Key Neotropical ecoregions for conservation of terrestrial vertebrates

Conservation planning analyses show a striking progression from endeavors targeted at single species or at individual sites, to the systematic assessment of entire taxa at large scales. These, in turn, inform wide-reaching conservation policies and financial investments. The latter are epitomized by global-scale prioritization frameworks, such as the Biodiversity Hotspots. We examine the entire Neotropical region to identify sets of areas of high conservation priority according to terrestrial vertebrate distribution patterns. We identified a set of 49 ecoregions in which 90, 82 and 83%, respectively of total, endemic and threatened vertebrates are represented. A core subset of 11 ecoregions captured 55, 27 and 38% of these groups. The Neotropics hold the largest remaining wilderness areas in the world, and encompass most of the tropical ecosystems still offering significant options for successful broad-scale conservation action. Our analysis helps to elucidate where conservation is likely to yield best returns at the ecoregion scale.     

Ecoregion Prioritization Suggests an Armoury Not a Silver Bullet for Conservation Planning

In the face of accelerating species extinctions, map-based prioritization systems are increasingly useful to decide where to pursue conservation action most effectively. However, a number of seemingly inconsistent schemes have emerged, mostly focussing on endemism. Here we use global vertebrate distributions in terrestrial ecoregions to evaluate how continuous and categorical ranking schemes target and accumulate endangered taxa within the IUCN Red List, Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE), and EDGE of Existence programme. We employed total, endemic and threatened species richness and an estimator for richness-adjusted endemism as metrics in continuous prioritization, and WWF''s Global200 and Conservation International''s (CI) Hotspots in categorical prioritization. Our results demonstrate that all metrics target endangerment more efficiently than by chance, but each selects unique sets of top-ranking ecoregions, which overlap only partially, and include different sets of threatened species. Using the top 100 ecoregions as defined by continuous prioritization metrics, we develop an inclusive map for global vertebrate conservation that incorporates important areas for endemism, richness, and threat. Finally, we assess human footprint and protection levels within these areas to reveal that endemism sites are more impacted but have more protection, in contrast to high richness and threat ones. Given such contrasts, major efforts to protect global biodiversity must involve complementary conservation approaches in areas of unique species as well as those with highest diversity and threat.     

Global patterns of plant diversity and floristic knowledge

Aims We present the first global map of vascular plant species richness by ecoregion and compare these results with the published literature on global priorities for plant conservation. In so doing, we assess the state of floristic knowledge across ecoregions as described in floras, checklists, and other published documents and pinpoint geographical gaps in our understanding of the global vascular plant flora. Finally, we explore the relationships between plant species richness by ecoregion and our knowledge of the flora, and between plant richness and the human footprint – a spatially explicit measure of the loss and degradation of natural habitats and ecosystems as a result of human activities. Location Global. Methods Richness estimates for the 867 terrestrial ecoregions of the world were derived from published richness data of c. 1800 geographical units. We applied one of four methods to assess richness, depending on data quality. These included collation and interpretation of published data, use of species–area curves to extrapolate richness, use of taxon‐based data, and estimates derived from other ecoregions within the same biome. Results The highest estimate of plant species richness is in the Borneo lowlands ecoregion (10,000 species) followed by nine ecoregions located in Central and South America with ≥ 8000 species; all are found within the Tropical and Subtropical Moist Broadleaf Forests biome. Among the 51 ecoregions with ≥ 5000 species, only five are located in temperate regions. For 43% of the 867 ecoregions, data quality was considered good or moderate. Among biomes, adequate data are especially lacking for flooded grasslands and flooded savannas. We found a significant correlation between species richness and data quality for only a few biomes, and, in all of these cases, our results indicated that species‐rich ecoregions are better studied than those poor in vascular plants. Similarly, only in a few biomes did we find significant correlations between species richness and the human footprint, all of which were positive. Main conclusions The work presented here sets the stage for comparisons of degree of concordance of plant species richness with plant endemism and vertebrate species richness: important analyses for a comprehensive global biodiversity strategy. We suggest: (1) that current global plant conservation strategies be reviewed to check if they cover the most outstanding examples of regions from each of the world's major biomes, even if these examples are species‐poor compared with other biomes; (2) that flooded grasslands and flooded savannas should become a global priority in collecting and compiling richness data for vascular plants; and (3) that future studies which rely upon species–area calculations do not use a uniform parameter value but instead use values derived separately for subregions.     

