Is time on our side? Strengthening the link between field efforts and conservation needs

The collection and organization of distributional data is the first crucial stage of any conservation planning action: therefore the decline in field research has implications in both the systematic, floristic and conservation fields. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effects of data updating on conservation planning and priorities. Focusing on the short time frame ranging from 2006 to 2011, we present a case study showing the rate of increase of collected data (taxa and records) and the consequential effects on the definition of areas of priority interest for plant conservation (Important Plant Areas—IPAs). We gathered data on a total of 193 taxa and 849 records with a mean rate of increase of +97 % for taxa and +166 % for records (2006/2011). This increase caused a positive rate of change in high ranking cells (+78 %) defining IPAs, while the number of low ranking cells and no data cells slightly decreased (−12 and −8 %, respectively). Our results suggest that specific investment to complete the knowledge on the distribution of selected taxa (e.g. 193 taxa represent the 7.5 % of the total vascular flora of Sardinia) would dramatically reduce both the Linnean and Wallacean shortfalls and would allow robust conservation programs to preserve the diversity of the island. Updating the IPAs on a regular basis is a good example of a process that has a low impact as well as a big potential gain especially when field research can only be performed with low intensity and small monetary investments.