Biodiversity hotspot assessment in the Altai Mountains transboundary region based on Mammals and Aves

exploiting the open fields for feeding. Bareland areas, though less biodiverse, provide essential habitats for certain specialized species. For example, the Pallas’s Pika prefers rocky, barren areas where it can find shelter and food. Overall, CAR and KAR have richer habitat types than MAR and RAR, and aves have richer and more balanced habitat types than mammals. The previous results show that past climate dominated LULCC, with significant changes in grassland and forest KHTs. Although the land- scape layer does not have the highest contribution to the distribution of BHs, it is foreseeable that under the combined effects of climate change and landscape change, species will inevitably be affected to some extent [46, 47]. This highlights the need for continuous monitoring and adaptive management to ensure the sustainability of these key habitats. Evaluation of protected areas coverage Countries in the Altai region have established numerous protected areas (PAs) at different lev- els within the region to protect natural landscapes and biodiversity. The coverage of RH and MR of TM and TA in PAs is shown in Fig 9. Only the RH of TM in MAR and the RH of TA in RAR failed to reach the Aichi target (17% by 2020) [48], indicating that countries in the region have made positive strides in protecting biodiversity over the past few decades. Fig 7. Elevation distribution of biodiversity hotspots. a. CAR; b. KAR; c. MAR; d. RAR. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314075.g007 PLOS ONE Biodiversity hotspot assessment in the Altai Mountains transboundary region

PLOS ONE | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0314075 December 4, 2024 12 / 20