The conservation of tropical montane biodiversity requires a holistic approach, using genetic, ecological and geographic information to understand the effects of environmental changes across temporal scales and simultaneously addressing the impacts of multiple threats. This problem is especially acute in understudied and highly threatened areas like the Ethiopian Highlands, where accelerated land conversion and degradation is placing further pressures on biodiversity.

Extinction risk is often associated with intrinsic species traits such as larger size, higher trophic level, narrower habitat niche or smaller distribution area. Despite this, fast extinctions can also occur in species that apparently do not exhibit any of these traits. The Andalusian Buttonquail (Turnix sylvaticus sylvaticus) is a critically endangered taxon, which barely survives in a single population in western Morocco.