Overfishing drives over one-third of all sharks and rays toward a global extinction crisis

AbstractThe co-extinction of parasitic taxa and their host species is considered a common phenomenon in the current global extinction crisis. However, information about the conservation status of parasitic taxa is scarce. We present a global list of co-extinct and critically co-endangered parasitic lice (Phthiraptera), based on published data on their host-specificity and their hosts’ conservation status according to the IUCN Red List. We list six co-extinct and 40 (possibly 41) critically co-endangered species. Additionally, we recognize 2–4 species that went extinct as a result of conservation efforts to save their hosts. Conservationists should consider preserving host-specific lice as part of their efforts to save species.

Download Full-text

Areal sizes of high, intermediate, low and total suitable habitats are correlated to the global extinction risk for mammals

Archives of Biological Sciences ◽

10.2298/abs1403963c ◽

2014 ◽

Vol 66 (3) ◽

pp. 963-967

Author(s):

You-Hua Chen

Keyword(s):

Risk Assessment ◽

Extinction Risk ◽

Species Conservation ◽

Species Extinction ◽

Terrestrial Mammals ◽

Global Extinction ◽

Extinction Risk Assessment ◽

Suitable Habitats ◽

Threatened Status ◽

Polyserial Correlation

The relationships between areal sizes of high, intermediate, low, and total sum of habitats with low, intermediate and high suitability habitat ranges, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threatened status of global terrestrial mammals were studied. Polyserial correlation analysis showed that all types of areal size closely and positively correlated with IUCN categories of threatened species. The results indicate that area-based extinction risk assessment is feasible and reliable in species? conservation prioritization. Furthermore, the partial polyserial correlation test indicates that significant correlations between the IUCN threatened status of species and range sizes of high, intermediate and low suitability habitats are not influenced by the polyserial correlation between IUCN threatened status and total suitability habitat range size. Thus, the prediction of species? extinction risks can be accurately fulfilled by evaluating the areal size of any one of total, high, intermediate or low suitability ranges. The present study implies that if the area size information of a totally suitable range is not available for species? extinction risk assessment, the usage of areal sizes from any parts of suitable habitats (high, intermediate or low) are effective surrogates.

Download Full-text

A Research Agenda for Urban Biodiversity in the Global Extinction Crisis

BioScience ◽

10.1093/biosci/biaa141 ◽

2020 ◽

Author(s):

Sonja Knapp ◽

Myla F J Aronson ◽

Ela Carpenter ◽

Adriana Herrera-Montes ◽

Kirsten Jung ◽

...

Keyword(s):

Urban Areas ◽

Research Agenda ◽

Biodiversity Loss ◽

Urban Biodiversity ◽

Rapid Urbanization ◽

Research Education ◽

Biodiversity Research ◽

Service Relationships ◽

Global Extinction ◽

Underlying Processes

Abstract Rapid urbanization and the global loss of biodiversity necessitate the development of a research agenda that addresses knowledge gaps in urban ecology that will inform policy, management, and conservation. To advance this goal, we present six topics to pursue in urban biodiversity research: the socioeconomic and social–ecological drivers of biodiversity loss versus gain of biodiversity; the response of biodiversity to technological change; biodiversity–ecosystem service relationships; urban areas as refugia for biodiversity; spatiotemporal dynamics of species, community changes, and underlying processes; and ecological networks. We discuss overarching considerations and offer a set of questions to inspire and support urban biodiversity research. In parallel, we advocate for communication and collaboration across many fields and disciplines in order to build capacity for urban biodiversity research, education, and practice. Taken together we note that urban areas will play an important role in addressing the global extinction crisis.

Download Full-text

Harnessing tipping points in complex ecological networks

Journal of The Royal Society Interface ◽

10.1098/rsif.2019.0345 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 16 (158) ◽

pp. 20190345 ◽

Cited By ~ 6

Author(s):

Junjie Jiang ◽

Alan Hastings ◽

Ying-Cheng Lai

Keyword(s):

Real World ◽

Management Strategy ◽

Ecological Networks ◽

Tipping Point ◽

Active Management ◽

Reduced Model ◽

Tipping Points ◽

Two Dimensional ◽

Pollinator Species ◽

Global Extinction

Complex and nonlinear ecological networks can exhibit a tipping point at which a transition to a global extinction state occurs. Using real-world mutualistic networks of pollinators and plants as prototypical systems and taking into account biological constraints, we develop an ecologically feasible strategy to manage/control the tipping point by maintaining the abundance of a particular pollinator species at a constant level, which essentially removes the hysteresis associated with a tipping point. If conditions are changing so as to approach a tipping point, the management strategy we describe can prevent sudden drastic changes. Additionally, if the system has already moved past a tipping point, we show that a full recovery can occur for reasonable parameter changes only if there is active management of abundance, again due essentially to removal of the hysteresis. This recovery point in the aftermath of a tipping point can be predicted by a universal, two-dimensional reduced model.

