Abstract Conservation resources are limited and need to be used where they can be most effective. Deciding where within a species range to implement conservation interventions requires knowledge of where threats operate and consideration of multiple spatial issues concerning patterns in abundance across species' ranges, and geographical and environmental gradients in these and other traits across species' ranges. Although these biogeographical patterns have been of great interest to ecologists for many years, the implications of these patterns for conservation are often unclear. Here we review these patterns in the context of targeting spatial conservation. We find that an inconsistent use of terminology, a lack of consistent rules and the use of imperfect datasets, hampers us drawing firm conclusions on the nature of these patterns. Evidence that abundance and ecological traits change systematically towards range edges is inconclusive. Abundance variation is influenced by many factors independent of position within a species range, including habitat type, habitat quality, environment, interspecific competition, dispersal ecology and metapopulation dynamics. This results in complex textured abundance patterns compared to a simple theoretical core-edge gradient. We conclude that any conservation practitioner looking to target the location of interventions will need to examine these patterns and processes for the species of interest. Current knowledge does not adequately inform spatial conservation prioritization for single-species conservation programmes and incorporating the complexities of spatial processes is challenging. The development of tools to inform spatial targeting of resources for single- or multiple-species conservation is required urgently to enable better use of conservation resources.

中文翻译：

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跨物种范围的空间模式审查，以帮助确定保护干预措施的目标

摘要 保护资源是有限的，需要在最有效的地方使用。决定在物种范围内的何处实施保护干预措施需要了解威胁在哪里发生，并考虑涉及物种范围内丰度模式的多个空间问题，以及这些特性和物种范围内其他特征的地理和环境梯度。尽管这些生物地理模式多年来一直引起生态学家的极大兴趣，但这些模式对保护的影响往往尚不清楚。在这里，我们在以空间保护为目标的背景下回顾这些模式。我们发现术语的不一致使用、缺乏一致的规则以及使用不完美的数据集，阻碍了我们对这些模式的性质得出明确的结论。丰度和生态特征系统地朝着范围边缘变化的证据尚无定论。丰度变异受许多因素的影响，这些因素与物种范围内的位置无关，包括栖息地类型、栖息地质量、环境、种间竞争、散布生态学和集合种群动态。与简单的理论核心边缘梯度相比，这会导致复杂的纹理丰度模式。我们的结论是，任何希望针对干预地点的保护从业者都需要检查感兴趣物种的这些模式和过程。目前的知识并没有充分告知单一物种保护计划的空间保护优先级，并且整合空间过程的复杂性具有挑战性。