Relationships between species richness of vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrates in China: analyses based on data of nature reserves

The relationship between plant diversity and animal diversity on a broadscale and its mechanisms are uncertain. In this study, we explored this relationship and its possible mechanisms using data from 186 nature reserves across China on species richness of vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrates, and climatic and topographical variables. We found significant positive correlations between species richness in almost all taxa of vascular plants and terrestrial vertebrates. Multiple regression analyses indicated that plant richness was a significant predictor of richness patterns for terrestrial vertebrates (except birds), suggesting that a causal association may exist between plant diversity and vertebrate diversity in China. The mechanisms for the relationships between species richness of plants and animals are probably dependent on vertebrate groups. For mammals (endothermic vertebrates), this relationship probably represents the integrated effects of plants on animals through trophic links (i.e. providing foods) and non-trophic interactions (i.e. supplying habitats), whereas for amphibians and reptiles (ectothermic vertebrates), this may be a result of the non-trophic links, such as the effects of plants on the resources that amphibians and reptiles require.     

Land Use Explains the Distribution of Threatened New World Amphibians Better than Climate

Background

We evaluated the direct and indirect influence of climate, land use, phylogenetic structure, species richness and endemism on the distribution of New World threatened amphibians.

Methodology/Principal Findings

We used the WWF’s New World ecoregions, the WWFs amphibian distributional data and the IUCN Red List Categories to obtain the number of threatened species per ecoregion. We analyzed three different scenarios urgent, moderate, and the most inclusive scenario. Using path analysis we evaluated the direct and indirect effects of climate, type of land use, phylogenetic structure, richness and endemism on the number of threatened amphibians in New World ecoregions. In all scenarios we found strong support for direct influences of endemism, the cover of villages and species richness on the number of threatened species in each ecoregion. The proportion of wild area had indirect effects in the moderate and the most inclusive scenario. Phylogenetic composition was important in determining the species richness and endemism in each ecoregion. Climate variables had complex and indirect effects on the number of threatened species.

Conclusion/Significance

Land use has a more direct influence than climate in determining the distribution of New World threatened amphibians. Independently of the scenario analyzed, the main variables influencing the distribution of threatened amphibians were consistent, with endemism having the largest magnitude path coefficient. The importance of phylogenetic composition could indicate that some clades may be more threatened than others, and their presence increases the number of threatened species. Our results highlight the importance of man-made land transformation, which is a local variable, as a critical factor underlying the distribution of threatened amphibians at a biogeographic scale.     

Disentangling the effects of geographic distance and environmental dissimilarity on global patterns of species turnover

Aim To distinguish the effects of geographic distance and environmental dissimilarity on global patterns of species turnover in four classes of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians). Location Six hundred and sixty terrestrial ecoregions across the globe. Methods We calculated species turnover between each pair of ecoregions, using the Jaccard index (J). We selected seven variables to quantify environment in each ecoregion, and subjected the environmental values to a principal components analysis. For each realm, we applied multiple regression analysis relating the natural logarithm of the Jaccard index (lnJ) to geographic distance alone and in combination with differences in the environment variables measured as principal components (PC). We used partial correlations to partition variance in lnJ between unique contributions of distance and environmental PC scores, the covariation between distance and environment, and unexplained variance. To examine the latitude and species turnover relationship, we regressed lnJ on latitude with distance between ecoregions being included as a covariate. Results The natural logarithm of the Jaccard index (lnJ) decreased significantly with increasing geographic distance for all vertebrate classes in each zoogeographic realm, and the slopes of the relationships per 1000 km ranged from ?0.251 to ?1.043. With environmental differences included in the analysis, both geographic distance and environmental differences were substantial predictors of lnJ for every combination of taxon and realm. On average, the unique contribution of geographic distance to variation in species turnover between ecoregions was about 1.4 times that of the environmental differences between ecoregions. Species turnover generally decreased with increasing latitude when controlling for geographic distance. The value of lnJ for each vertebrate class was highly and positively correlated with those of the other vertebrate classes. Main conclusions Our analyses suggest that both dispersal‐based and niche‐based processes have played important roles in determining faunal similarities among vertebrate assemblages at the spatial scale examined. Furthermore, reptiles and amphibians exhibited greater distance‐independent faunal heterogeneity among ecoregions and greater turnover among ecoregions with respect to geographic and environmental distance than birds and mammals.     

Extinction Risks and the Conservation of Madagascar's Reptiles

Background

An understanding of the conservation status of Madagascar''s endemic reptile species is needed to underpin conservation planning and priority setting in this global biodiversity hotspot, and to complement existing information on the island''s mammals, birds and amphibians. We report here on the first systematic assessment of the extinction risk of endemic and native non-marine Malagasy snakes, lizards, turtles and tortoises.

