Mexico is the global center of oaks ( Quercus ) diversity, where they occupy multiple habitats and act as keystone species, providing numerous ecosystem services and economic benefits. Over 20% of Mexican oaks are threatened with extinction, highlighting the critical need for immediate conservation action. Identifying areas with high conservation value that simultaneously encompass diversity, endemism, and threat criteria can maximize conservation impact. Here, we use species distribution models generated with Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) and generalized linear models (GLMs) for 121 oak species to identify conservation priority areas by integrating measures of species richness, geographic endemism, and ecological endemism into an equally weighted multicriteria metric of conservation priority. In addition, we separately consider areas of potential hybridization, as interspecific gene flow can both threaten small populations through genetic swamping and provide adaptive benefits under changing environmental conditions. The Sierra Madre Oriental, Trans-Mexican Volcanic Belt, and Sierra Madre del Sur consistently had the highest conservation value for oaks based upon our multicriteria analysis. Areas of high potential hybridization were likewise concentrated in these regions. The median oak species’ range overlaps with 31.75 other oak species. Most importantly, ~ 80% of areas identified as high value for oak conservation were not located in legally protected areas. These findings are consistent with prior estimates of oak diversity, while providing the first integrated assessment to inform oak conservation across Mexico. Future conservation of Quercus should integrate land protection with community-based conservation and ex-situ collections, focusing on key high-value areas to maximize species diversity and strengthen forest resilience.
Loza et al. (2026) studied this question.