Prioritizing conservation areas for Trichoptera in the Pyrenees using climate change vulnerability information at the taxonomic and genetic levels
Year: 2026
Type: preprint
Abstract: Identifying priority conservation areas is critical in high-mountain streams (HMS), which are highly vulnerable to climate change and biodiversity loss. However, systematic conservation planning rarely integrates species vulnerability with taxonomic and intraspecific genetic diversity, potentially overlooking important dimensions of biodiversity. We evaluated the climate change vulnerability of Trichoptera species using trait-based vulnerability values and assessed how different taxonomic and genetic diversity representations influence conservation priorities. We sampled Trichoptera across 17 streams, with three sampling sites per stream, and generated three complementary biodiversity datasets based on species-level identifications and Exact Sequence Variants (ESVs) obtained via COI metabarcoding. We developed species-specific climate change vulnerability values and incorporated them into the systematic conservation planning tool MARXAN, ensuring the representation of climate-sensitive communities across alternative conservation scenarios. Integrating functional and biogeographical traits into vulnerability values revealed differences in climate change sensitivity among taxa, identifying highly vulnerable species associated with restricted distributions and specific ecological requirements. MARXAN taxonomic scenarios selected fewer, more spatially clustered sites, whereas genetic scenarios maintained a more even spatial configuration and recovered western priority sites that would have been overlooked using taxonomic features alone. MARXAN genetic scenarios identified priority areas that preserved overall taxonomic diversity while capturing higher intraspecific diversity and maintaining vulnerability. Our findings demonstrate that integrating genetic diversity and species vulnerability into conservation planning improves the identification of climate-sensitive areas and provides a robust framework for biodiversity conservation in vulnerable high-mountain freshwater ecosystems.
Source: Research Square
Language: English
Subfield: Ecology
Field: Environmental Science
Domain: Physical Sciences
SDG: Life on land
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W7204221685