Conservation Priority Areas for Endemic and Threatened Bird Species in the Brazilian Amazon Under Climate Change: A Multifaceted Approach

ABSTRACT The Brazilian Amazon, a global center of biodiversity, hosts numerous endemic and threatened bird species, making it a critical region for assessing the impacts of climate change on biodiversity. This study evaluates how climate change may affect the taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional diversity of 43 Amazonian bird taxa and identifies priority conservation areas by integrating these biodiversity facets with climate refugia. We combined species distribution models for each taxon, functional trait data, and phylogenetic information, along with climate refugia layers representing areas suitable under present and future scenarios, totaling 75 layers, to assess current and projected diversity patterns. Spatial prioritization was conducted using Zonation 5.0 with the Additive Benefit Function (ABF), which calculates the conservation value of each cell based on the proportional representation of all taxa, to identify areas that maximize taxonomic, functional, and phylogenetic diversity under climate change. Projections for 2100 indicate significant losses across all three biodiversity facets, with priority conservation areas primarily concentrated in the eastern Amazon. Under a high‐priority scenario, protected area coverage could potentially increase from 57% to 74%. However, climate change is expected to homogenize evolutionary lineages and reduce functional diversity in bird communities, potentially compromising ecosystem functioning. Despite the identification of high‐priority conservation zones, especially in the eastern Amazon, this region faces severe anthropogenic threats, notably deforestation. Integrating taxonomic, phylogenetic, and functional perspectives into conservation planning is essential to effectively mitigate biodiversity loss under future climate conditions.