Identification of Ecological Conservation Priority Areas for Key Terrestrial Wildlife in the Guangdong–Hong Kong–Macao Greater Bay Area

Identifying ecological conservation priority areas (ECPAs) for key terrestrial wildlife species is vital for advancing biodiversity protection. However, existing studies often focus on a single taxon, overlooking the holistic features and interrelationships of biodiversity. This research centers on the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (the GBA) and targets 32 primary terrestrial wild species. By integrating the MaxEnt and Zonation models, this research predicts the ECPAs for these species and overlays the results with existing nature reserves to identify the conservation gaps, thereby proposing optimization strategies. The results show that: 1) Precipitation seasonality has a significant impact on the potential distribution of the species, and the suitable areas are mainly concentrated in areas with abundant precipitation and strong water retention capacity. 2) The ECPAs are mainly located in the northern and central mountainous and forested areas of Zhaoqing; the coastal areas of Jiangmen; the central to southern coastal areas of Zhuhai; the central and northeastern parts to coastal areas of Zhongshan; the central to coastal areas of Huizhou; the southeastern Dongguan; the central, western, and coastal areas of Shenzhen; the northern and southern Macao; and the coastal area of Hong Kong. 3) The ECPAs predicted by Zonation overlap with most of the established nature reserves, but there are still gap areas in the eastern and southern coasts of the GBA. These findings offer valuable references for ecological conservation in other regions and underscore the importance of incorporating dynamic variables such as climate change and human activities into future conservation planning. It provides effective approaches to biodiversity protection and scientific support for decision-making in nature conservation management.