Download Full-text

Estimation of genetic diversity in seedlings of Plantago algarbiensis, an endangered species endemic to the south of Portugal in risk of global extinction

Revista Brasileira de Botânica ◽

10.1007/s40415-016-0340-5 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 40 (1) ◽

pp. 257-264 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Natacha Coelho ◽

Carmen Martín ◽

María Elena González-Benito ◽

Anabela Romano

Keyword(s):

Genetic Diversity ◽

Endangered Species ◽

The South ◽

Global Extinction

Download Full-text

The probabilities of extinction in a branching random walk on a strip

Journal of Applied Probability ◽

10.1017/jpr.2020.35 ◽

2020 ◽

Vol 57 (3) ◽

pp. 811-831

Author(s):

Peter Braunsteins ◽

Sophie Hautphenne

Keyword(s):

Random Walk ◽

Iterative Method ◽

Fixed Points ◽

Branching Processes ◽

Extinction Probability ◽

Branching Random Walk ◽

Infinite Type ◽

Hessenberg Form ◽

Global Extinction ◽

Countably Infinite

AbstractWe consider a class of multitype Galton–Watson branching processes with a countably infinite type set $\mathcal{X}_d$ whose mean progeny matrices have a block lower Hessenberg form. For these processes, we study the probabilities $\textbf{\textit{q}}(A)$ of extinction in sets of types $A\subseteq \mathcal{X}_d$ . We compare $\textbf{\textit{q}}(A)$ with the global extinction probability $\textbf{\textit{q}} = \textbf{\textit{q}}(\mathcal{X}_d)$ , that is, the probability that the population eventually becomes empty, and with the partial extinction probability $\tilde{\textbf{\textit{q}}}$ , that is, the probability that all types eventually disappear from the population. After deriving partial and global extinction criteria, we develop conditions for $\textbf{\textit{q}} < \textbf{\textit{q}}(A) < \tilde{\textbf{\textit{q}}}$ . We then present an iterative method to compute the vector $\textbf{\textit{q}}(A)$ for any set A. Finally, we investigate the location of the vectors $\textbf{\textit{q}}(A)$ in the set of fixed points of the progeny generating vector.

Download Full-text

Potential Consequences of Regional Species Loss for Global Species Richness: A Quantitative Approach for Estimating Global Extinction Probabilities

Environmental Science & Technology ◽

10.1021/acs.est.8b06173 ◽

2019 ◽

Vol 53 (9) ◽

pp. 4728-4738 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Koen J. J. Kuipers ◽

Stefanie Hellweg ◽

Francesca Verones

Keyword(s):

Species Richness ◽

Quantitative Approach ◽

Species Loss ◽

Extinction Probabilities ◽

Global Extinction

Download Full-text

Geographic variation in turnover and recovery from the Late Ordovician mass extinction

Paleobiology ◽

10.1666/06039.1 ◽

2007 ◽

Vol 33 (3) ◽

pp. 435-454 ◽

Cited By ~ 25

Author(s):

Andrew Z. Krug ◽

Mark E. Patzkowsky

Keyword(s):

Mass Extinction ◽

Late Ordovician ◽

Mass Extinctions ◽

Climatic Fluctuations ◽

Extinction Rates ◽

Large Size ◽

Extinction Event ◽

Global Extinction ◽

Rate Of Recovery ◽

Extinction Events

AbstractUnderstanding what drives global diversity requires knowledge of the processes that control diversity and turnover at a variety of geographic and temporal scales. This is of particular importance in the study of mass extinctions, which have disproportionate effects on the global ecosystem and have been shown to vary geographically in extinction magnitude and rate of recovery.Here, we analyze regional diversity and turnover patterns for the paleocontinents of Laurentia, Baltica, and Avalonia spanning the Late Ordovician mass extinction and Early Silurian recovery. Using a database of genus occurrences for inarticulate and articulate brachiopods, bivalves, anthozoans, and trilobites, we show that sampling-standardized diversity trends differ for the three regions. Diversity rebounded to pre-extinction levels within 5 Myr in the paleocontinent of Laurentia, compared with 15 Myr or longer for Baltica and Avalonia. This increased rate of recovery in Laurentia was due to both lower Late Ordovician extinction rates and higher Early Silurian origination rates relative to the other continents. Using brachiopod data, we dissected the Rhuddanian recovery into genus origination and invasion. This analysis revealed that standing diversity in the Rhuddanian consisted of a higher proportion of invading taxa in Laurentia than in either Baltica or Avalonia. Removing invading genera from diversity counts caused Rhuddanian diversity to fall in Laurentia. However, Laurentian diversity still rebounded to pre-extinction levels within 10 Myr of the extinction event, indicating that genus origination rates were also higher in Laurentia than in either Baltica or Avalonia. Though brachiopod diversity in Laurentia was lower than in the higher-latitude continents prior to the extinction, increased immigration and genus origination rates made it the most diverse continent following the extinction. Higher rates of origination in Laurentia may be explained by its large size, paleogeographic location, and vast epicontinental seas. It is possible that the tropical position of Laurentia buffered it somewhat from the intense climatic fluctuations associated with the extinction event, reducing extinction intensities and allowing for a more rapid rebound in this region. Hypotheses explaining the increased levels of invasion into Laurentia remain largely untested and require further scrutiny. Nevertheless, the Late Ordovician mass extinction joins the Late Permian and end-Cretaceous as global extinction events displaying an underlying spatial complexity.

Download Full-text