3.4 Identifying the conservation gaps in the Indo-Pacific core area
The distribution of potential suitable habitats was predicted by SDMs. Areas far from the coast were identified as less critical for conservation, while the most important areas tended to be coastal. From the distribution of existing protected areas (Fig. 8), it can be seen that they are scattered in different directions and present a ”point-like” pattern, greatly weakening their protective role for habitat. According to the gap analysis, the potential distribution area of T. maxima within natural protected areas is 244730.58 km2, with a protection ratio of only 16.10%, which does not match the status of the study area as a biodiversity center. Most of the potential areas for the T. maxima have not yet been protected, indicating an urgent need to expand and optimize the protected area system in the Indo-Pacific core region, moving from a ”point-like” pattern towards a ”grid-like” one, to comprehensively improve the effectiveness of species protection.
Discussion