
Eversole, Cord B 1   VIAFID ORCID Logo  ; Powell, Randy L 2 ; Rivas, Luis R 2 ; Lizarro, Dennis E 2 

 Arthur Temple College of Forestry and Agriculture, Stephen F. Austin State University, 419 E College Street, Nacogdoches, TX 75962, USA 
 Centro de Investigación de Recursos Acuáticos (CIRA), Universidad Autónoma del Beni José Ballivián, Trinidad 080101, Beni, Bolivia 
First page
335
Publication year
2024
Publication date
2024
Publisher
MDPI AG
e-ISSN
14242818
Source type
Scholarly Journal
Language of publication
English
ProQuest document ID
3072314555
Copyright
© 2024 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland. This article is an open access article distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY) license (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). Notwithstanding the ProQuest Terms and Conditions, you may use this content in accordance with the terms of the License.