Peru, a megadiverse country, has developed conservation plans for some threatened wildlife species. This study produced spatially explicit data integrating Species Distribution Models (SDMs) into a geospatial analysis of connectivity within the protected areas (PAs) network. In addition, a deforestation analysis around selected PAs was performed evaluating the related conservation implications. The use of lidar-derived vegetation vertical structure metrics from the spaceborne Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) mission was tested as an innovative data source to support ecological modelling. This country-level analysis is a useful approach to support conservation in high-biodiversity areas. Location: Peru. Methods: Occurrence data of seven threatened wildlife species were used to compute SDMs in MaxEnt using three variable sets: (i) bioclimatic and topographic, (ii) GEDI vegeta...

CONTEXT: Cacao cultivation is vital for rural economies in Peru, but its expansion often overlaps with sensitive ecosystems, raising concerns for biodiversity conservation. Despite international commitments to deforestation-free supply chains, integrated analyses combining agroecological suitability with land-use constraints remain scarce in Peru. OBJECTIVES: This study aims to identify suitable areas for cacao cultivation under multiple exclusion scenarios, evaluate conflicts with biodiversity and conservation areas, and quantify degraded lands that could provide opportunities for agroforestry-based restoration. METHODS: Cacao suitability was modelled with an ensemble of nine machine-learning algorithms using bioclimatic, edaphic, and topographic predictors. Outputs were filtered to exclude biophysical barriers and overlaid with national-scale layers of species richness, protected areas...

Subsistence family farming in Peru is increasingly constrained by ecosystem degradation, climate variability, and limited access to productive services, particularly where environmental exposure is high. This study develops an Agro-productive and Territorial Vulnerability Index (IVAPT) to evaluate environmental, ecosystem, and socioeconomic vulnerability of subsistence agriculture at the district level nationwide. The index integrates district-level agricultural survey data (ENA-2024) with multi-temporal MODIS NDVI series (2000–2024) and comprehensive climatic, topographic, land-cover, and accessibility indicators, processed through multivariate statistics. Three objective weighting schemes (ENTROPY, CRITIC, PCA) construct thematic sub-indices of Environmental Exposure (EnvExp), Ecosystem Condition (EcoCond), and Socioeconomic Capacity (SocioCap). Results show more than half of Peru's ...

Species distribution models (SDMs) provide conservationist with spatial distributions estimations of priority species. Lagothrix flavicauda (Humboldt, 1812), commonly known as the Yellow-tailed Woolly Monkey, is one of the largest primates in the New World. This species is endemic to the montane forests of northern Peru, in the departments of Amazonas, San Martín, Huánuco, Junín, La Libertad, and Loreto at elevation from1,000 to 2,800 m. It is classified as “Critically Endangered” (CR) by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as well as by Peruvian legislation. Furthermore, it is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). Research on precise estimates of its potential distribution are scare. Therefore, in this study we modeled the potential distribution area of this species in Peru, the m...

The development of anthropic activities and climate change effects impact worldwide species' ecosystems and habitats. Habitats' adequate prediction can be an important tool to assess current and future trends. In addition, it allows strategies development for their conservation. The Neltuma pallida of the forest region in northern Peru, although very significant, has experienced a decline in recent years. The objective of this research is to evaluate the current and future distribution and conservation status of N. pallida in the Peruvian dry forest under climate change (Location: Republic of Peru). A total of 132 forest presence records and 10 variables (bioclimatic, topographic, and soil) were processed and selected to obtain the current and future distribution for 2100, using Google Earth Engine (GEE), RStudio, and MaxEnt. The area under the curve values fell within the range of 0.9...

Coffee cultivation is central to rural livelihoods and Andean–Amazonian landscapes in Peru; however, it faces increasing pressure from climate change and land-use restrictions. This study aimed to assess the current and future ecological suitability of Coffea arabica at the national scale. A Maximum Entropy (MaxEnt) modeling framework was applied, integrating high-resolution bioclimatic, topographic, and edaphic variables. Model performance was robust (mean AUC = 0.858), and variable importance was evaluated using jackknife tests and contribution metrics. Elevation, precipitation of the driest quarter (bio17), soil nitrogen content, and bulk density were identified as the main determinants of habitat suitability. Under current climatic conditions, highly suitable areas cover 42,322.95 km2 (3.3% of Peru), mainly along the eastern Andean slopes. Spatial exclusion scenarios revealed a pro...