Mateo A. Vega-Yánez

Biogeographer, Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABIO)

Focus regions: Neotropical

Mateo A. Vega-Yánez is a biogeographer currently working at the Instituto Nacional de Biodiversidad (INABIO). His research focuses on understanding the biogeographic, evolutionary, and macroecological patterns of biodiversity, as well as assessing the effects of climate change on biological systems. In addition, he integrates data science approaches into ecological analysis, developing quantitative tools and methods for studying biodiversity at different scales.

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Articles

Evolutionary Conservation Hotspots: Key Areas for Threatened Neotropical Glassfrogs Under Climate Change Scenarios

Issue 2 — June 2026·June 16, 2026

From the journals

Evolutionary conservation hotspots: key areas for threatened Neotropical glassfrogs under climate change scenarios

Vega-Yánez, M. A., Velasco, J. A., Hutter, C. R., Franco-Mena, D., Amador, L., & Guayasamin, J. M. · PeerJ · April 2026

A continental-scale analysis combining species distribution models, phylogenetic diversity metrics, and EDGE evolutionary risk scores for 69 threatened Neotropical glassfrog species. Projects future ranges under two global circulation models and two SSP scenarios, identifies the northwest Andean montane forests of Ecuador and Colombia as critical climate refugia, and shows that less than 36% of those projected ranges overlap existing protected areas. Six species are projected to lose all suitable climatic habitat by 2080, and global phylogenetic diversity is projected to decline by 30%.

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