Authors: Nania, Dario; Lumbierres Civit, Maria;Falaschi, Mattia;Ficetola, Gentile Francesco;Pacifici, Michela;Rondinini, Carlo;

The Key Biodiversity Areas (KBA) approach, although relatively new and unexplored, is rapidly becoming an important method to identify regions of the planet hosting unique biodiversity. KBAs are identified through the implementation of standardized threshold-based criteria, which can be applied regardless of the target species and region. We developed a moving-window based methodology to scan geographical regions and detect potential KBAs under multiple criteria for target taxa. We tested the methodology on selected species of reptiles and amphibians in Italy and evaluated the response of different KBA criteria. Potential KBAs were identified for multiple species under most tested criteria. Unit size of the moving-window grid used to identify KBAs played an important role in shaping the distribution of potential KBAs, also affecting the degree of overlap between areas triggered by different criteria. New identified potential KBAs are only partially nested within current KBAs in Italy and within the national protected areas. The new methodology can be used for assessments of target taxa to identify potential KBAs. Evaluating species response to the KBA criteria can deepen our understanding of the KBA approach and how it can be improved to increase its contribution to the conservation of Earth’s biodiversity.