Methodology/Principal Findings

Species range maps from The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species were analysed to determine patterns in the distribution of threatened reptile species. These data, in addition to information on threats, were used to identify priority areas and actions for conservation. Thirty-nine percent of the data-sufficient Malagasy reptiles in our analyses are threatened with extinction. Areas in the north, west and south-east were identified as having more threatened species than expected and are therefore conservation priorities. Habitat degradation caused by wood harvesting and non-timber crops was the most pervasive threat. The direct removal of reptiles for international trade and human consumption threatened relatively few species, but were the primary threats for tortoises. Nine threatened reptile species are endemic to recently created protected areas.

Conclusions/Significance

With a few alarming exceptions, the threatened endemic reptiles of Madagascar occur within the national network of protected areas, including some taxa that are only found in new protected areas. Threats to these species, however, operate inside and outside protected area boundaries. This analysis has identified priority sites for reptile conservation and completes the conservation assessment of terrestrial vertebrates in Madagascar which will facilitate conservation planning, monitoring and wise-decision making. In sharp contrast with the amphibians, there is significant reptile diversity and regional endemism in the southern and western regions of Madagascar and this study highlights the importance of these arid regions to conserving the island''s biodiversity.     

Historical rainforest contractions,localized extinctions and patterns of vertebrate endemism in the rainforests of Australia's wet tropics.

The spatial patterns in the distributions of vertebrates in the rainforests of the wet tropics biogeographic region of north-eastern Australia were examined to form hypotheses on the processes that have shaped vertebrate assemblages and patterns of species richness and regional endemism. These rainforests occur in a relatively narrow and discontinuous strip along the coast of north-eastern Australia. We found that the number of regionally endemic species and the proportion of regional endemics present in each subregion are both strongly related to the geographic shape of subregional patches of rainforest, independent of rainforest area, within Australian tropical rainforests. Shape has a more significant influence on regional endemism than area, and area has a stronger influence on species richness. These patterns were congruent for all terrestrial vertebrate classes manuals, birds, reptiles and frogst, and for the four groups combined. Our results suggest that the combination of current rainforest area and shape are an index of the relative susceptibility of each area of rainforest to historical contractions, with the implication that historical habitat fluctuations, coupled with subsequent localized extinctions species sifting; have been extremely important processes in determining current patterns of endemism in Australia''s wet tropical rainforests. This hypothesis is supported by the highly nested structure of the subregional distribution patterns.     

Biodiversity in the Gulf of Guinea: an overview

Patterns of species-richness and endemism in the Gulf of Guinea reflect the region's biogeographic history. Bioko is a continental-shelf island that was recently connected to the African mainland, whereas Príncipe, São Tomé and Annobón are truly oceanic and have never been connected with each other or with the mainland. As a result, Bioko supports a much more diverse flora and fauna but with relatively low levels of endemism at the species level, whereas the oceanic islands are relatively depauperate because of their isolation but rich in endemic taxa. Species endemism is 0–3% on Bioko for angiosperms, bats, birds, reptiles and amphibians, compared with much higher values on Principe for these same taxa of 8% (plants) to 100% (amphibians), on São Tomé between 14% (plants) and 100% (amphibians), and on Annobón 0% (bats) to 71% (reptiles). On a global scale, for their size both Príncipe and São Tomé support unusually high numbers of single-island endemic species of birds, reptiles and amphibia. For its tiny size, Annobón is also notable for its endemic birds and reptiles. Among terrestrial molluscs the rates of endemism are in general higher than for plants and vertebrates, from ca 50% on Bioko to ca 80% on the oceanic islands. In contrast and as might be expected, only Bioko supports a rich freshwater fish fauna and it contains many endemic taxa, whereas the oceanic islands support only a few salt-tolerant species. The Gulf of Guinea islands are also important for their marine organisms, amongst which coral reef fish and marginellid molluscs show high levels of endemism, though they are not especially species-rich. The Gulf of Guinea islands are of great interest to conservationists and evolutionary biologists. Each island, of greatly differing size and degree of isolation, has acquired its unique sub-set of plants and animals separately from the neighbouring mainland, followed by adaptive radiations in situ. For this reason the conservation value of the archipelago as a whole is greater than the sum of the biodiversity contained in its individual islands. Conservation initiatives in the Gulf of Guinea should therefore ensure that representative terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats and groups of organisms are targeted in a co-ordinated manner among the islands.     

