1
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Tomlinson S, Lomolino MV, Wood JR, Anderson A, Brown SC, Haythorne S, Perry GLW, Wilmshurst JM, Austin JJ, Fordham DA. Ecological dynamics of moa extinctions reveal convergent refugia that today harbour flightless birds. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:1472-1481. [PMID: 39048729 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-024-02449-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/17/2023] [Accepted: 05/29/2024] [Indexed: 07/27/2024]
Abstract
Human settlement of islands across the Pacific Ocean was followed by waves of faunal extinctions that occurred so rapidly that their dynamics are difficult to reconstruct in space and time. These extinctions included large, wingless birds called moa that were endemic to New Zealand. Here we reconstructed the range and extinction dynamics of six genetically distinct species of moa across New Zealand at a fine spatiotemporal resolution, using hundreds of thousands of process-explicit simulations of climate-human-moa interactions, which were validated against inferences of occurrence and range contraction from an extensive fossil record. These process-based simulations revealed important interspecific differences in the ecological and demographic attributes of moa and established how these differences influenced likely trajectories of geographic and demographic declines of moa following Polynesian colonization of New Zealand. We show that despite these interspecific differences in extinction dynamics, the spatial patterns of geographic range collapse of moa species were probably similar. It is most likely that the final populations of all moa species persisted in suboptimal habitats in cold, mountainous areas that were generally last and least impacted by people. We find that these refugia for the last populations of moa continue to serve as isolated sanctuaries for New Zealand's remaining flightless birds, providing fresh insights for conserving endemic species in the face of current and future threats.
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Affiliation(s)
- Sean Tomlinson
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
| | - Mark V Lomolino
- College of Environmental Science and Forestry, State University of New York, Syracuse, NY, USA
| | - Jamie R Wood
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
- The Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Atholl Anderson
- School of Culture, History and Language, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Stuart C Brown
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Sean Haythorne
- Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis, University of Melbourne, Parkville, Victoria, Australia
| | - George L W Perry
- School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Janet M Wilmshurst
- Ecosystems & Conservation, Manaaki Whenua - Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - Jeremy J Austin
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia
| | - Damien A Fordham
- School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
- The Environment Institute, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia, Australia.
- Center for Macroecology, Evolution, and Climate, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
- Center for Global Mountain Biodiversity, GLOBE Institute, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark.
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2
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Strandberg NA, Steinbauer MJ, Walentowitz A, Gosling WD, Fall PL, Prebble M, Stevenson J, Wilmshurst JM, Sear DA, Langdon PG, Edwards ME, Nogué S. Floristic homogenization of South Pacific islands commenced with human arrival. Nat Ecol Evol 2024; 8:511-518. [PMID: 38225430 DOI: 10.1038/s41559-023-02306-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/10/2023] [Accepted: 12/07/2023] [Indexed: 01/17/2024]
Abstract
The increasing similarity of plant species composition among distinct areas is leading to the homogenization of ecosystems globally. Human actions such as ecosystem modification, the introduction of non-native plant species and the extinction or extirpation of endemic and native plant species are considered the main drivers of this trend. However, little is known about when floristic homogenization began or about pre-human patterns of floristic similarity. Here we investigate vegetation trends during the past 5,000 years across the tropical, sub-tropical and warm temperate South Pacific using fossil pollen records from 15 sites on 13 islands within the biogeographical realm of Oceania. The site comparisons show that floristic homogenization has increased over the past 5,000 years. Pairwise Bray-Curtis similarity results also show that when two islands were settled by people in a given time interval, their floristic similarity is greater than when one or neither of the islands were settled. Importantly, higher elevation sites, which are less likely to have experienced human impacts, tended to show less floristic homogenization. While biotic homogenization is often referred to as a contemporary issue, we have identified a much earlier trend, likely driven by human colonization of the islands and subsequent impacts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nichola A Strandberg
- School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, UK.
| | - Manuel J Steinbauer
- Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) and Bayreuth Center for Sport Science (BaySpo), University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany.
- Department of Biological Sciences and Bjerknes Bergen, Bergen, Norway.
| | - Anna Walentowitz
- Department of Biogeography, University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - William D Gosling
- Department of Ecosystem and Landscape Dynamics, Institute for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Dynamics, University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands
| | - Patricia L Fall
- Department of Geography and Earth Sciences, University of North Carolina at Charlotte, Charlotte, NC, USA
| | - Matiu Prebble
- School of Earth and Environment, University of Canterbury, Christchurch, New Zealand
- School of Culture, History and Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Janelle Stevenson
- School of Culture, History and Language, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
- ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, Australian National University, Canberra, Australian Capital Territory, Australia
| | - Janet M Wilmshurst
- Long-term Ecology Laboratory, Manaaki Whenua-Landcare Research, Lincoln, New Zealand
| | - David A Sear
- School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, UK
| | - Peter G Langdon
- School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, UK
| | - Mary E Edwards
- School of Geography and Environmental Science, University of Southampton, Highfield, Southampton, UK
| | - Sandra Nogué
- Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain.
- CREAF, Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain.
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3
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Xu X, Wang C, Xu C, Yuan J, Wang G, Wu Y, Huang C, Jing H, Yang P, Xu L, Peng S, Shan F, Xia X, Jin F, Hou F, Wang J, Mi D, Ren Y, Liu Y, Irwin DM, Li X, Chen W, Li G. Genomic evolution of island birds from the view of the Swinhoe's pheasant (Lophura swinhoii). Mol Ecol Resour 2024; 24:e13896. [PMID: 37955396 DOI: 10.1111/1755-0998.13896] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 07/05/2023] [Revised: 10/26/2023] [Accepted: 10/31/2023] [Indexed: 11/14/2023]
Abstract
Island endemic birds account for the majority of extinct vertebrates in the past few centuries. To date, the evolutionary characteristics of island endemic bird's is poorly known. In this research, we de novo assembled a high-quality chromosome-level reference genome for the Swinhoe's pheasant, which is a typical endemic island bird. Results of collinearity tests suggest rapid ancient chromosome rearrangement that may have contributed to the initial species radiation within Phasianidae, and a role for the insertions of CR1 transposable elements in rearranging chromosomes in Phasianidae. During the evolution of the Swinhoe's pheasant, natural selection positively selected genes involved in fecundity and body size functions, at both the species and population levels, which reflect genetic variation associated with island adaptation. We further tested for variation in population genomic traits between the Swinhoe's pheasant and its phylogenetically closely related mainland relative the silver pheasant, and found higher levels of genetic drift and inbreeding in the Swinhoe's pheasant genome. Divergent demographic histories of insular and mainland bird species during the last glacial period may reflect the differing impact of insular and continental climates on the evolution of species. Our research interprets the natural history and population genetic characteristics of the insular endemic bird the Swinhoe's pheasant, at a genome-wide scale, provides a broader perspective on insular speciation, and adaptive evolution and contributes to the genetic conservation of island endemic birds.
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Affiliation(s)
- Xiao Xu
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Chen Wang
- Guangzhou Zoo, Guangzhou, China
- Guangzhou Collaborative Innovation Center on Science-Tech of Ecology and Landscape, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chunzhong Xu
- Shanghai Wild Animal Park Development Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - Jiaqing Yuan
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Guiqiang Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yajiang Wu
- Guangzhou Zoo, Guangzhou, China
- Guangzhou Collaborative Innovation Center on Science-Tech of Ecology and Landscape, Guangzhou, China
| | - Chen Huang
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Haohao Jing
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Peng Yang
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Lulu Xu
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Shiming Peng
- Guangzhou Zoo, Guangzhou, China
- Guangzhou Collaborative Innovation Center on Science-Tech of Ecology and Landscape, Guangzhou, China
| | - Fen Shan
- Guangzhou Zoo, Guangzhou, China
- Guangzhou Collaborative Innovation Center on Science-Tech of Ecology and Landscape, Guangzhou, China
| | - Xiaochao Xia
- Guangdong Wildlife Monitoring, Rescue and Conservation Center, Guangzhou, China
| | - Fuyuan Jin
- Guangdong Maoming Forest Park Administrative Office, Maoming, China
| | - Fanghui Hou
- Shanghai Wild Animal Park Development Co., Ltd, Shanghai, China
| | - Jinhong Wang
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Da Mi
- Xi'an Haorui Genomics Technology Co., Ltd, Xi'an, China
- Key Laboratory of Biomedical Information Engineering of Ministry of Education, School of Life Science and Technology, Xi'an Jiaotong University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yandong Ren
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Yang Liu
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - David M Irwin
- Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathobiology, University of Toronto, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
| | - Xuejuan Li
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
| | - Wu Chen
- Guangzhou Zoo, Guangzhou, China
- Guangzhou Collaborative Innovation Center on Science-Tech of Ecology and Landscape, Guangzhou, China
| | - Gang Li
- College of Life Sciences, Shaanxi Normal University, Xi'an, China
- Guangzhou Zoo, Guangzhou, China
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4
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Algeo TJ, Shen J. Theory and classification of mass extinction causation. Natl Sci Rev 2024; 11:nwad237. [PMID: 38116094 PMCID: PMC10727847 DOI: 10.1093/nsr/nwad237] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/27/2023] [Revised: 09/01/2023] [Accepted: 09/04/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Theory regarding the causation of mass extinctions is in need of systematization, which is the focus of this contribution. Every mass extinction has both an ultimate cause, i.e. the trigger that leads to various climato-environmental changes, and one or more proximate cause(s), i.e. the specific climato-environmental changes that result in elevated biotic mortality. With regard to ultimate causes, strong cases can be made that bolide (i.e. meteor) impacts, large igneous province (LIP) eruptions and bioevolutionary events have each triggered one or more of the Phanerozoic Big Five mass extinctions, and that tectono-oceanic changes have triggered some second-order extinction events. Apart from bolide impacts, other astronomical triggers (e.g. solar flares, gamma bursts and supernova explosions) remain entirely in the realm of speculation. With regard to proximate mechanisms, most extinctions are related to either carbon-release or carbon-burial processes, the former being associated with climatic warming, ocean acidification, reduced marine productivity and lower carbonate δ13C values, and the latter with climatic cooling, increased marine productivity and higher carbonate δ13C values. Environmental parameters such as marine redox conditions and terrestrial weathering intensity do not show consistent relationships with carbon-cycle changes. In this context, mass extinction causation can be usefully classified using a matrix of ultimate and proximate factors. Among the Big Five mass extinctions, the end-Cretaceous biocrisis is an example of a bolide-triggered carbon-release event, the end-Permian and end-Triassic biocrises are examples of LIP-triggered carbon-release events, and the Late Ordovician and Late Devonian biocrises are examples of bioevolution-triggered carbon-burial events. Whereas the bolide-impact and LIP-eruption mechanisms appear to invariably cause carbon release, bioevolutionary triggers can result in variable carbon-cycle changes, e.g. carbon burial during the Late Ordovician and Late Devonian events, carbon release associated with modern anthropogenic climate warming, and little to no carbon-cycle impact due to certain types of ecosystem change (e.g. the advent of the first predators around the end-Ediacaran; the appearance of Paleolithic human hunters in Australasia and the Americas). Broadly speaking, studies of mass extinction causation have suffered from insufficiently critical thinking-an impartial survey of the extant evidence shows that (i) hypotheses of a common ultimate cause (e.g. bolide impacts or LIP eruptions) for all Big Five mass extinctions are suspect given manifest differences in patterns of environmental and biotic change among them; (ii) the Late Ordovician and Late Devonian events were associated with carbon burial and long-term climatic cooling, i.e. changes that are inconsistent with a bolide-impact or LIP-eruption mechanism; and (iii) claims of periodicity in Phanerozoic mass extinctions depended critically on the now-disproven idea that they shared a common extrinsic trigger (i.e. bolide impacts).
