Optimizing the conservation of migratory species over their full annual cycle

Limited knowledge of the distribution, abundance, and habitat associations of migratory species introduces uncertainty about the most effective conservation actions. We used Neotropical migratory birds as a model group to evaluate contrasting approaches to land prioritization to support [≥]30% of the global abundances of 117 species throughout the annual cycle in the Western hemisphere. Conservation targets were achieved in 43% less land area in plans based on annual vs. weekly optimizations. Plans agnostic to population structure required comparatively less land area to meet targets, but at the expense of representation. Less land area was also needed to meet conservation targets when human-dominated lands were included rather than excluded from solutions. Our results point to key trade-offs between efforts minimizing the opportunity costs of conservation vs. those ensuring spatiotemporal representation of populations, and demonstrate a novel approach to the conservation of migratory species based on leading-edge abundance models and linear programming to identify portfolios of priority landscapes and inform conservation planners.