Endemic and threatened tetrapods in the restingas of the biodiversity corridors of Serra do Mar and of the Central da Mata Atlantica in eastern Brazil.

Biodiversity corridors comprise a mosaic of land uses connecting fragments of natural forest across a landscape. Two such corridors have been established along the eastern coast of Brazil: the Serra do Mar and the Central da Mata Atlantica corridors, along which most of the coastal plains are restinga areas. In this study, we analyze the present status of the endemic and endangered terrestrial vertebrates of both corridors. We sampled 10 restingas in both corridors, recording species of amphibians, reptiles, birds, and mammals. Some restingas harbor a relatively large number of endemic species,and two main regions of endemism can be identified along the restingas of both corridors: the coastal restingas from northern Espirito Santo State to southern Bahia State (between Linhares, ES, and Tarancoso, BA), and the coastal region between the restingas of Maricá and Jurubatiba, Rio de Janeiro State. Six species of terrestrial vertebrates considered threatened with extinction are found in the restingas of Serra do Mar and Central da Mata Atlantica biodiversity corridors (Liolaemus lutzae, Formicivora littoralis, Mimus gilvus, Schistochlamys melanopis, and Trinomys eliasi). The region located between the restinga of Maricá and that of Jurubatiba is of special relevance for the conservation of vertebrate species of the restingas of the corridors because a considerable number of threatened species of terrestrial vertebrates are found there. We strongly recommend efforts to develop checklists of threatened faunas for the States of Espirito Santo and Bahia.     

Global comparisons of beta diversity among mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians across spatial scales and taxonomic ranks

Beta diversity is the change in species composition among areas in a geographic region. The proportion of species shared between two areas often decreases when the distance separating them increases, leading to an increase in beta diversity. This study compares beta diversity among four classes of terrestrial vertebrates （mammals, birds, reptiles, and amphibians） at both regional （biogeographic realm） and global extents, using the same sets of faunal sample units for all four groups in each comparison. Beta diversity is lower for the two endothermic taxa （birds and mammals） than for the two ectothermic taxa （reptiles and amphibians） in all six biogeographic realms examined. When the four taxa in the six biogeographic realms are combined, beta diversity at the species rank is higher than that of the genus rank by a factor of 1.24, and is higher than that of the family rank by a factor of 1.85. The ratio of beta diversity at the genus rank to that at the family rank is 1.50. Beta diversity is slightly higher for ecoregions of 5000-99,999 km^2 than for ecoregions of 100,000-5,000,000 km^2.     

Conservation priorities in the Southern Central Andes: mismatch between endemism and diversity hotspots in the regional flora

North western Argentina, the southernmost portion of the tropical Andes, contains one of the main areas of endemism within the Southern Cone, as well as one of the main diversity hotspots of the country. Historically its reserve area systems have been located in the richest ecoregion of the area; the Southern Andean Yungas. We evaluated the effectiveness of the current protected areas in preserving the endemic flora of the region. The distributions of 505 endemic species were either modeled or included as observed data to determine endemism hotspots in each ecoregion. The endemic species were mainly found in arid ecoregions such as the High Monte and the Central Andean Puna, as well as in the transition zones between these regions and the Southern Andean Yungas. We found that more than 1/3 of the endemic species are unprotected in their entire ranges by the current system, while nearly half of the species are protected in only 5 % of their distribution ranges. New priority areas were chosen to increase the effectiveness based on the irreplaceability concept. We show that adding 251 new cells of 100 km² each would improve the protection values and convert the system to effective. The present paper highlights that priorities set on the basis of species richness may not successfully conserve areas of high plant endemism. However, zoologist would have to realize similar assessments in the endemic fauna in order to find the optimal designed of protected areas system to conserve both the endemic flora and fauna in the Southern Central Andes.     

Environment–richness relationships for mammals,birds, reptiles,and amphibians at global and regional scales