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Algeo
- State Key Laboratory of Biogeology and Environmental Geology, China University of Geosciences—Wuhan, Wuhan430074, China
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences—Wuhan, Wuhan430074, China
- Department of Geosciences, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH45221, USA
| | - Jun Shen
- State Key Laboratory of Geological Processes and Mineral Resources, China University of Geosciences—Wuhan, Wuhan430074, China
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5
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Cooke R, Sayol F, Andermann T, Blackburn TM, Steinbauer MJ, Antonelli A, Faurby S. Undiscovered bird extinctions obscure the true magnitude of human-driven extinction waves. Nat Commun 2023; 14:8116. [PMID: 38114469 PMCID: PMC10730700 DOI: 10.1038/s41467-023-43445-2] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/06/2023] [Accepted: 11/09/2023] [Indexed: 12/21/2023] Open
Abstract
Birds are among the best-studied animal groups, but their prehistoric diversity is poorly known due to low fossilization potential. Hence, while many human-driven bird extinctions (i.e., extinctions caused directly by human activities such as hunting, as well as indirectly through human-associated impacts such as land use change, fire, and the introduction of invasive species) have been recorded, the true number is likely much larger. Here, by combining recorded extinctions with model estimates based on the completeness of the fossil record, we suggest that at least ~1300-1500 bird species (~12% of the total) have gone extinct since the Late Pleistocene, with 55% of these extinctions undiscovered (not yet discovered or left no trace). We estimate that the Pacific accounts for 61% of total bird extinctions. Bird extinction rate varied through time with an intense episode ~1300 CE, which likely represents the largest human-driven vertebrate extinction wave ever, and a rate 80 (60-95) times the background extinction rate. Thus, humans have already driven more than one in nine bird species to extinction, with likely severe, and potentially irreversible, ecological and evolutionary consequences.
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Affiliation(s)
- Rob Cooke
- UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology, Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire, OX10 8BB, UK.
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden.
- Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Box 461, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden.
| | - Ferran Sayol
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden
- Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Box 461, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden
- CREAF, E08193 Bellaterra (Cerdanyola del Vallès), Catalonia, Spain
| | - Tobias Andermann
- Department of Organismal Biology, SciLifeLab, Uppsala University, Uppsala, Sweden
| | - Tim M Blackburn
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environment Research, Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment, University College London, London, WC1E 6BT, UK
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, Regent's Park, London, NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Manuel J Steinbauer
- Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) & Bayreuth Center of Sport Science (BaySpo), University of Bayreuth, 95447, Bayreuth, Germany
| | - Alexandre Antonelli
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden
- Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Box 461, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden
- Royal Botanic Gardens Kew, Richmond, Surrey, TW9 3AE, UK
- Department of Biology, University of Oxford, Oxford, OX1 3RB, UK
| | - Søren Faurby
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 463, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden
- Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Box 461, SE-405 30, Göteborg, Sweden
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6
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Fagan B, Pitchford JW, Stepney S, Thomas CD. Increased dispersal explains increasing local diversity with global biodiversity declines. GLOBAL CHANGE BIOLOGY 2023; 29:6713-6726. [PMID: 37819684 DOI: 10.1111/gcb.16948] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/16/2023] [Revised: 08/11/2023] [Accepted: 08/28/2023] [Indexed: 10/13/2023]
Abstract
The narrative of biodiversity decline in response to human impacts is overly simplistic because different aspects of biodiversity show different trajectories at different spatial scales. It is also debated whether human-caused biodiversity changes lead to subsequent, accelerating change (cascades) in ecological communities, or alternatively build increasingly robust community networks with decreasing extinction rates and reduced invasibility. Mechanistic approaches are needed that simultaneously reconcile different aspects of biodiversity change, and explore the robustness of communities to further change. We develop a trophically structured, mainland-archipelago metacommunity model of community assembly. Varying the parameters across model simulations shows that local alpha diversity (the number of species per island) and regional gamma diversity (the total number of species in the archipelago) depend on both the rate of extirpation per island and on the rate of dispersal between islands within the archipelago. In particular, local diversity increases with increased dispersal and heterogeneity between islands, but regional diversity declines because the islands become biotically similar and local one-island and few-island species are excluded (homogenisation, or reduced beta diversity). This mirrors changes observed empirically: real islands have gained species (increased local and island-scale community diversity) with increased human-assisted transfers of species, but global diversity has declined with the loss of endemic species. However, biological invasions may be self-limiting. High-dispersal, high local-diversity model communities become resistant to subsequent invasions, generating robust species-community networks unless dispersal is extremely high. A mixed-up world is likely to lose many species, but the resulting ecological communities may nonetheless be relatively robust.
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Affiliation(s)
- Brennen Fagan
- Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York, York, UK
- Department of Mathematics, University of York, York, UK
| | - Jon W Pitchford
- Department of Mathematics, University of York, York, UK
- Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK
| | - Susan Stepney
- Department of Computer Science, University of York, York, UK
| | - Chris D Thomas
- Leverhulme Centre for Anthropocene Biodiversity, University of York, York, UK
- Department of Biology, University of York, York, UK
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7
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Matthews TJ. Evolution: The rise and fall of island dwarfs and giants. Curr Biol 2023; 33:R684-R686. [PMID: 37339596 DOI: 10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.062] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 06/22/2023]
Abstract
Islands are arenas for a range of striking evolutionary phenomena, including the island rule - the tendency for larger animals to shrink and smaller animals to enlarge. A new study of insular mammals finds such body size shifts predispose these evolutionary marvels to greater extinction risk.
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Affiliation(s)
- Thomas J Matthews
- GEES (School of Geography, Earth and Environmental Sciences) and Birmingham Institute of Forest Research, University of Birmingham, Birmingham B15 2TT, UK; CE3C - Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes/Azorean Biodiversity Group / CHANGE - Global Change and Sustainability Institute and Universidade dos Açores - Faculty of Agricultural Sciences and Environment, PT-9700-042, Angra do Heroísmo, Açores, Portugal.
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8
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Derham T, Johnson C, Martin B, Ryeland J, Ondei S, Fielding M, Brook BW. Extinction of the Tasmanian emu and opportunities for rewilding. Glob Ecol Conserv 2023. [DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2022.e02358] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/24/2022] Open
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9
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Kawakami K, Horikoshi K. Recovery or change? Differences between in seabird fauna in island ecosystems before alien mammal disturbance and after alien mammal eradication. Restor Ecol 2022. [DOI: 10.1111/rec.13579] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Kazuto Kawakami
- Forestry and Forest Products Research Institute (FFPRI) 1 Matsunosato, Tsukuba Ibaraki 305‐8687 Japan
| | - Kazuo Horikoshi
- Institute of Boninology Nishimachi, Chichijima, Ogasawara Tokyo 100‐2101 Japan
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10
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Lost bioscapes: Floristic and arthropod diversity coincident with 12th century Polynesian settlement, Nuku Hiva, Marquesas Islands. PLoS One 2022; 17:e0265224. [PMID: 35353828 PMCID: PMC8967401 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0265224] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/22/2021] [Accepted: 02/24/2022] [Indexed: 12/02/2022] Open
Abstract
Knowledge of biodiversity in the past, and the timing, nature, and drivers of human-induced ecological change, is important for gaining deep time perspectives and for modern conservation efforts. The Marquesas Islands (Polynesia) are one of the world’s most remote archipelagos and illustrate the vulnerability of indigenous bioscapes to anthropogenic activities. Characterised by high levels of endemism across many biotic groups, the full spectrum of the group’s flora and fauna is nonetheless incompletely known. Several centuries of Polynesian settlement reshaped biotic communities in ways that are not yet fully understood, and historically-introduced mammalian herbivores have devastated the indigenous lowland flora. We report here on archaeological recovery of a diverse assemblage of plant and arthropod subfossils from a waterlogged deposit on the largest Marquesan island: Nuku Hiva. These materials offer new perspectives on the composition of lowland plant and arthropod communities pene-contemporaneous with human arrival. Bayesian analysis of multiple 14C results from short-lived materials date the assemblages to the mid-12th century AD (1129–1212 cal. AD, 95.4% HPD). Evidence for human activities in the catchment coincident with deposit formation includes Polynesian associated arthropods, microcharcoal, and an adzed timber. Plant macrofossils (seeds, fruits, vegetative structures) and microfossils (pollen, phytoliths) reveal coastal and lowland wet-moist forest communities unlike those observed today. Several apparently extinct taxa are identified, along with extant taxa currently constrained to high altitude and/or interior areas. A diverse inventory of subfossil arthropods—the first pre-18th century records for the islands—includes more than 100 distinct taxa, with several new archipelago records and one previously unreported for eastern Polynesia. The assemblages provide new insights into lowland Marquesan forest communities coincident with human arrival, and portend the considerable anthropogenic transformations that followed. These records also have implications for human colonisation of the Marquesas Islands and East Polynesia at large.
