THE VULNERABLES: ARGENTINA'S PROTECTED AREAS FAIL TO PROTECT MARSUPIALS/LOS VULNERABLES: LAS AREAS PROTEGIDAS DE ARGENTINA NO PROTEGEN A LOS MARSUPIALES

Twenty-nine marsupial species are found in Argentina, but their spatial distribution patterns have not been analyzed in detail. We studied their richness based on individual records (IR), and their conservation status in relation to protected areas and human footprint (HF) using distribution maps (DM); we calculated species conservation values (SCV) considering aspects such as their taxonomic singularity, chorology and national conservation category. Using SCV we obtained pixel conservation values (PCV) in grids of 0.25[degrees] x 0.25[degrees], which we superimposed with the country's protected areas with different management categories and the HF. The highest richness occurs in northern and central Misiones (9-8 species IR; 13-11 species DM), while large extensions of Argentina had very low richness values (2-1 IR; 4-1 DM) and 86.7 % of the pixels had no records. The highest and lowest ecoregional richness were found in Selva Paranaense (n= 14), and in Esteros del Ibera and Bosques Patagonicos (n= 2), respectively. Ninety-three percent of the surface with marsupial presence had no protection. High PCV have 9.7 % of their surface protected. Of the total protected area, 26.4 % of the PCV were under strict conservation, and 57.5 % were under managed resources. High HF affected 35 % of the PCV. Protected areas had a low representation of high PCV, and our analyses show that the overall picture for the conservation of Argentina's marsupials is not very optimistic.