Climate has been routinely indicated as a major determinant of broad-scale species richness patterns for a variety of taxa, but studies vary widely in attributing richness variation to the broad-scale distribution of energy, water, ecosystem productivity, habitat heterogeneity, or some combination thereof. Here, I report global and regional environment–richness relationships for the four classes of terrestrial vertebrates (mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians) using identical sample units and the same set of climate (temperature, precipitation, annual actual evapotranspiration), productivity (normalized difference vegetation index), and topographic (elevation range) variables. My results strongly support concomitant availability of energy and water as the principal constraint on global richness for all vertebrate groups except reptiles, which are largely constrained by temperature. However, environment–richness models for all taxonomic groups varied widely when applied to single (continental-scale) biogeographic realms. In particular, I found strong support for the ‘water–energy dynamics hypothesis’ that models richness as a function of ambient energy (temperature) in high latitudes and water availability (precipitation) at low latitudes, partially independent of productivity. Ectotherm groups were more constrained by temperature than endotherms, and amphibians were more constrained by water availability than other groups. Although habitat heterogeneity, measured as elevation range, was a consistent contributor to global and regional richness models for all groups, its contribution was always minor compared to other variables. I conclude that temperature and water availability are key variables for modeling broad-scale vertebrate richness, but there remains significant room for taxon-specific modeling approaches and for the inclusion of non-climate factors related to evolutionary history and faunal assembly in different regions.     

Conservation of Neotropical carnivores under different prioritization scenarios: mapping species traits to minimize conservation conflicts

Aim To define priority sets of ecoregions that should be sufficiently covered in a reserve system to represent all Neotropical carnivores (Mammalia: Carnivora) under three distinct conservation scenarios. Location The Neotropical region. Methods We used broad‐scale biogeographical data of species distribution to define priority sets of ecoregions for conservation of carnivores and mapped four species traits (phylogenetic diversity, body size, rarity and extinction risk), which were used as constraints in prioritization analyses, based on the complementarity concept. We proposed three scenarios: a very vulnerable one, one of species persistence and another of lower human impact. We used the simulated annealing algorithm to generate ecoregion‐irreplaceability pattern and to find the combinations of ecoregions in each conservation scenario. Results We found that only 8% of Neotropical ecoregions are needed to represent all 64 carnivore species at least once. Rain forest ecoregions harbour a greater amount of carnivore phylogenetic diversity, whereas the tropical Andes hold large‐bodied carnivores. Western and southern Neotropical ecoregions have more rare species as well as higher threat levels. In the lower human‐impact set, 12 ecoregions were needed to represent all species. These coincide only partially with those attained by other prioritization scenarios. In the very vulnerable and in the species persistence scenario, 14 and 12 ecoregions were represented, respectively, and the congruence between either one and the lower human‐impact set was fairly low. Shared ecoregions are located in Mexico, Costa Rica, northern Amazon and western Chile. Main conclusions Our results highlight areas of particular interest for the conservation of Neotropical carnivores. The inclusion of evolutionary and ecological traits in conservation assessments and planning helps to improve reserve networks and therefore to increase the effectiveness of proposed priority sets. We suggest that conservation action in the highlighted areas is likely to yield the best return of investments at the ecoregion scale.     

Global species richness of hydrobiid snails determined by climate and evolutionary history

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Patterns of richness and endemism of the Mexican herpetofauna,a matter of spatial scale?

The goal of this study was to compare the richness and endemism patterns of Mexican species of amphibians and reptiles at different spatial scales. We used the best available dataset of distributional ranges generated from ecological niche models and employed geographically weighted regressions (GWRs) to test whether richness and endemism were related. Patterns were found to vary with the scale used for richness and endemism, and these patterns were not coincident. The results showed that: (1) only relatively coarse spatial scales can address latitudinal patterns in amphibians and reptiles, and, in fine scales, they are related to topographic formations; (2) areas of greatest endemism for amphibians and reptiles are located in the highlands of the central or southern part of the country, although not necessarily in the same specific highlands for both groups; (3) there is a strong average correlation between richness and endemism for both groups, indicating that the same factors contribute to both patterns, but these factors act differentially in terms of regions among amphibians and reptiles; and (4) the scale at which the analysis is conducted is important, and we believe that careful consideration of spatial scale must be undertaken to avoid false conclusions. © 2013 The Linnean Society of London, Biological Journal of the Linnean Society, 2014, 111 , 305–316.     

Area prioritization and performance evaluation of the conservation area network for the Moroccan herpetofauna: a preliminary assessment