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11
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Kearns AM, Campana MG, Slikas B, Berry L, Saitoh T, Cibois A, Fleischer RC. Conservation genomics and systematics of a near-extinct island radiation. Mol Ecol 2022; 31:1995-2012. [PMID: 35119154 DOI: 10.1111/mec.16382] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/14/2021] [Revised: 01/16/2022] [Accepted: 01/24/2022] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
Conservation benefits from incorporating genomics to explore the impacts of population declines, inbreeding, loss of genetic variation and hybridization. Here we use the near-extinct Mariana Islands reedwarbler radiation to showcase how ancient DNA approaches can allow insights into the population dynamics of extinct species and threatened populations for which historical museum specimens or material with low DNA yield (e.g., scats, feathers) are the only sources for DNA. Despite their having paraphyletic mtDNA, nuclear SNPs support the distinctiveness of critically endangered Acrocephalus hiwae and the other three species in the radiation that went extinct between the 1960s and 1990s. Two extinct species, A. yamashinae and A. luscinius, were deeply divergent from each other and from a third less differentiated lineage containing A. hiwae and extinct A. nijoi. Both mtDNA and SNPs suggest that the two isolated populations of A. hiwae from Saipan and Alamagan Islands are sufficiently distinct to warrant subspecies recognition and separate conservation management. We detected no significant differences in genetic diversity or inbreeding between Saipan and Alamagan, nor strong signatures of geographic structuring within either island. However, the implications of possible signatures of inbreeding in both Saipan and Alamagan, and long-term population declines in A. hiwae that predate modern anthropogenic threats require further study with denser population sampling. Our study highlights the value conservation genomics studies of island radiations have as windows onto the possible future for the world's biota as climate change and habitat destruction increasingly fragments their ranges and contributes to rapid declines in population abundances.
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Affiliation(s)
- Anna M Kearns
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian's National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, 20008, USA
| | - Michael G Campana
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian's National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, 20008, USA
| | - Beth Slikas
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian's National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, 20008, USA.,Center for Evolution & Medicine, School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, AZ, 85287, USA
| | - Lainie Berry
- Department of Lands and Natural Resources, Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, Saipan, MP, 96950, USA.,Hawaii Department of Land and Natural Resources-Division of Forestry and Wildlife, Honolulu, HI, 96813, USA
| | - Takema Saitoh
- Yamashina Institute for Ornithology, 115 Konoyama, Abiko, Chiba, 270-1145, Japan
| | - Alice Cibois
- Natural History Museum of Geneva, CP, 6434, 1211, Geneva, Switzerland
| | - Robert C Fleischer
- Center for Conservation Genomics, Smithsonian's National Zoological Park and Conservation Biology Institute, Washington, DC, 20008, USA
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12
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Fricke EC, Ordonez A, Rogers HS, Svenning JC. The effects of defaunation on plants' capacity to track climate change. Science 2022; 375:210-214. [PMID: 35025640 DOI: 10.1126/science.abk3510] [Citation(s) in RCA: 66] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/08/2023]
Abstract
Half of all plant species rely on animals to disperse their seeds. Seed dispersal interactions lost through defaunation and gained during novel community assembly influence whether plants can adapt to climate change through migration. We develop trait-based models to predict pairwise interactions and dispersal function for fleshy-fruited plants globally. Using interactions with introduced species as an observable proxy for interactions in future novel seed dispersal networks, we find strong potential to forecast their assembly and functioning. We conservatively estimate that mammal and bird defaunation has already reduced the capacity of plants to track climate change by 60% globally. This strong reduction in the ability of plants to adapt to climate change through range shifts shows a synergy between defaunation and climate change that undermines vegetation resilience.
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Affiliation(s)
- Evan C Fricke
- National Socio-Environmental Synthesis Center, University of Maryland, Annapolis, MD 21401, USA.,Department of BioSciences, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA
| | - Alejandro Ordonez
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
| | - Haldre S Rogers
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Iowa State University, Ames, IA 50011, USA
| | - Jens-Christian Svenning
- Center for Biodiversity Dynamics in a Changing World (BIOCHANGE), Department of Biology, Aarhus University, Ny Munkegade 114, DK-8000 Aarhus C, Denmark
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13
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Fernández-Palacios JM, Kreft H, Irl SDH, Norder S, Ah-Peng C, Borges PAV, Burns KC, de Nascimento L, Meyer JY, Montes E, Drake DR. Scientists' warning - The outstanding biodiversity of islands is in peril. Glob Ecol Conserv 2021; 31:e01847. [PMID: 34761079 PMCID: PMC8556160 DOI: 10.1016/j.gecco.2021.e01847] [Citation(s) in RCA: 25] [Impact Index Per Article: 8.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/21/2021] [Revised: 09/26/2021] [Accepted: 09/26/2021] [Indexed: 11/30/2022] Open
Abstract
Despite islands contributing only 6.7% of land surface area, they harbor ~20% of the Earth’s biodiversity, but unfortunately also ~50% of the threatened species and 75% of the known extinctions since the European expansion around the globe. Due to their geological and geographic history and characteristics, islands act simultaneously as cradles of evolutionary diversity and museums of formerly widespread lineages—elements that permit islands to achieve an outstanding endemicity. Nevertheless, the majority of these endemic species are inherently vulnerable due to genetic and demographic factors linked with the way islands are colonized. Here, we stress the great variation of islands in their physical geography (area, isolation, altitude, latitude) and history (age, human colonization, human density). We provide examples of some of the most species rich and iconic insular radiations. Next, we analyze the natural vulnerability of the insular biota, linked to genetic and demographic factors as a result of founder events as well as the typically small population sizes of many island species. We note that, whereas evolution toward island syndromes (including size shifts, derived insular woodiness, altered dispersal ability, loss of defense traits, reduction in clutch size) might have improved the ability of species to thrive under natural conditions on islands, it has simultaneously made island biota disproportionately vulnerable to anthropogenic pressures such as habitat loss, overexploitation, invasive species, and climate change. This has led to the documented extinction of at least 800 insular species in the past 500 years, in addition to the many that had already gone extinct following the arrival of first human colonists on islands in prehistoric times. Finally, we summarize current scientific knowledge on the ongoing biodiversity loss on islands worldwide and express our serious concern that the current trajectory will continue to decimate the unique and irreplaceable natural heritage of the world’s islands. We conclude that drastic actions are urgently needed to bend the curve of the alarming rates of island biodiversity loss.
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Affiliation(s)
- José María Fernández-Palacios
- Island Ecology and Biogeography Group, Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias (IUETSPC), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), 38200 La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain
| | - Holger Kreft
- Biodiversity, Macroecology & Biogeography, University of Göttingen, 37077 Göttingen, Germany
| | - Severin D H Irl
- Biogeography and Biodiversity Lab, Institute of Physical Geography, Goethe-University, 60438 Frankfurt, Frankfurt am Main, Germany
| | - Sietze Norder
- Leiden University Centre for Linguistics, 2300 RA Leiden, Netherlands
| | - Claudine Ah-Peng
- UMR PVBMT, Université de La Réunion, 97410 Saint-Pierre, La Réunion, France
| | - Paulo A V Borges
- Centre for Ecology, Evolution and Environmental Changes (cE3c)/Azorean Biodiversity Group and Universidade dos Açores, Faculty of Agriculture and Environment, 9700-042 Angra do Heroísmo, Açores, Portugal
| | - Kevin C Burns
- School of Biological Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, 6140 Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Lea de Nascimento
- Island Ecology and Biogeography Group, Instituto Universitario de Enfermedades Tropicales y Salud Pública de Canarias (IUETSPC), Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), 38200 La Laguna, Canary Islands, Spain
| | - Jean-Yves Meyer
- Délégation à la Recherche, Government of French Polynesia, 98713 Papeete, French Polynesia
| | - Elba Montes
- Department of Zoology, Faculty of Biological Sciences, University of Valencia, 46100 Burjassot, Valencia, Spain
| | - Donald R Drake
- School of Life Sciences, University of Hawai]i, 96822 Honolulu, Hawai]i, USA
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14
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Murali G, Gumbs R, Meiri S, Roll U. Global determinants and conservation of evolutionary and geographic rarity in land vertebrates. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2021; 7:eabe5582. [PMID: 34644103 PMCID: PMC8514094 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abe5582] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/30/2020] [Accepted: 08/20/2021] [Indexed: 05/16/2023]
Abstract
Deciphering global trends in phylogenetic endemism is crucial for understanding broad-scale evolutionary patterns and the conservation of key elements of biodiversity. However, knowledge to date on global phylogenetic endemism and its determinants has been lacking. Here, we conduct the first global analysis of phylogenetic endemism patterns of land vertebrates (>30,000 species), their environmental correlates, and threats. We found that low temperature seasonality and high topographic heterogeneity were the main global determinants of phylogenetic endemism. While phylogenetic endemism hotspots cover 22% of Earth, these regions currently have a high human footprint, low natural land cover, minimal protection, and will be greatly affected by climate change. Evolutionarily unique, narrow-range species are crucial for sustaining biodiversity in the face of environmental change. Our global study advances the current understanding of this imperilled yet previously overlooked facet of biodiversity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Gopal Murali
- Jacob Blaustein Center for Scientific Cooperation, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 849900, Israel
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Swiss Institute for Dryland Environments and Energy Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 849900, Israel
| | - Rikki Gumbs
- Department of Life Sciences, Imperial College London, Silwood Park Campus, Ascot, Berkshire SL5 7PY, UK
- EDGE of Existence Programme, Conservation and Policy, Zoological Society of London, London, NW1 4RY, UK
| | - Shai Meiri
- School of Zoology, Steinhardt Museum of Natural History, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel
| | - Uri Roll
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Swiss Institute for Dryland Environments and Energy Research, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion 849900, Israel
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15
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Ioannidis AG, Blanco-Portillo J, Sandoval K, Hagelberg E, Barberena-Jonas C, Hill AVS, Rodríguez-Rodríguez JE, Fox K, Robson K, Haoa-Cardinali S, Quinto-Cortés CD, Miquel-Poblete JF, Auckland K, Parks T, Sofro ASM, Ávila-Arcos MC, Sockell A, Homburger JR, Eng C, Huntsman S, Burchard EG, Gignoux CR, Verdugo RA, Moraga M, Bustamante CD, Mentzer AJ, Moreno-Estrada A. Paths and timings of the peopling of Polynesia inferred from genomic networks. Nature 2021; 597:522-526. [PMID: 34552258 PMCID: PMC9710236 DOI: 10.1038/s41586-021-03902-8] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 01/09/2020] [Accepted: 08/12/2021] [Indexed: 02/08/2023]
Abstract
Polynesia was settled in a series of extraordinary voyages across an ocean spanning one third of the Earth1, but the sequences of islands settled remain unknown and their timings disputed. Currently, several centuries separate the dates suggested by different archaeological surveys2-4. Here, using genome-wide data from merely 430 modern individuals from 21 key Pacific island populations and novel ancestry-specific computational analyses, we unravel the detailed genetic history of this vast, dispersed island network. Our reconstruction of the branching Polynesian migration sequence reveals a serial founder expansion, characterized by directional loss of variants, that originated in Samoa and spread first through the Cook Islands (Rarotonga), then to the Society (Tōtaiete mā) Islands (11th century), the western Austral (Tuha'a Pae) Islands and Tuāmotu Archipelago (12th century), and finally to the widely separated, but genetically connected, megalithic statue-building cultures of the Marquesas (Te Henua 'Enana) Islands in the north, Raivavae in the south, and Easter Island (Rapa Nui), the easternmost of the Polynesian islands, settled in approximately AD 1200 via Mangareva.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alexander G Ioannidis
- Institute for Computational and Mathematical Engineering, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA.
