Systematic conservation planning is intended to inform spatially explicit decision making. Doing so requires that it be integrated into complex regulatory and governance processes, and there are limited instances where this has been achieved effectively. South Africa is a global leader in the application of conservation plans, the outputs of which are widely used for spatial planning and decision making in many spheres of gove...

Aim Small range size often increases a species’ susceptibility to decline. A narrow ecological niche is one factor that may cause species to inhabit a small range. We investigated whether specialized niches have made S outh A frican amphibians more vulnerable to range contractions. Location S outh A frica. Methods The S outh A frican F rog A tlas P roject is a comprehensive dataset that combines a recent biological survey with...