The integration of spatial area prioritization algorithms and species distribution modelling has shown great promise in conservation planning in recent years. However, despite the fact that reptiles and amphibians have the highest threat status of all terrestrial vertebrates, these species are often under-represented in conservation planning. The Kingdom of Morocco possesses the richest and most varied herpetofauna in the Maghreb and the western Mediterranean, and is characterized by high species richness, endemism and number of European relict species. Despite the fact that Moroccan reptiles and amphibians have been the subject of numerous studies by a large number of international herpetologists since the beginning of the 20th century, few or none of these concerned their conservation. This study had three main objectives: (1) to identify those areas that harbour the highest species richness; (2) to evaluate the existing and proposed future ‘important biological and ecological sites’ (SIBES) conservation area network (CAN) with respect to their ability to protect the herpetofauna adequately; and (3) to identify priority areas into which the existing protected areas can be augmented. We used maximum-entropy species distribution modelling to run distribution models for 11 amphibian and 86 reptile species (27.6% endemics and 12.4% threatened) for which we had 2,170 single geographic records. A total of 97 models were used to create a richness map of the Moroccan herpetofauna and thereby detect both areas of high species richness and the distribution patterns of individual species. This map was subsequently used as a basis for performance evaluation of the CAN and area prioritization using the ConsNet conservation planning software initialized by “Rarity” first, while using representation targets of 5% and 10%. Additionally, the proposed future Moroccan CAN (SIBES) was evaluated in terms of its overlay and proximity with ConsNet solutions using visual interpretation and distance measurements in a GIS. Our results show that Moroccan herpetofauna is poorly protected under the existing and future CAN. Prioritization of areas shows that a major increase in conservation area is required to guarantee the persistence of individual herpetofauna species even with a global minimum representation target of only 10%. An increase of the existing CAN is especially needed along parts of the Atlantic coast, in the north-western Mediterranean region, on the north-eastern Moroccan coast, as well as in several areas in the Sahara, notably vast proportions of the Vallée du Haut and Bas Draa.     

An Evaluation of the Contribution of Cultivated Allspice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Pimenta Dioca</Emphasis>) to Vertebrate Biodiversity Conservation in Nicaragua

Tropical deforestation has emerged as one of the most important conservation challenges of our time, both because of the high species diversity and rates of endemism of tropical forests, and because of the rapid rate at which this process is proceeding. Recent studies indicate that areas of low-intensity agroforestry have similar levels of vertebrate diversity as some primary habitats, leading some researchers and conservationists to conclude that this type of commodity production could contribute to the conservation of biodiversity. We compared the composition of bird, mammal and herpetofaunal communities in primary forest, secondary forest, and pasture—and within the allspice productive systems that have replaced pasture. We found that mammal species richness was higher in primary forest than all other habitats; however for resident and migrant birds, amphibians and reptiles, species richness was similar between primary forest and the other habitats. Despite similarities in overall numbers of species, there were numerous species that were encountered only in primary habitats. We conclude that the cultivation of allspice in a mixed productive system can offset some of the losses to biodiversity; however it should be complemented by the establishment and maintenance of protected areas to accommodate populations of primary forest specialists that are unable to persist in altered habitats.     

Spatial Biodiversity Patterns of Madagascar's Amphibians and Reptiles

Madagascar has become a model region for testing hypotheses of species diversification and biogeography, and many studies have focused on its diverse and highly endemic herpetofauna. Here we combine species distribution models of a near-complete set of species of reptiles and amphibians known from the island with body size data and a tabulation of herpetofaunal communities from field surveys, compiled up to 2008. Though taxonomic revisions and novel distributional records arose since compilation, we are confident that the data are appropriate for inferring and comparing biogeographic patterns among these groups of organisms. We observed species richness of both amphibians and reptiles was highest in the humid rainforest biome of eastern Madagascar, but reptiles also show areas of high richness in the dry and subarid western biomes. In several amphibian subclades, especially within the Mantellidae, species richness peaks in the central eastern geographic regions while in reptiles different subclades differ distinctly in their richness centers. A high proportion of clades and subclades of both amphibians and reptiles have a peak of local endemism in the topographically and bioclimatically diverse northern geographic regions. This northern area is roughly delimited by a diagonal spanning from 15.5°S on the east coast to ca. 15.0°S on the west coast. Amphibian diversity is highest at altitudes between 800–1200 m above sea-level whereas reptiles have their highest richness at low elevations, probably reflecting the comparatively large number of species specialized to the extended low-elevation areas in the dry and subarid biomes. We found that the range sizes of both amphibians and reptiles strongly correlated with body size, and differences between the two groups are explained by the larger body sizes of reptiles. However, snakes have larger range sizes than lizards which cannot be readily explained by their larger body sizes alone. Range filling, i.e., the amount of suitable habitat occupied by a species, is less expressed in amphibians than in reptiles, possibly reflecting their lower dispersal capacity. Taxonomic composition of communities assessed by field surveys is largely explained by bioclimatic regions, with communities from the dry and especially subarid biomes distinctly differing from humid and subhumid biomes.