A dark side of conservation biology: protected areas fail in representing subterranean biodiversity

Abstract

Abstract The conservation of biodiversity is a central imperative of the 21st century. Subterranean ecosystems deliver critical nature’s contributions to people and harbour a broad diversity of poorly-understood specialized organisms that are of interest from both a conservation and evolutionary perspective. However, the subterranean biome is still systematically overlooked in global biodiversity targets and conservation agendas. The main objective of this study was to assess how far subterranean biodiversity is represented in protected areas (Natura 2000 and Emerald networks) in two global hotspots of subterranean biodiversity (the Pyrenees and the Alps). For this, we used the most complete databases of terrestrial subterranean biodiversity known to us, i.e., leiodids (beetles) from the Pyrenees and spiders from the Alps, and identified priority areas in each region using both species richness and geographic rarity patterns. Our results show the incapacity of surface protected area networks to represent subterranean fauna, as more than 70 and 90% of the identified priority areas (and the 40 and 22% of the species) are not effectively covered by protected areas in the Pyrenees and the Alps, respectively. These findings call for urgent policies and would be key to developing a coherent plan for subterranean biodiversity conservation within the European Biodiversity Strategy for 2030.