Protected areas with high species, phylogenetic, and functional diversity are complementary and occur in heavily modified Cerrado landscapes

Abstract

Human population growth and anthropogenic land-use change are among the greatest threats to global biodiversity. Although protected areas are a cornerstone of conservation strategy, their design often overlooks critical ecological functions and the evolutionary history of species. Here, we evaluated whether species richness, phylogenetic diversity and functional diversity of birds and mammals across 101 protected areas in Brazil’s Cerrado biome are threatened by anthropogenic pressures, and tested the relationships among these three biodiversity dimensions. We report three main findings. First, protected areas with the highest values of both phylogenetic and functional diversity are concentrated in heavily altered landscapes. Second, phylogenetic and functional diversity were only weakly and positively correlated in birds, and not related in mammals. These results show that evolutionary history is not a reliable predictor of ecological function. Therefore, conserving the Cerrado’s biodiversity requires (1) urgent action to mitigate human impacts within protected areas, and (2) targeted strategies that independently address these complementary dimensions of biodiversity. Our findings highlight the need for multifaceted conservation approaches in this threatened biodiversity hotspot.