4.3 Giant clam protection and adaptative management
SDMs establish relationships between species occurrence records and
environmental factors using species coordinates and environmental data,
enabling the prediction of suitable habitats and distribution patterns
(Guisan et al., 2017; Hällfors et al., 2016). As field surveys have
limited coverage, SDM predictions play a crucial role as supplements in
marine biodiversity conservation efforts. In recent years, numerous
studies have utilized SDMs to identify distribution characteristics of
diverse marine taxonomic groups, providing a vital foundation for the
development of scientifically sound conservation plans (Hu et al., 2022;
Wang et al., 2023). Notably, there
is increasing momentum under the Post-2020 Global Biodiversity Framework
to raise protection targets to 30% of the ocean by 2030 (Brito-Morales
et al., 2022). Our study revealed that the potential distribution area
of T. maxima is 1,519,764.73 km2, while only
244,730.58 km2 falls within protected areas,
constituting 16.10% of the total (Fig. 8). These findings contradict
the Indo-Pacific region’s reputation as the world’s richest in terms of
marine species. Although a certain number of marine protected areas have
been established here (with a total area of approximately 459,711.65
km2), they inadequately cover the suggested priority
conservation areas identified in this study due to their scattered
distributions. The existing protected areas are not sufficiently large
or well-connected, suggesting that they may not be effective for
protecting giant clams. Therefore, management efforts should include
establishing a MPA network along the coastlines of West
Pacific-Indonesia to match the dispersal capability of giant clams.
It has been demonstrated that under future climate scenarios, global
marine species distributions are shifting at rates of tens to hundreds
of kilometers per decade (Stuart-Smith et al., 2017). In the present
study, the projected future potential distribution area of T.
maxima is 1,285,800.49 km2, with 208,080.73
km2 falling within protected areas, accounting for
16.18% (Fig. 8). Considering the impact of climate change on habitats,
it is crucial to assess whether existing protected areas can still
fulfill their original conservation functions. Additionally, management
efforts should address the effects of future climate change on habitats
in order to maintain population connectivity and adaptability in
separated regions. This requires constructing appropriate models to
understand the distribution patterns of numerous threatened species
under climate change, identifying species richness hotspots in the
Indo-Pacific core region, and evaluating the effectiveness of individual
and networked marine protected areas. Such endeavors hold significant
importance in formulating adaptive and forward-looking conservation
policies.