ABSTRACT Identifying biodiversity hotspots is a key strategy for prioritising conservation efforts. However, depending on the biodiversity measures or taxonomic groups used, different areas may be prioritised, especially at broader spatial scales. For instance, areas occupied by range‐restricted taxa (endemism hotspots) may not necessarily intersect with high species diversity areas (alpha diversity hotspots) and may be overlooked in broader scale analyses dominated by signatures from wide‐ranged species. Here we examine how key measures of endemism and alpha diversity overlap within a naturally fragmented and restricted habitat dominated by Short‐Range Endemic taxa—Australia's subtropical rainforests. We focus on reptiles and amphibians (the two vertebrate groups with the most endemics) and compare distribution of hotspots derived using three biodiversity measures—Alpha Diversity, Weighted Endemism and Corrected Weighted Endemism. We also test how hotspots overlap with areas recently impacted by fires of unprecedented extent, an emerging threat to this system. Contra global differences in biodiversity patterns across tetrapods, frog and reptile alpha diversity and endemism hotspots in Australian subtropical rainforests intersect with each other and show peaks in upland areas of paleoclimatic stability. However, Corrected Weighted Endemism analyses highlight additional peripheral reptile endemism hotspots outside of Alpha Diversity hotspots, especially in the poorly known ‘vine‐thicket’ rainforest habitats of mid‐east Queensland. Analyses of the extent of two recent massive fire events show many of these peripheral hotspots of weighted endemism have been impacted, further highlighting areas such as the mid‐east Queensland vine‐thickets as a priority for targeted survey and conservation assessment. These results emphasise that bushfire, climate change and habitat loss all threaten short‐ranged endemic rainforest species, especially those in small habitat patches outside of alpha diversity hotspots and associated protected areas.
Torkkola et al. (Fri,) studied this question.