Work

Extinction rates under nonrandom patterns of habitat loss

Year: 2002

Type: article

Abstract: Most models that examine the effects of habitat conversion on species extinctions assume that habitat conversion occurs at random. This assumption allows predictions about extinction rates based on the species-area relationship. We show that the spatially aggregated nature of habitat conversion introduces a significant bias that may lead species-loss rates to exceed those predicted by species-area curves. Correlations between human activity and major compositional gradients, or species richness, also alter predicted species extinction rates. We illustrate the consequences of nonrandom patterns of habitat conversion by using a data set that combines the distribution of native vascular plants with human activity patterns in California.

Source: Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences

DOI: 10.1073/pnas.162064899

Authors: Eric W. Seabloom, Andy P. Dobson, David M. Stoms

Institutions: University of California, Santa Barbara, Princeton University, National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis

Language: English

Topic: Ecology and Vegetation Dynamics Studies

Subfield: Nature and Landscape Conservation

Field: Environmental Science

Domain: Physical Sciences

SDG: Life on land

Open Access status: green

Funders: National Science Foundation, Andrew W. Mellon Foundation