Worldwide conservation hotspots for Soricomorpha focusing on endemic island taxa: an analysis at two taxonomic levels

Identifying conservation priorities is crucial in the modern world, and biodiversità hotspots have been vital instruments in better defining the main areas requiring conservation. This paper analyzes distribution patterns of threatened Soricomorpha genera and species to evaluate whether the current biodiversity hotspots network really covers these taxa. We also analyze the Soricomorpha species that are endemic to islands worldwide in order to define the main islands in terms of both endemic species richness and threatened species richness. At the genus level, all threatened taxa are represented within hotspots, whereas 18% of the threatened species (particularly in the Afrotropics) do not occur in any biodiversity hotspot. Approximately 35% of island endemic species are threatened, particularly in the Oriental region. Most of the threatened endemics are found within forest habitats. Both mainland (Cameroon and Congo) and island (particularly Andamans, Sri Lanka, Bioko) forest ecosystems deserve the particular attention of conservation organizations. In addition, basic research on the ecology, taxonomy, and distribution of threatened Soricomorpha species (particularly in the tropical regions) is urgently needed.