Biogeography and Conservation of Reptilian Diversity in West Indonesia
Abstract
Uncovering and analyzing the distributional patterns of species across the landscape is central to biogeography, but these same patterns and explanations for those patterns are also critical to proper conservation and management of wildlife. Here, I use two model systems to address different aspects of challenges regarding conservation and management of natural resources across the globe. First, I use draconid lizards of the Greater Sunda Region to highlight the extent to which diversity remains undescribed in biodiverse tropical regions, and how continued biological inventory and taxonomic evaluation of those speciose groups will improve conservation strategies in the future. I also show how testing questions about historical biogeography of these diverse groups may provide important insight for conservation biologists, ecologists, and evolutionary biologists. Second, I use crocodilians of Sumatra to highlight the impacts of human pressures on the contemporary biogeography of species. In a short evolutionary time-scale, humans have drastically reshaped the distributions of species by restricting or expanding the ranges of some, while completely reshuffling the distributions of others. The ramifications of these practices to the effected ecosystems are not yet fully understood, but this work addresses questions which will hopefully contribute to a deeper understanding of human impacts on distributions, and the conservation and management response measures to be prioritized.