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Examining the relationship between local extinction risk and position in range.

Elizabeth H Boakes¹, Nicholas J B Isaac², Richard A Fuller³

¹Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, U.K.

Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology

|July 6, 2017

Summary

Local extinctions in Galliform species vary by region and land use. Conservation planning must consider local factors, as range contractions do not follow a single pattern.

Keywords:

Galliformes biodiversity monitoring cambio en el uso de suelo distribución de especies dynamic occupancy model ecología espacial extensión geográfica geographic range land-use change modelo de ocupación dinámica monitoreo de la biodiversidad multispecies model spatial ecology species distribution

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Area of Science:

Ecology
Conservation Biology
Biogeography

Background:

Over half of threatened species face geographic range loss, impacting conservation efforts.
Understanding where local extinctions occur within species' ranges is crucial for effective planning.
Existing research lacks consensus on whether range contractions occur at the core or edge.

Purpose of the Study:

To empirically examine the location of recent local extinctions within species' geographic ranges.
To analyze range position as a continuum and explore environmental influences on extinction patterns.
To investigate if extinction patterns differ across biogeographic realms and land-use types.

Main Methods:

Utilized point-locality data for 125 Galliform species across Palearctic and Indo-Malaya.
Employed a multispecies dynamic Bayesian occupancy model to estimate local extinction rates.
Analyzed extinction rates in relation to distance from range edge and land-use categories.

Main Results:

In the Palearctic, local extinctions occurred nearer the range edge in both natural and human-altered landscapes.
In Indo-Malaya, human-dominated landscapes showed extinctions closer to the range core, while unconverted landscapes had no clear pattern.
Extinction patterns were inconsistent, suggesting overriding local and regional influences.

Conclusions:

General spatial patterns of recent local extinction are overridden by local and regional factors.
Predicting vulnerable areas within species' distributions is complex due to varied extinction drivers.
Conservation strategies need to be tailored to specific regional and local environmental contexts.