- National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO)-Advanced Genomics Unit (UGA), CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
| | - Javier Blanco-Portillo
- National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO)-Advanced Genomics Unit (UGA), CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
| | - Karla Sandoval
- National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO)-Advanced Genomics Unit (UGA), CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
| | | | - Carmina Barberena-Jonas
- National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO)-Advanced Genomics Unit (UGA), CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
| | - Adrian V S Hill
- Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, UK
- The Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Juan Esteban Rodríguez-Rodríguez
- National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO)-Advanced Genomics Unit (UGA), CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
| | - Keolu Fox
- Department of Anthropology, University of California San Diego, La Jolla, CA, USA
| | - Kathryn Robson
- MRC Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | | | - Consuelo D Quinto-Cortés
- National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO)-Advanced Genomics Unit (UGA), CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico
| | | | - Kathryn Auckland
- Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, UK
| | - Tom Parks
- Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, UK
| | - Abdul Salam M Sofro
- Department of Biochemistry, Faculty of Medicine, Yayasan Rumah Sakit Islam (YARSI) University, Cempaka Putih, Jakarta, Indonesia
| | - María C Ávila-Arcos
- International Laboratory for Human Genome Research (LIIGH), UNAM Juriquilla, Queretaro, Mexico
| | - Alexandra Sockell
- Center for Computational, Evolutionary and Human Genomics (CEHG), Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Julian R Homburger
- Center for Computational, Evolutionary and Human Genomics (CEHG), Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Celeste Eng
- Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Scott Huntsman
- Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Esteban G Burchard
- Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences and Pharmacogenomics, Department of Medicine, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA
| | - Christopher R Gignoux
- Division of Biomedical Informatics and Personalized Medicine, University of Colorado, Denver, CO, USA
| | - Ricardo A Verdugo
- Human Genetics Program, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Translational Oncology Department, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Mauricio Moraga
- Human Genetics Program, Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Faculty of Medicine, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
- Department of Anthropology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Chile, Santiago, Chile
| | - Carlos D Bustamante
- Center for Computational, Evolutionary and Human Genomics (CEHG), Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
- Department of Biomedical Data Science, Stanford University, Stanford, CA, USA
| | - Alexander J Mentzer
- Wellcome Centre for Human Genetics, University of Oxford, Roosevelt Drive, Oxford, UK
- Big Data Institute, Li Ka Shing Centre for Health Information and Discovery, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Andrés Moreno-Estrada
- National Laboratory of Genomics for Biodiversity (LANGEBIO)-Advanced Genomics Unit (UGA), CINVESTAV, Irapuato, Guanajuato, Mexico.
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16
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Albert S, Flores O, Ah-Peng C, Strasberg D. Forests Without Frugivores and Frugivores Without Forests – An Investigation Into the Causes of a Paradox in One of the Last Archipelagos Colonized by Humans. Front Ecol Evol 2021. [DOI: 10.3389/fevo.2021.688768] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
The Mascarenes are sadly famous worldwide for the massive extinction of their native vertebrates since recent human colonization. However, extinction patterns show astonishing disparities between the two main islands and between lineages of forest vertebrates. On Réunion (2,512 km2, 3,070 m) where about a third of native habitats remains, most large-bodied vertebrates, especially frugivores, collapsed by the first half of the 18th century, while several have survived longer and some still exist on Mauritius (1,865 km2, 828 m) where more than 95% of native habitats have been transformed. Considering lineages of forest vertebrates shared by both islands (23 genera, 53 species), we test the hypothesis that differing patterns of lowland suitable habitat destruction is the main cause behind this paradox. Before that, we assess the potential impact of other major drivers of extinctions since first contact with humans. Firstly, Mauritius shows earlier and more numerous introductions of mammal predators known for their devastating impact (except northern islets which have thus become important sanctuaries for several squamates). Secondly, settlers were inveterate hunters on both islands, but while Réunion was overhunted before Mauritius, the burst of human population in the latter in late 18th century has not led to the rapid extinction of all large native vertebrates. These two factors alone therefore cannot explain the observed paradox. Rather, the early destruction of lowland habitats (<400 m) on Réunion is concomitant with most extinctions of forest vertebrate, notably frugivores that rapidly lost most lowland habitats dominated by large fleshy-fruited plants. Moreover, landform-induced fragmentation has likely decreased the ability of adjacent habitats to act as effective refuges. Conversely, Mauritius retained suitable low-fragmented habitats until the late 19th which probably allowed, at least for a time, several native vertebrates to escape from multiple human-induced disturbances. Despite the almost total destruction of native habitats since then on Mauritius, conservation actions have saved several threatened vertebrate species that play a fundamental role in the functioning of native ecosystems. The fact that there are now more favorable habitats on Réunion than on Mauritius argues for the rewilding of Réunion with these extant large vertebrates.
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17
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Abstract
The current biodiversity crisis is often depicted as a struggle to preserve untouched habitats. Here, we combine global maps of human populations and land use over the past 12,000 y with current biodiversity data to show that nearly three quarters of terrestrial nature has long been shaped by diverse histories of human habitation and use by Indigenous and traditional peoples. With rare exceptions, current biodiversity losses are caused not by human conversion or degradation of untouched ecosystems, but rather by the appropriation, colonization, and intensification of use in lands inhabited and used by prior societies. Global land use history confirms that empowering the environmental stewardship of Indigenous peoples and local communities will be critical to conserving biodiversity across the planet. Archaeological and paleoecological evidence shows that by 10,000 BCE, all human societies employed varying degrees of ecologically transformative land use practices, including burning, hunting, species propagation, domestication, cultivation, and others that have left long-term legacies across the terrestrial biosphere. Yet, a lingering paradigm among natural scientists, conservationists, and policymakers is that human transformation of terrestrial nature is mostly recent and inherently destructive. Here, we use the most up-to-date, spatially explicit global reconstruction of historical human populations and land use to show that this paradigm is likely wrong. Even 12,000 y ago, nearly three quarters of Earth’s land was inhabited and therefore shaped by human societies, including more than 95% of temperate and 90% of tropical woodlands. Lands now characterized as “natural,” “intact,” and “wild” generally exhibit long histories of use, as do protected areas and Indigenous lands, and current global patterns of vertebrate species richness and key biodiversity areas are more strongly associated with past patterns of land use than with present ones in regional landscapes now characterized as natural. The current biodiversity crisis can seldom be explained by the loss of uninhabited wildlands, resulting instead from the appropriation, colonization, and intensifying use of the biodiverse cultural landscapes long shaped and sustained by prior societies. Recognizing this deep cultural connection with biodiversity will therefore be essential to resolve the crisis.
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18
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Predation. Anim Behav 2021. [DOI: 10.1007/978-3-030-82879-0_7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 0] [Impact Index Per Article: 0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
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19
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Sayol F, Steinbauer MJ, Blackburn TM, Antonelli A, Faurby S. Anthropogenic extinctions conceal widespread evolution of flightlessness in birds. SCIENCE ADVANCES 2020; 6:6/49/eabb6095. [PMID: 33268368 PMCID: PMC7710364 DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.abb6095] [Citation(s) in RCA: 14] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/10/2020] [Accepted: 10/15/2020] [Indexed: 06/02/2023]
Abstract
Human-driven extinctions can affect our understanding of evolution, through the nonrandom loss of certain types of species. Here, we explore how knowledge of a major evolutionary transition-the evolution of flightlessness in birds-is biased by anthropogenic extinctions. Adding data on 581 known anthropogenic extinctions to the extant global avifauna increases the number of species by 5%, but quadruples the number of flightless species. The evolution of flightlessness in birds is a widespread phenomenon, occurring in more than half of bird orders and evolving independently at least 150 times. Thus, we estimate that this evolutionary transition occurred at a rate four times higher than it would appear based solely on extant species. Our analysis of preanthropogenic avian diversity shows how anthropogenic effects can conceal the frequency of major evolutionary transitions in life forms and highlights the fact that macroevolutionary studies with only small amounts of missing data can still be highly biased.
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Affiliation(s)
- F Sayol
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden.
- Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research, University College London, London, UK
| | - M J Steinbauer
- University of Bayreuth, Bayreuth Center of Ecology and Environmental Research (BayCEER) & Department of Sport Science, Bayreuth, Germany
- Department of Biological Sciences, University of Bergen, Bergen, Norway
| | - T M Blackburn
- Centre for Biodiversity and Environmental Research, University College London, London, UK
- Institute of Zoology, Zoological Society of London, London, UK
| | - A Antonelli
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
- Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden
- Royal Botanic Gardens, Kew, Richmond, UK
- Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford, South Parks Road, OX1 3RB Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - S Faurby
- Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Göteborg, Sweden
- Gothenburg Global Biodiversity Centre, Göteborg, Sweden
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20
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Kristensen NP, Seah WW, Chong KY, Yeoh YS, Fung T, Berman LM, Tan HZ, Chisholm RA. Extinction rate of discovered and undiscovered plants in Singapore. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2020; 34:1229-1240. [PMID: 32181936 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13499] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/27/2019] [Revised: 02/14/2020] [Accepted: 02/28/2020] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Abstract
Extinction is a key issue in the assessment of global biodiversity. However, many extinction rate measures do not account for species that went extinct before they could be discovered. The highly developed island city-state of Singapore has one of the best-documented tropical floras in the world. This allowed us to estimate the total rate of floristic extinctions in Singapore since 1822 after accounting for sampling effort and crypto extinctions by collating herbaria records. Our database comprised 34,224 specimens from 2076 native species, of which 464 species (22%) were considered nationally extinct. We assumed that undiscovered species had the same annual per-species extinction rates as discovered species and that no undiscovered species remained extant. With classical and Bayesian algorithms, we estimated that 304 (95% confidence interval, 213-414) and 412 (95% credible interval, 313-534) additional species went extinct before they could be discovered, respectively; corresponding total extinction rate estimates were 32% and 35% (range 30-38%). We detected violations of our 2 assumptions that could cause our extinction estimates, particularly the absolute numbers, to be biased downward. Thus, our estimates should be treated as lower bounds. Our results illustrate the possible magnitudes of plant extirpations that can be expected in the tropics as development continues.
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Affiliation(s)
- Nadiah P Kristensen
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117558, Singapore
| | - Wei Wei Seah
- Singapore Botanic Gardens, Herbarium Singapore, 1 Cluny Road, Singapore, 259569, Singapore
| | - Kwek Yan Chong
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117558, Singapore
| | - Yi Shuen Yeoh
- National Parks Board, Horticulture and Community Gardening Division, 1 Cluny Road, Singapore, 259569, Singapore
| | - Tak Fung
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117558, Singapore
| | - Laura M Berman
- Division of Science, Yale-NUS College, 16 College Avenue West, Singapore, 138527, Singapore
| | - Hui Zhen Tan
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117558, Singapore
| | - Ryan A Chisholm
- Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 16 Science Drive 4, Singapore, 117558, Singapore
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21
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Baker CM, Bode M. Recent advances of quantitative modeling to support invasive species eradication on islands. CONSERVATION SCIENCE AND PRACTICE 2020. [DOI: 10.1111/csp2.246] [Citation(s) in RCA: 10] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Christopher M. Baker
- School of Mathematics and Statistics, The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
- Melbourne Centre for Data Science, The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
- Centre of Excellence for Biosecurity Risk Analysis The University of Melbourne Melbourne Victoria Australia
| | - Michael Bode
- School of Mathematical Sciences, Queensland University of Technology Brisbane Queensland Australia
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22
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Rehm E, Fricke E, Bender J, Savidge J, Rogers H. Animal movement drives variation in seed dispersal distance in a plant-animal network. Proc Biol Sci 2020; 286:20182007. [PMID: 30963874 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2018.2007] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
Frugivores play differing roles in shaping dispersal patterns yet seed dispersal distance is rarely quantified across entire communities. We model seed dispersal distance using gut passage times and bird movement for the majority (39 interactions) of known bird-tree interactions on the island of Saipan to highlight differences in seed dispersal distances provided by the five avian frugivores. One bird species was found to be a seed predator rather than a disperser. The remaining four avian species dispersed seeds but differences in seed dispersal distance were largely driven by interspecific variation in bird movement rather than intraspecific variation in gut passage times. The median dispersal distance was at least 56 m for all species-specific combinations, indicating all species play a role in reducing high seed mortality under the parent tree. However, one species-the Micronesian Starling-performed 94% of dispersal events greater than 500 m, suggesting this species could be a key driver of long-distance dispersal services (e.g. linking populations, colonizing new areas). Assessing variation in dispersal patterns across this network highlights key sources of variation in seed dispersal distances and suggests which empirical approaches are sufficient for modelling how seed dispersal mutualisms affect populations and communities.
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Affiliation(s)
- E Rehm
- 1 Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Marine Biology, University of California at Santa Barbara , Santa Barbara, CA , USA
| | - E Fricke
- 2 Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University , Ames, IA , USA
| | - J Bender
- 3 Lincoln Park Zoo , Chicago, IL , USA
| | - J Savidge
- 4 Department of Fish, Wildlife and Conservation Biology, Colorado State University , Fort Collins, CO , USA
| | - H Rogers
- 2 Department of Ecology, Evolution, and Organismal Biology, Iowa State University , Ames, IA , USA
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23
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Rando JC, Alcover JA, Pieper H, Olson SL, Hernández CN, López-Jurado LF. Unforeseen diversity of quails (Galliformes: Phasianidae: Coturnix) in oceanic islands provided by the fossil record of Macaronesia. Zool J Linn Soc 2019. [DOI: 10.1093/zoolinnean/zlz107] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/14/2022]
Abstract
Abstract
The original bird fauna of most oceanic islands has been affected by recent extinction processes associated with human arrival and its subsequent impacts. In the volcanic Macaronesian archipelagos (Azores, Madeira, Selvagens, Canary Islands and Cape Verde), in the North Atlantic, the Late Quaternary fossil record indicates that there was formerly a higher avian diversity, including a high number of now extinct endemic species. This assemblage of extinct birds includes endemic insular quails (Galliformes: Phasianidae). In this study, we describe three newly discovered extinct species of quails, two of which inhabited the archipelago of Madeira (Coturnix lignorum sp. nov. from Madeira Island and Coturnix alabrevis sp. nov. from Porto Santo Island) and one from Cape Verde (Coturnix centensis sp. nov.). The fossil record also indicates the presence of additional species of extinct endemic quails on other Macaronesian islands. These birds plus the extinct Canary Island quail (Coturnix gomerae) indicate a high former endemic diversity of this genus in Macaronesia, a feature unique among oceanic archipelagos. Anatomical traits show that the new taxa were flightless ground dwellers, making them vulnerable to human interference, with their extinction being linked to human arrival and subsequent habitat alterations and the introduction of invasive species.
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Affiliation(s)
- Juan C Rando
- Universidad de La Laguna (ULL), Departamento de Biología Animal, Edafología y Geología, Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Canary Islands, Spain
| | - Josep A Alcover
- Departament de Biodiversitat i Conservació, Institut Mediterrani d'Estudis Avançats, Cr Miquel Marquès 21, Esporles, Mallorca, Balearic Islands, Spain
| | | | - Storrs L Olson
- Division of Birds, Department of Vertebrate Zoology, National Museum of Natural History, Smithsonian Institution, Washington, DC, USA
| | - C Nayra Hernández
- Asociación de Estudios Paleontológicos de Canarias (PALEOCANARIAS), Laboratorio de Paleontogía, Facultad Ciencias del Mar, ULPGC, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
| | - L Felipe López-Jurado
- Departamento de Biología, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, ULPGC, Las Palmas de Gran Canaria, Spain
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MacDonald SE, Ward MP, Sperry JH. Manipulating social information to promote frugivory by birds on a Hawaiian Island. ECOLOGICAL APPLICATIONS : A PUBLICATION OF THE ECOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA 2019; 29:e01963. [PMID: 31247121 DOI: 10.1002/eap.1963] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/09/2018] [Revised: 05/04/2019] [Accepted: 05/28/2019] [Indexed: 06/09/2023]
Abstract
Animals across a range of taxa use social information when foraging. Fruit-eating vertebrates are no exception and use social information to find fruit, which may ultimately affect plant populations via seed dispersal. In many systems, mutualistic relationships between fruiting plants and frugivores are critical to maintain ecosystem functioning, especially in the tropics. On the island of O'ahu, Hawaii, USA, all native, fruit-eating birds are extinct and several plant species are experiencing reduced recruitment likely due to a lack of seed dispersal. Over the years, numerous bird species, many of which are frugivorous, have been introduced to the island. Yet, introduced birds may not recognize native fruits as a resource and social information may be needed for introduced frugivores to target and feed on native fruits. We investigated whether social information, in the form of broadcasted bird vocalizations, of introduced birds could increase visitations and more importantly frugivory on focal fruiting plants. We also tested whether the visitation rates of introduced bird species to focal plants were influenced by conspecific and/or heterospecific vocalizations. We conducted 80 playback experiments at native and introduced fruiting plants, and compared responses to silent control periods. Four times as many frugivores were detected and 10 times more frugivory events were recorded at plants with broadcasted vocalizations compared to control periods. The Japanese White-eye (Zosterops japonicus) exhibited the strongest response to both conspecific and heterospecific playbacks. White-eyes also consumed the most fruit from the widest array of plant species during trials. Introduced birds that use social information and readily identify novel resources may more effectively colonize new areas. We suggest that the White-eye's use of social information may help to support their robust population on O'ahu. Ecosystems throughout the world are affected by the loss of mutualistic relationships, many of which provide valuable ecological services. As humans continue to modify environments, novel conservation approaches may be required to maintain important ecological functions. The use of social information to facilitate frugivory may not only be important in Hawaii, but in other tropical systems where key frugivorous species are lost or abundances have been reduced.
