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