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Threats to Biodiversity

Threats to Biodiversity

There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...

Conservation of Small Populations

Conservation of Small Populations

Small population sizes put a species at extreme risk of extinction due to a lack of variation, and a consequent decrease in adaptability. This weakens the chances of survival under pressures such as climate change, competition from other species, or new diseases. Large populations are more likely to survive pressures such as these, as such populations are more likely to harbor individuals that have genetic variants that are adaptive under new stresses. Small populations are much less likely to...

Conservation of Declining Populations

Conservation of Declining Populations

Conservation of declining population focuses on ways of detecting, diagnosing, and halting a population decline. The approach uses methods to prevent populations from going extinct.

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat Fragmentation

Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.

Population Growth

Population Growth

Population size is dynamic, increasing with birth rates and immigration, and decreasing with death rates and emigration. In ideal conditions with unlimited resources, populations can increase exponentially, which plots as a J-shaped growth rate curve of population size against time. This type of curve is characteristic of newly-introduced invasive species, or populations that have suffered catastrophic declines and are rebounding.However, realistic environmental conditions limit the number of...

Speciation Rates

Speciation Rates

Speciation can proceed at markedly different rates, and evolutionary biologists commonly describe these differences through the models of gradualism and punctuated equilibrium. Both patterns explain how new species arise, but they differ in the tempo and continuity of evolutionary change. In both cases, evolutionary change arises from heritable variation within populations, with natural selection often shaping traits that improve survival and reproduction under specific environmental conditions.

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An Integrated Micro-Device System for Coral Growth and Monitoring

An Integrated Micro-Device System for Coral Growth and Monitoring

Published on: July 21, 2023

Extinction risk escalates in the tropics.

Jana C Vamosi¹, Steven M Vamosi

¹Department of Biological Sciences, University of Calgary, Calgary, Canada. jvamosi@ucalgary.ca

|December 11, 2008

Summary

Tropical plant extinction risk is disproportionately high, challenging the idea of the tropics as a biodiversity museum. This finding has critical implications for global conservation strategies and understanding biodiversity patterns.

Area of Science:

Ecology
Conservation Biology
Biodiversity Science

Background:

The latitudinal biodiversity gradient is a key ecological pattern, with the tropics historically considered biodiversity hotspots.
The "tropical biodiversity crisis" highlights high extinction rates in tropical species, potentially altering this gradient.
Previous studies on extinction patterns, particularly for plants, have yielded conflicting results.

Purpose of the Study:

To investigate extinction risk patterns in vascular plants globally.
To determine if extinction risk in plants aligns with historical latitudinal gradients.
To assess the impact of human pressures on tropical plant extinction risk.

Main Methods:

Global analysis of extinction risk in vascular plants.

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Statistical modeling incorporating human pressure indicators (GDP, population density, forest cover change).

Comparison of plant extinction patterns with historical biodiversity gradient theories.

Main Results:

Tropical countries exhibit disproportionately higher extinction risk for vascular plants.
This pattern persists even after accounting for human pressure indicators.
Results contradict the "museum hypothesis" for plant biodiversity in the tropics.

Conclusions:

The tropics may not be a historical refuge for plant biodiversity due to elevated extinction rates.
Understanding these new extinction dynamics is crucial for effective conservation.
Further research is needed to reconcile current plant extinction patterns with historical ecological theories.