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Affiliation(s)
- S E MacDonald
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1102 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois, 61801, USA
| | - M P Ward
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1102 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois, 61801, USA
| | - J H Sperry
- Department of Natural Resources and Environmental Science, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1102 S. Goodwin Avenue, Urbana, Illinois, 61801, USA
- Engineer Research and Development Center, P.O. Box 9005, Champaign, Illinois, 61826, USA
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25
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Sanderson EW. A full and authentic reckoning of species' ranges for conservation: response to Akçakaya et al. 2018. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2019; 33:1208-1210. [PMID: 31418926 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.13399] [Citation(s) in RCA: 7] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/28/2019] [Revised: 04/11/2019] [Accepted: 04/14/2019] [Indexed: 06/10/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Eric W Sanderson
- Wildlife Conservation Society - Global Conservation Programs, 2300 Southern Blvd., Bronx, NY, 10460, U.S.A
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26
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Cole TL, Ksepka DT, Mitchell KJ, Tennyson AJD, Thomas DB, Pan H, Zhang G, Rawlence NJ, Wood JR, Bover P, Bouzat JL, Cooper A, Fiddaman SR, Hart T, Miller G, Ryan PG, Shepherd LD, Wilmshurst JM, Waters JM. Mitogenomes Uncover Extinct Penguin Taxa and Reveal Island Formation as a Key Driver of Speciation. Mol Biol Evol 2019; 36:784-797. [PMID: 30722030 DOI: 10.1093/molbev/msz017] [Citation(s) in RCA: 28] [Impact Index Per Article: 5.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/11/2022] Open
Abstract
The emergence of islands has been linked to spectacular radiations of diverse organisms. Although penguins spend much of their lives at sea, they rely on land for nesting, and a high proportion of extant species are endemic to geologically young islands. Islands may thus have been crucial to the evolutionary diversification of penguins. We test this hypothesis using a fossil-calibrated phylogeny of mitochondrial genomes (mitogenomes) from all extant and recently extinct penguin taxa. Our temporal analysis demonstrates that numerous recent island-endemic penguin taxa diverged following the formation of their islands during the Plio-Pleistocene, including the Galápagos (Galápagos Islands), northern rockhopper (Gough Island), erect-crested (Antipodes Islands), Snares crested (Snares) and royal (Macquarie Island) penguins. Our analysis also reveals two new recently extinct island-endemic penguin taxa from New Zealand's Chatham Islands: Eudyptes warhami sp. nov. and a dwarf subspecies of the yellow-eyed penguin, Megadyptes antipodes richdalei ssp. nov. Eudyptes warhami diverged from the Antipodes Islands erect-crested penguin between 1.1 and 2.5 Ma, shortly after the emergence of the Chatham Islands (∼3 Ma). This new finding of recently evolved taxa on this young archipelago provides further evidence that the radiation of penguins over the last 5 Ma has been linked to island emergence. Mitogenomic analyses of all penguin species, and the discovery of two new extinct penguin taxa, highlight the importance of island formation in the diversification of penguins, as well as the extent to which anthropogenic extinctions have affected island-endemic taxa across the Southern Hemisphere's isolated archipelagos.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa L Cole
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.,Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand
| | | | - Kieren J Mitchell
- Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | | | - Daniel B Thomas
- Institute of Natural and Mathematical Sciences, Massey University, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Hailin Pan
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,China National Genebank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.,Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | - Guojie Zhang
- State Key Laboratory of Genetic Resources and Evolution, Kunming Institute of Zoology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Kunming, China.,China National Genebank, BGI-Shenzhen, Shenzhen, Guangdong, China.,Centre for Social Evolution, Department of Biology, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark
| | | | - Jamie R Wood
- Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand
| | - Pere Bover
- Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia.,ARAID Foundation, IUCA-Grupo Aragosaurus, Universidad de Zaragoza, Zaragoza, Spain
| | - Juan L Bouzat
- Department of Biological Sciences, Bowling Green State University, Bowling Green, OH, USA
| | - Alan Cooper
- Australian Centre for Ancient DNA, School of Biological Sciences, University of Adelaide, Adelaide, SA, Australia
| | | | - Tom Hart
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, United Kingdom
| | - Gary Miller
- Division of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, University of Western Australia, Crawley, WA, Australia.,Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies, University of Tasmania, Hobart, TAS, Australia
| | - Peter G Ryan
- DST-NRF Centre of Excellence, FitzPatrick Institute of African Ornithology, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa
| | - Lara D Shepherd
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, Wellington, New Zealand
| | - Janet M Wilmshurst
- Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, Lincoln, Canterbury, New Zealand.,School of Environment, University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand
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27
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Mann DH, Groves P, Gaglioti BV, Shapiro BA. Climate-driven ecological stability as a globally shared cause of Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions: the Plaids and Stripes Hypothesis. Biol Rev Camb Philos Soc 2019; 94:328-352. [PMID: 30136433 PMCID: PMC7379602 DOI: 10.1111/brv.12456] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/11/2017] [Revised: 07/14/2018] [Accepted: 07/19/2018] [Indexed: 01/24/2023]
Abstract
Controversy persists about why so many large-bodied mammal species went extinct around the end of the last ice age. Resolving this is important for understanding extinction processes in general, for assessing the ecological roles of humans, and for conserving remaining megafaunal species, many of which are endangered today. Here we explore an integrative hypothesis that asserts that an underlying cause of Late Quaternary megafaunal extinctions was a fundamental shift in the spatio-temporal fabric of ecosystems worldwide. This shift was triggered by the loss of the millennial-scale climate fluctuations that were characteristic of the ice age but ceased approximately 11700 years ago on most continents. Under ice-age conditions, which prevailed for much of the preceding 2.6 Ma, these radical and rapid climate changes prevented many ecosystems from fully equilibrating with their contemporary climates. Instead of today's 'striped' world in which species' ranges have equilibrated with gradients of temperature, moisture, and seasonality, the ice-age world was a disequilibrial 'plaid' in which species' ranges shifted rapidly and repeatedly over time and space, rarely catching up with contemporary climate. In the transient ecosystems that resulted, certain physiological, anatomical, and ecological attributes shared by megafaunal species pre-adapted them for success. These traits included greater metabolic and locomotory efficiency, increased resistance to starvation, longer life spans, greater sensory ranges, and the ability to be nomadic or migratory. When the plaid world of the ice age ended, many of the advantages of being large were either lost or became disadvantages. For instance in a striped world, the low population densities and slow reproductive rates associated with large body size reduced the resiliency of megafaunal species to population bottlenecks. As the ice age ended, the downsides of being large in striped environments lowered the extinction thresholds of megafauna worldwide, which then increased the vulnerability of individual species to a variety of proximate threats they had previously tolerated, such as human predation, competition with other species, and habitat loss. For many megafaunal species, the plaid-to-stripes transition may have been near the base of a hierarchy of extinction causes whose relative importances varied geographically, temporally, and taxonomically.
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Affiliation(s)
- Daniel H. Mann
- Department of Geosciences and Institute of Arctic BiologyUniversity of AlaskaFairbanksAK 99775USA
| | - Pamela Groves
- Institute of Arctic BiologyUniversity of AlaskaFairbanksAK 99775USA
| | | | - Beth A. Shapiro
- Department of Ecology and Evolutionary BiologyUniversity of CaliforniaSanta CruzCA 95064USA
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28
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Cole TL, Rawlence NJ, Dussex N, Ellenberg U, Houston DM, Mattern T, Miskelly CM, Morrison KW, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJD, Thompson DR, Wood JR, Waters JM. Ancient DNA of crested penguins: Testing for temporal genetic shifts in the world's most diverse penguin clade. Mol Phylogenet Evol 2018; 131:72-79. [PMID: 30367976 DOI: 10.1016/j.ympev.2018.10.025] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 09/29/2018] [Revised: 10/19/2018] [Accepted: 10/19/2018] [Indexed: 11/17/2022]
Abstract
Human impacts have substantially reduced avian biodiversity in many parts of the world, particularly on isolated islands of the Pacific Ocean. The New Zealand archipelago, including its five subantarctic island groups, holds breeding grounds for a third of the world's penguin species, including several representatives of the diverse crested penguin genus Eudyptes. While this species-rich genus has been little studied genetically, recent population estimates indicate that several Eudyptes taxa are experiencing demographic declines. Although crested penguins are currently limited to southern regions of the New Zealand archipelago, prehistoric fossil and archaeological deposits suggest a wider distribution during prehistoric times, with breeding ranges perhaps extending to the North Island. Here, we analyse ancient, historic and modern DNA sequences to explore two hypotheses regarding the recent history of Eudyptes in New Zealand, testing for (1) human-driven extinction of Eudyptes lineages; and (2) reduced genetic diversity in surviving lineages. From 83 prehistoric bone samples, each tentatively identified as 'Eudyptes spp.', we genetically identified six prehistoric penguin taxa from mainland New Zealand, including one previously undescribed genetic lineage. Moreover, our Bayesian coalescent analyses indicated that, while the range of Fiordland crested penguin (E. pachyrhynchus) may have contracted markedly over the last millennium, genetic DNA diversity within this lineage has remained relatively constant. This result contrasts with human-driven biodiversity reductions previously detected in several New Zealand coastal vertebrate taxa.
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Affiliation(s)
- Theresa L Cole
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, PO Box 69040, Lincoln, Canterbury 7640, New Zealand.
| | - Nicolas J Rawlence
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - Nicolas Dussex
- Department of Bioinformatics and Genetics, Swedish Museum of Natural History, Box 50007, Stockholm, Sweden; Department of Anatomy, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
| | - Ursula Ellenberg
- Department of Ecology, Environment and Evolution, La Trobe University, Melbourne, Australia; Global Penguin Society, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - David M Houston
- Biodiversity Group, Department of Conservation, Auckland, New Zealand
| | - Thomas Mattern
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand; Global Penguin Society, University of Washington, Seattle, USA
| | - Colin M Miskelly
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
| | | | - R Paul Scofield
- Canterbury Museum, Rolleston Avenue, Christchurch 8001, New Zealand
| | - Alan J D Tennyson
- Museum of New Zealand Te Papa Tongarewa, PO Box 467, Wellington 6140, New Zealand
| | - David R Thompson
- National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd., Private Bag 14901, Kilbirnie, Wellington 6241, New Zealand
| | - Jamie R Wood
- Manaaki Whenua Landcare Research, PO Box 69040, Lincoln, Canterbury 7640, New Zealand
| | - Jonathan M Waters
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin 9054, New Zealand
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29
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Russell JC, Abrahão CR, Silva JC, Dias RA. Management of cats and rodents on inhabited islands: An overview and case study of Fernando de Noronha, Brazil. Perspect Ecol Conserv 2018. [DOI: 10.1016/j.pecon.2018.10.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 4] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/27/2022] Open
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30
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van Rees CB, Reed JM. Predicted effects of landscape change, sea level rise, and habitat management on the extirpation risk of the Hawaiian common gallinule ( Gallinula galeata sandvicensis) on the island of O'ahu. PeerJ 2018; 6:e4990. [PMID: 29942683 PMCID: PMC6016525 DOI: 10.7717/peerj.4990] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 03/06/2018] [Accepted: 05/27/2018] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Abstract
We conducted a spatially explicit, stochastic, individually based population viability analysis for the Hawaiian common gallinule (Gallinula galeata sandvicensis), an endangered subspecies of waterbird endemic to fragmented coastal wetlands in Hawai'i. This subspecies persists on two islands, with no apparent movement between them. We assessed extirpation risk for birds on O'ahu, where the resident gallinule population is made up of several fragmented subpopulations. Data on genetic differentiation were used to delineate subpopulations and estimate dispersal rates between them. We used sensitivity analyses to gauge the impact of current uncertainty of vital rate parameters on population projections, to ascertain the relative importance of gallinule vital rates to population persistence, and to compare the efficacy of potential management strategies. We used available sea level rise projections to examine the relative vulnerability of O'ahu's gallinule population to habitat loss arising from this threat. Our model predicted persistence of the island's gallinule population at 160 years (∼40 generations), but with high probabilities of extirpation for small subpopulations. Sensitivity analyses highlighted the importance of juvenile and adult mortality to population persistence in Hawaiian gallinules, justifying current predator control efforts and suggesting the need for additional research on chick and fledgling survival. Subpopulation connectivity from dispersal had little effect on the persistence of the island-wide population, but strong effects on the persistence of smaller subpopulations. Our model also predicted island-wide population persistence under predicted sea level rise scenarios, but with O'ahu's largest gallinule populations losing >40% of current carrying capacity.
