At a global scale, the Philippines is a conservation priority combining exceptional levels of endemism with exceptional levels of threat (Myers et al. 2000; Brooks et al. 2002; Sodhi et al. 2004, 2010). Systematic conservation planning based on reliable biodiversity information is urgently needed to prevent species extinctions in the Philippines (Posa et al. 2008). Our objective is to analyze cross-taxon congruence patterns selleck kinase inhibitor for a Philippine tropical forest region

at a moderate spatial scale level (ca. 100 × 35 km) to assess whether the use of surrogate taxa for site-specific conservation planning would present difficulties in this conservation hotspot. An additional objective was to assess the relative conservation importance of the four forest types for the three species groups in the Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park (NSMNP). Materials and methods Study area Field data were gathered in the Northern Sierra Madre Mountain Range which runs along the eastern part of northern Luzon with peaks reaching a maximum elevation of ca. 1,850 m. Nearly

the entire Sierra Madre Mountain Range and the adjacent coastal waters of the Pacific Ocean in Isabela Province were declared a protected area in 1997: Ku-0059436 in vivo the NSMNP. Covering 3,607 km2 (N 16°30′–17°35′, E 122°–122°30′) this is the largest protected area of the Philippines The NSMNP represents the majority of habitats and bird species found on Luzon Island (Mallari and Jensen 1993; Poulsen 1995). The climate of the area is tropical and is dominated by the northeast (November–April) and southwest (May–October) monsoons with the driest period between February and

May. Rainfall is strongly influenced Smoothened by frequent typhoons and varies from an average of 1,649 mm (range 967–2,596 mm in the period 1975–2004) in Tuguegarao west of the mountains to an average of 3,534 mm (range 2,016–5,740 mm in 1975–2004) in Casiguran on the eastern side of the Sierra Madre south of the NSMNP (PAGASA 2005). The Philippines is part of the Malesian floristic region (Collins et al. 1991). Several distinct forest types can be found in the NSMNP (Fig. 1) related to differences in soil characteristics, elevation and location. (1) Mangrove forest is found in shallow waters in secluded coastal bays and coves under saline conditions. Canopy height of mangrove forest in the NSMNP is 15 m at maximum and tree density (of trees >1 cm diameter at breast height) in a 1 ha study plot was 3,769 individuals per ha (Garcia 2002a). (2) Lowland evergreen rain forest, numerically dominated by Dipterocarpaceae and therefore commonly called lowland dipterocarp forest (Collins et al. 1991), is found on well-drained clay loam and humus rich soils at elevations below 800 m. In the NSMNP, the canopy layer of this forest type is at 30–35 m above ground with emergent trees up to 40 m.