Towards a Global Map of Biodiversity: Patterns in the Distribution of Restricted-Range Birds

In response to predictions of mass extinctions in the twenty-first century, birds can play a critically important role in identifying key sites for biodiversity conservation. The BirdLife Biodiversity Project has mapped the distributions of all the world's restricted-range bird species and identified the areas where they are concentrated. Re-analysis of project data originally published in 1992 has led to the identification of 218 'Endemic Bird Areas' (EBAs), defined as areas supporting two or more species with ranges of less than 50,000 km2. Point locality data for a total of 2649 such restricted-range birds were mapped using GIS to identify these areas. A large series of regional maps and six tables present the project findings in outline, and details of revisions to the original analysis are provided. In total, EBAs occupy a mere 4.5% of the Earth's land surface, and contain 73% of all globally threatened birds; research to date indicates a high congruence of endemism between birds and other life-forms, so that it is reasonable to propose that EBAs should be used as guides to general centres of endemism. Identifying refugia, the use of GIS and remote sensing, and exchange of information between biogeographers are three ways to continue this work towards a global map of biodiversity.