A very high number of rare species are found in the Central Andes. However, most of these areas do not have any protection figure and are increasingly threatened by human activity. These are the results of a study published by Duke University (USA).
The researchers studied the geographical distribution of some 800 species of plants and animals that are only found in the area of the Amazon basin corresponding to the Peruvian and Bolivian Andes. In their analysis they found some curious data, for example, that the greatest wealth of amphibians is found at heights of between 1,000 and 1,500 meters, or that a third of the endemisms are located, curiously, outside the national parks.
"These species need unique ecological conditions and are very vulnerable to changes in their environment or climate," explains one of the authors of the work published in the journal BCM Ecology . "We have found that about 80 percent of the areas that have the highest number of these species lack some kind of protection," he adds.
Threats include the development of large human infrastructure, mining, and climate change, which is forcing many species to migrate to greater heights to escape its effects.