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Affiliation(s)
- Charles B. van Rees
- Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, United States of America
| | - J. Michael Reed
- Department of Biology, Tufts University, Medford, MA, United States of America
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31
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Carpenter JK, Kelly D, Moltchanova E, O'Donnell CFJ. Introduction of mammalian seed predators and the loss of an endemic flightless bird impair seed dispersal of the New Zealand tree Elaeocarpus dentatus. Ecol Evol 2018; 8:5992-6004. [PMID: 29988419 PMCID: PMC6024123 DOI: 10.1002/ece3.4157] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 02/15/2018] [Revised: 04/08/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2018] [Indexed: 11/06/2022] Open
Abstract
Understanding the mutualistic services provided by species is critical when considering both the consequences of their loss or the benefits of their reintroduction. Like many other Pacific islands, New Zealand seed dispersal networks have been changed by both significant losses of large frugivorous birds and the introduction of invasive mammals. These changes are particularly concerning when important dispersers remain unidentified. We tested the impact of frugivore declines and invasive seed predators on seed dispersal for an endemic tree, hinau Elaeocarpus dentatus, by comparing seed dispersal and predation rates on the mainland of New Zealand with offshore sanctuary islands with higher bird and lower mammal numbers. We used cameras and seed traps to measure predation and dispersal from the ground and canopy, respectively. We found that canopy fruit handling rates (an index of dispersal quantity) were poor even on island sanctuaries (only 14% of seeds captured below parent trees on islands had passed through a bird), which suggests that hinau may be adapted for ground-based dispersal by flightless birds. Ground-based dispersal of hinau was low on the New Zealand mainland compared to sanctuary islands (4% of seeds dispersed on the mainland vs. 76% dispersed on islands), due to low frugivore numbers. A flightless endemic rail (Gallirallus australis) conducted the majority of ground-based fruit removal on islands. Despite being threatened, this rail is controversial in restoration projects because of its predatory impacts on native fauna. Our study demonstrates the importance of testing which species perform important mutualistic services, rather than simply relying on logical assumptions.
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Affiliation(s)
- Joanna K. Carpenter
- Centre for Integrative EcologySchool of Biological SciencesUniversity of CanterburyChristchurchNew Zealand
| | - Dave Kelly
- Centre for Integrative EcologySchool of Biological SciencesUniversity of CanterburyChristchurchNew Zealand
| | - Elena Moltchanova
- Department of Math and StatisticsUniversity of CanterburyChristchurchNew Zealand
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32
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Van Etten ML, Sukkaewnmanee P, Tate JA, Robertson AW. Pollinator service affects quantity but not quality of offspring in a widespread New Zealand endemic tree species. CONSERV GENET 2018. [DOI: 10.1007/s10592-018-1056-9] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 01/12/2023]
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33
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Estimating realistic costs for strategic management planning of invasive species eradications on islands. Biol Invasions 2017. [DOI: 10.1007/s10530-017-1627-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/18/2022]
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34
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Humans and climate change drove the Holocene decline of the brown bear. Sci Rep 2017; 7:10399. [PMID: 28871202 PMCID: PMC5583342 DOI: 10.1038/s41598-017-10772-6] [Citation(s) in RCA: 23] [Impact Index Per Article: 3.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 06/01/2017] [Accepted: 08/14/2017] [Indexed: 12/03/2022] Open
Abstract
The current debate about megafaunal extinctions during the Quaternary focuses on the extent to which they were driven by humans, climate change, or both. These two factors may have interacted in a complex and unexpected manner, leaving the exact pathways to prehistoric extinctions unresolved. Here we quantify, with unprecedented detail, the contribution of humans and climate change to the Holocene decline of the largest living terrestrial carnivore, the brown bear (Ursus arctos), on a continental scale. We inform a spatially explicit metapopulation model for the species by combining life-history data and an extensive archaeofaunal record from excavations across Europe with reconstructed climate and land-use data reaching back 12,000 years. The model reveals that, despite the broad climatic niche of the brown bear, increasing winter temperatures contributed substantially to its Holocene decline — both directly by reducing the species’ reproductive rate and indirectly by facilitating human land use. The first local extinctions occurred during the Mid-Holocene warming period, but the rise of the Roman Empire 2,000 years ago marked the onset of large-scale extinctions, followed by increasingly rapid range loss and fragmentation. These findings strongly support the hypothesis that complex interactions between climate and humans may have accelerated megafaunal extinctions.
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35
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Whittaker RJ, Fernández-Palacios JM, Matthews TJ, Borregaard MK, Triantis KA. Island biogeography: Taking the long view of nature’s laboratories. Science 2017; 357:357/6354/eaam8326. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aam8326] [Citation(s) in RCA: 264] [Impact Index Per Article: 37.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/14/2022]
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36
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Lohr CA, Hone J, Bode M, Dickman CR, Wenger A, Pressey RL. Modeling dynamics of native and invasive species to guide prioritization of management actions. Ecosphere 2017. [DOI: 10.1002/ecs2.1822] [Citation(s) in RCA: 15] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/11/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- Cheryl A. Lohr
- Department of Parks and Wildlife Science and Conservation Division 37 Wildlife Pl Woodvale Western Australia 6026 Australia
| | - Jim Hone
- Institute for Applied Ecology University of Canberra Canberra Australian Capital Territory 2601 Australia
| | - Michael Bode
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia
| | - Christopher R. Dickman
- School of Life and Environmental Sciences University of Sydney Sydney New South Wales 2006 Australia
| | - Amelia Wenger
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia
| | - Robert L. Pressey
- Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Coral Reef Studies James Cook University Townsville Queensland 4811 Australia
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37
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Johnson CN, Balmford A, Brook BW, Buettel JC, Galetti M, Guangchun L, Wilmshurst JM. Biodiversity losses and conservation responses in the Anthropocene. Science 2017; 356:270-275. [DOI: 10.1126/science.aam9317] [Citation(s) in RCA: 405] [Impact Index Per Article: 57.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/28/2022]
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38
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Hoffmann BD, Graham R, Smith D. Ant species accumulation on Lord Howe Island highlights the increasing need for effective biosecurity on islands. NEOBIOTA 2017. [DOI: 10.3897/neobiota.34.10291] [Citation(s) in RCA: 6] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.9] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022]
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39
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Ecological consequences of human niche construction: Examining long-term anthropogenic shaping of global species distributions. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2017; 113:6388-96. [PMID: 27274046 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1525200113] [Citation(s) in RCA: 232] [Impact Index Per Article: 33.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/26/2022] Open
Abstract
The exhibition of increasingly intensive and complex niche construction behaviors through time is a key feature of human evolution, culminating in the advanced capacity for ecosystem engineering exhibited by Homo sapiens A crucial outcome of such behaviors has been the dramatic reshaping of the global biosphere, a transformation whose early origins are increasingly apparent from cumulative archaeological and paleoecological datasets. Such data suggest that, by the Late Pleistocene, humans had begun to engage in activities that have led to alterations in the distributions of a vast array of species across most, if not all, taxonomic groups. Changes to biodiversity have included extinctions, extirpations, and shifts in species composition, diversity, and community structure. We outline key examples of these changes, highlighting findings from the study of new datasets, like ancient DNA (aDNA), stable isotopes, and microfossils, as well as the application of new statistical and computational methods to datasets that have accumulated significantly in recent decades. We focus on four major phases that witnessed broad anthropogenic alterations to biodiversity-the Late Pleistocene global human expansion, the Neolithic spread of agriculture, the era of island colonization, and the emergence of early urbanized societies and commercial networks. Archaeological evidence documents millennia of anthropogenic transformations that have created novel ecosystems around the world. This record has implications for ecological and evolutionary research, conservation strategies, and the maintenance of ecosystem services, pointing to a significant need for broader cross-disciplinary engagement between archaeology and the biological and environmental sciences.
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40
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Grosser S, Rawlence NJ, Anderson CNK, Smith IWG, Scofield RP, Waters JM. Invader or resident? Ancient-DNA reveals rapid species turnover in New Zealand little penguins. Proc Biol Sci 2017; 283:rspb.2015.2879. [PMID: 26842575 DOI: 10.1098/rspb.2015.2879] [Citation(s) in RCA: 17] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.4] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/12/2022] Open
Abstract
The expansion of humans into previously unoccupied parts of the globe is thought to have driven the decline and extinction of numerous vertebrate species. In New Zealand, human settlement in the late thirteenth century AD led to the rapid demise of a distinctive vertebrate fauna, and also a number of 'turnover' events where extinct lineages were subsequently replaced by closely related taxa. The recent genetic detection of an Australian little penguin (Eudyptula novaehollandiae) in southeastern New Zealand may potentially represent an additional 'cryptic' invasion. Here we use ancient-DNA (aDNA) analysis and radiocarbon dating of pre-human, archaeological and historical Eudyptula remains to reveal that the arrival of E. novaehollandiae in New Zealand probably occurred between AD 1500 and 1900, following the anthropogenic decline of its sister taxon, the endemic Eudyptula minor. This rapid turnover event, revealed by aDNA, suggests that native species decline can be masked by invasive taxa, and highlights the potential for human-mediated biodiversity shifts.
