The main hotspots of biodiversity are in the Southeast of the country, but protected habitats are overwhelmingly in the West.

John (Bo) Baxter / Via Institute for Ecological Research Bluemask darter (Etheostoma akatulo)

The Grand Canyon. Death Valley. Yellowstone. The National Park System, dubbed "America's Best Idea," has successfully preserved some of the country's most majestic landscapes. But when it comes to providing havens for vulnerable species of plants and animals, National Parks and other protected areas are seriously missing the mark. That's the message from an unprecedented effort to map areas with the most species diversity across the continental United States. As the maps below show, there is little overlap between these hotspots and habitats that have the strongest protection from development. "We are not protecting the places where there is a concentration of biodiversity," Stuart Pimm, a conservation biologist at Duke University and a member of the mapping team, told BuzzFeed News.

Amphibian Diversity Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic amphibian species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection. The darkest shade corresponds to strict nature reserves, designated wilderness areas, and National Parks. Data for all maps sourced from Clinton Jenkins/BiodiversityMapping.org. Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic amphibian species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection. The darkest shade corresponds to strict nature reserves, designated wilderness areas, and National Parks. Data for all maps sourced from Clinton Jenkins/BiodiversityMapping.org. ← Slide → Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic amphibian species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection. The darkest shade corresponds to strict nature reserves, designated wilderness areas, and National Parks. Data for all maps sourced from Clinton Jenkins/BiodiversityMapping.org.

Fish Diversity Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic fish species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection. Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic fish species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection. ← Slide → Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic fish species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection.

Conservation biologists often study animals and plants on the U.S. government's endangered list, or those rated by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) as being globally threatened with extinction. But there are relatively few of the latter, and protection under the U.S. Endangered Species Act is influenced by politics as well as science, Clinton Jenkins, the team's mapping specialist, told BuzzFeed News. To get a better overview of how protected lands are preserving the nation's unique wildlife, Pimm, Jenkins, and their colleagues instead concentrated on "endemic" species, meaning those found only in the United States. "Those are the ones that only the U.S. can protect," said Jenkins, who is based at the Institute for Ecological Research in Nazaré Paulista, Brazil. The new analysis, which maps the geographic distribution of more than 1,200 endemic U.S. species, appears Monday in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. It suggests that national conservation priorities need a major rethink. "This is the most important scientific report of at least the last decade on the distribution of America's parks and biodiversity," said E.O. Wilson of Harvard University, one of the pioneers of biodiversity studies, in a statement.

To guide future efforts to protect America’s natural heritage, the researchers have also drawn up a new map of areas that should be the top priorities. Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The highest priority areas for conservation, which are hotspots for endemic species, are shown in red. Lower priorities are in shades of yellow and blue, with warmer colors indicating higher priorities.

To produce this map, the researchers gave extra weight to areas that provide a home to species that live over small ranges — as these species are at the greatest risk of extinction if their habitats are destroyed. "It's the best general predictor of vulnerability," Jenkins said. Species that are especially vulnerable include the bluemask darter, an endangered fish restricted to the Caney Fork River system in Tennessee, and Weller's salamander, found only on the upper slopes of the southern Appalachian Mountains. Pimm is critical of national conservation organizations for not making the Southeast U.S. a higher priority. "Some parts of our country are more important than others," he said. "They haven't been getting sufficient national attention." Peter Kareiva, chief scientist with The Nature Conservancy (TNC) — the largest conservation organization in the country — agrees that the Southeast needs stronger protection, but rejects the criticism of current efforts. TNC's own list of priority areas overlaps in part with the new map, he told BuzzFeed News, but donors typically want to see their money used to protect habitats in their own backyards. "More money goes to New York than to the Southeast because there's so much money in New York," Kareiva said. "That's a reality." Preserving habitats is also easier in the sparsely populated West, where the federal government is the biggest landowner.

Reptile Diversity Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic reptile species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection. Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic reptile species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection. ← Slide → Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic reptile species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection.

Mammal Diversity Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic mammal species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection. Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic mammal species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection. ← Slide → Peter Aldhous for BuzzFeed News The diversity of endemic mammal species is shown in shades of pink, according to the number of species at any location. Protected lands are shown in three shades of green, according to the strength of the protection.