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Affiliation(s)
- Stefanie Grosser
- Allan Wilson Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | - Nicolas J Rawlence
- Allan Wilson Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Ian W G Smith
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
| | | | - Jonathan M Waters
- Allan Wilson Centre, Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand
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41
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Waters JM, Grosser S. Managing shifting species: Ancient DNA reveals conservation conundrums in a dynamic world. Bioessays 2016; 38:1177-1184. [PMID: 27586443 DOI: 10.1002/bies.201600044] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/06/2022]
Abstract
The spread of exotic species represents a major driver of biological change across the planet. While dispersal and colonization are natural biological processes, we suggest that the failure to recognize increasing rates of human-facilitated self-introductions may represent a threat to native lineages. Notably, recent biogeographic analyses have revealed numerous cases of biological range shifts in response to anthropogenic impacts and climate change. In particular, ancient DNA analyses have revealed several cases in which lineages traditionally thought to be long-established "natives" are in fact recent colonizers. Such range expansion events have apparently occurred in response to human-mediated native biodiversity declines and ecosystem change, particularly in recently colonized, isolated ecosystems such as New Zealand. While such events can potentially boost local biodiversity, the spread of exotic lineages may also hasten the decline of indigenous species, so it is essential that conservation managers recognize these rapid biotic shifts..
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Stefanie Grosser
- Department of Zoology, University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand.,Department of Animal Behaviour, Bielefeld University, Bielefeld, Germany
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Cowie RH, Héros V, Yeung NW, Hayes KA. Annotated catalogue of types of Hawaiian land and freshwater snails (Mollusca: Gastropoda) in the Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Paris, with lectotype designations. ZOOSYSTEMA 2016. [DOI: 10.5252/z2016n2a4] [Citation(s) in RCA: 22] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/05/2022]
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43
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Hess SC. A Tour de Force by Hawaii’s Invasive Mammals: Establishment, Takeover, and Ecosystem Restoration through Eradication. MAMMAL STUDY 2016. [DOI: 10.3106/041.041.0202] [Citation(s) in RCA: 12] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022]
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How Should Beta-Diversity Inform Biodiversity Conservation? Trends Ecol Evol 2016; 31:67-80. [DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2015.11.005] [Citation(s) in RCA: 641] [Impact Index Per Article: 80.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 05/09/2015] [Revised: 11/09/2015] [Accepted: 11/10/2015] [Indexed: 11/20/2022]
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Régnier C, Bouchet P, Hayes KA, Yeung NW, Christensen CC, Chung DJD, Fontaine B, Cowie RH. Extinction in a hyperdiverse endemic Hawaiian land snail family and implications for the underestimation of invertebrate extinction. CONSERVATION BIOLOGY : THE JOURNAL OF THE SOCIETY FOR CONSERVATION BIOLOGY 2015; 29:1715-1723. [PMID: 26234768 DOI: 10.1111/cobi.12565] [Citation(s) in RCA: 21] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 08/25/2014] [Revised: 03/03/2015] [Accepted: 03/26/2015] [Indexed: 06/04/2023]
Abstract
The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List includes 832 species listed as extinct since 1600, a minuscule fraction of total biodiversity. This extinction rate is of the same order of magnitude as the background rate and has been used to downplay the biodiversity crisis. Invertebrates comprise 99% of biodiversity, yet the status of a negligible number has been assessed. We assessed extinction in the Hawaiian land snail family Amastridae (325 species, IUCN lists 33 as extinct). We did not use the stringent IUCN criteria, by which most invertebrates would be considered data deficient, but a more realistic approach comparing historical collections with modern surveys and expert knowledge. Of the 325 Amastridae species, 43 were originally described as fossil or subfossil and were assumed to be extinct. Of the remaining 282, we evaluated 88 as extinct and 15 as extant and determined that 179 species had insufficient evidence of extinction (though most are probably extinct). Results of statistical assessment of extinction probabilities were consistent with our expert evaluations of levels of extinction. Modeling various extinction scenarios yielded extinction rates of 0.4-14.0% of the amastrid fauna per decade. The true rate of amastrid extinction has not been constant; generally, it has increased over time. We estimated a realistic average extinction rate as approximately 5%/decade since the first half of the nineteenth century. In general, oceanic island biotas are especially susceptible to extinction and global rate generalizations do not reflect this. Our approach could be used for other invertebrates, especially those with restricted ranges (e.g., islands), and such an approach may be the only way to evaluate invertebrates rapidly enough to keep up with ongoing extinction.
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Affiliation(s)
- Claire Régnier
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, UMR 7205 CNRS Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Ecole pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Case postale 51, 55 rue Buffon, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Philippe Bouchet
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, UMR 7205 CNRS Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Ecole pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Case postale 51, 55 rue Buffon, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Kenneth A Hayes
- Department of Biology, Howard University, 415 College Street NW, Washington, D.C., 20059, U.S.A
- Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., 20013, U.S.A
| | - Norine W Yeung
- Smithsonian Institution, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, D.C., 20013, U.S.A
- Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii, 3050 Maile Way, Gilmore 408, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822, U.S.A
- Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96817, U.S.A
| | - Carl C Christensen
- Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii, 3050 Maile Way, Gilmore 408, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822, U.S.A
- Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96817, U.S.A
| | - Daniel J D Chung
- Bishop Museum, 1525 Bernice Street, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96817, U.S.A
| | - Benoît Fontaine
- Institut de Systématique, Evolution, Biodiversité, UMR 7205 CNRS Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle (MNHN), Université Pierre et Marie Curie (UPMC), Ecole pratique des hautes études (EPHE), Muséum national d'Histoire naturelle, Sorbonne Universités, Case postale 51, 55 rue Buffon, 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France
| | - Robert H Cowie
- Pacific Biosciences Research Center, University of Hawaii, 3050 Maile Way, Gilmore 408, Honolulu, Hawaii, 96822, U.S.A
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Abstract
Clovis groups in Late Pleistocene North America occasionally hunted several now extinct large mammals. But whether their hunting drove 37 genera of animals to extinction has been disputed, largely for want of kill sites. Overkill proponents argue that there is more archaeological evidence than we ought to expect, that humans had the wherewithal to decimate what may have been millions of animals, and that the appearance of humans and the disappearance of the fauna is too striking to be a mere coincidence. Yet, there is less to these claims than meets the eye. Moreover, extinctions took place amid sweeping climatic and environmental changes as the Pleistocene came to an end. It has long been difficult to link those changes to mammalian extinctions, but the advent of ancient DNA, coupled with high-resolution paleoecological, radiocarbon, and archeological records, should help disentangle the relative role of changing climates and people in mammalian extinctions.
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Affiliation(s)
- David J. Meltzer
- Department of Anthropology, Southern Methodist University, Dallas, Texas 75275
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Rawlence NJ, Kennedy M, Anderson CNK, Prost S, Till CE, Smith IWG, Scofield RP, Tennyson AJD, Hamel J, Lalas C, Matisoo-Smith EA, Waters JM. Geographically contrasting biodiversity reductions in a widespread New Zealand seabird. Mol Ecol 2015; 24:4605-16. [DOI: 10.1111/mec.13338] [Citation(s) in RCA: 19] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/02/2014] [Revised: 07/22/2015] [Accepted: 07/27/2015] [Indexed: 02/06/2023]
Affiliation(s)
- Nicolas J. Rawlence
- Allan Wilson Centre; Department of Zoology; University of Otago; Dunedin New Zealand
| | - Martyn Kennedy
- Allan Wilson Centre; Department of Zoology; University of Otago; Dunedin New Zealand
| | | | - Stefan Prost
- Department of Integrative Biology; University of California; Berkeley CA 94720-3140 USA
- Allan Wilson Centre; Department of Anatomy; University of Otago; Dunedin New Zealand
| | - Charlotte E. Till
- Allan Wilson Centre; Department of Zoology; University of Otago; Dunedin New Zealand
- School of Human Evolution and Social Change; Arizona State University; Tempe AZ USA
| | - Ian W. G. Smith
- Department of Anthropology and Archaeology; University of Otago; Dunedin New Zealand
| | | | | | | | - Chris Lalas
- Department of Marine Science; University of Otago; Dunedin New Zealand
| | | | - Jonathan M. Waters
- Allan Wilson Centre; Department of Zoology; University of Otago; Dunedin New Zealand
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Faurby S, Svenning JC. Historic and prehistoric human-driven extinctions have reshaped global mammal diversity patterns. DIVERS DISTRIB 2015. [DOI: 10.1111/ddi.12369] [Citation(s) in RCA: 151] [Impact Index Per Article: 16.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022] Open
Affiliation(s)
- S. Faurby
- Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity; Department of Bioscience; Aarhus University; Ny Munkegade 114 DK-8000 Aarhus C Denmark
| | - J.-C. Svenning
- Section for Ecoinformatics & Biodiversity; Department of Bioscience; Aarhus University; Ny Munkegade 114 DK-8000 Aarhus C Denmark
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The future of the fossil record: Paleontology in the 21st century. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:4852-8. [PMID: 25901304 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1505146112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
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50
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Biology in the Anthropocene: Challenges and insights from young fossil records. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 2015; 112:4922-9. [PMID: 25901315 DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1403660112] [Citation(s) in RCA: 91] [Impact Index Per Article: 10.1] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/18/2022] Open
Abstract
With overwhelming evidence of change in habitats, biologists today must assume that few, if any, study areas are natural and that biological variability is superimposed on trends rather than stationary means. Paleobiological data from the youngest sedimentary record, including death assemblages actively accumulating on modern land surfaces and seabeds, provide unique information on the status of present-day species, communities, and biomes over the last few decades to millennia and on their responses to natural and anthropogenic environmental change. Key advances have established the accuracy and resolving power of paleobiological information derived from naturally preserved remains and of proxy evidence for environmental conditions and sample age so that fossil data can both implicate and exonerate human stressors as the drivers of biotic change and permit the effects of multiple stressors to be disentangled. Legacy effects from Industrial and even pre-Industrial anthropogenic extirpations, introductions, (de)nutrification, and habitat conversion commonly emerge as the primary factors underlying the present-day status of populations and communities; within the last 2 million years, climate change has rarely been sufficient to drive major extinction pulses absent other human pressures, which are now manifold. Young fossil records also provide rigorous access to the baseline composition and dynamics of modern-day biota under pre-Industrial conditions, where insights include the millennial-scale persistence of community structures, the dominant role of physical environmental conditions rather than biotic interactions in determining community composition and disassembly, and the existence of naturally alternating states.
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