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Jarić I, Roll U, Bonaiuto M, Brook BW, Courchamp F, Firth JA, Gaston KJ, Heger T, Jeschke JM, Ladle RJ, Meinard Y, Roberts DL, Sherren K, Soga M, Soriano-Redondo A, Veríssimo D, Correia RA. Societal extinction of species. Trends Ecol Evol 2022; 37:411-419. [PMID: 35181167 DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2021.12.011] [Citation(s) in RCA: 8] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/16/2021] [Revised: 12/21/2021] [Accepted: 12/24/2021] [Indexed: 12/19/2022]
Abstract
The ongoing global biodiversity crisis not only involves biological extinctions, but also the loss of experience and the gradual fading of cultural knowledge and collective memory of species. We refer to this phenomenon as 'societal extinction of species' and apply it to both extinct and extant taxa. We describe the underlying concepts as well as the mechanisms and factors that affect this process, discuss its main implications, and identify mitigation measures. Societal extinction is cognitively intractable, but it is tied to biological extinction and thus has important consequences for conservation policy and management. It affects societal perceptions of the severity of anthropogenic impacts and of true extinction rates, erodes societal support for conservation efforts, and causes the loss of cultural heritage.
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Affiliation(s)
- Ivan Jarić
- Biology Centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences, Institute of Hydrobiology, České Budějovice, Czech Republic; Department of Ecosystem Biology,(,) Faculty of Science, University of South Bohemia, České Budějovice, Czech Republic.
| | - Uri Roll
- Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Jacob Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Midreshet Ben-Gurion, Israel
| | - Marino Bonaiuto
- CIRPA Centro Interuniversitario di Ricerca in Psicologia Ambientale, Dipartimento di Psicologia dei Processi di Sviluppo e Socializzazione, Sapienza Università di Roma, Rome, Italy
| | - Barry W Brook
- School of Natural Sciences, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia; ARC Centre of Excellence for Australian Biodiversity and Heritage, University of Tasmania, Hobart, Tasmania, Australia
| | - Franck Courchamp
- Université Paris-Saclay, CNRS, AgroParisTech, Ecologie Systématique Evolution, Orsay, France
| | - Josh A Firth
- Department of Zoology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK
| | - Kevin J Gaston
- Environment and Sustainability Institute, University of Exeter, Penryn, Cornwall, UK
| | - Tina Heger
- Technical University of Munich, Restoration Ecology, Freising, Germany; Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, Germany; Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany; Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Jonathan M Jeschke
- Berlin-Brandenburg Institute of Advanced Biodiversity Research (BBIB), Berlin, Germany; Leibniz Institute of Freshwater Ecology and Inland Fisheries (IGB), Berlin, Germany; Institute of Biology, Freie Universität Berlin, Berlin, Germany
| | - Richard J Ladle
- CIBIO/InBio, Centro de Investigação em Biodiversidade e Recursos Genéticos, Laboratório Associado, Universidade do Porto, Vairão, Portugal; Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil
| | - Yves Meinard
- Université Paris Dauphine, PSL Research University, CNRS, Paris, France
| | - David L Roberts
- Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology, School of Anthropology and Conservation, University of Kent, Canterbury, Kent, UK
| | - Kate Sherren
- School for Resource and Environmental Studies, Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
| | - Masashi Soga
- Graduate School of Agricultural and Life Sciences, The University of Tokyo, Tokyo, Japan
| | - Andrea Soriano-Redondo
- Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science (HELICS), Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | | | - Ricardo A Correia
- Institute of Biological and Health Sciences, Federal University of Alagoas, Maceió, Alagoas, Brazil; Helsinki Lab of Interdisciplinary Conservation Science (HELICS), Department of Geosciences and Geography, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; Helsinki Institute of Sustainability Science (HELSUS), University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland; CESAM - Centre for Environmental and Marine Studies, University of Aveiro, Aveiro, Portugal
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Green AE, Unsworth RKF, Chadwick MA, Jones PJS. Historical Analysis Exposes Catastrophic Seagrass Loss for the United Kingdom. Front Plant Sci 2021; 12:629962. [PMID: 33747011 PMCID: PMC7970192 DOI: 10.3389/fpls.2021.629962] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.7] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/16/2020] [Accepted: 02/02/2021] [Indexed: 05/27/2023]
Abstract
The spatial extent of seagrass is poorly mapped, and knowledge of historical loss is limited. Here, we collated empirical and qualitative data using systematic review methods to provide unique analysis on seagrass occurrence and loss in the United Kingdom. We document 8,493 ha of recently mapped seagrass in the United Kingdom since 1998. This equates to an estimated 0.9 Mt of carbon, which, in the current carbon market represents about £22 million. Using simple models to estimate seagrass declines triangulated against habitat suitability models, we provide evidence of catastrophic seagrass loss; at least 44% of United Kingdom's seagrasses have been lost since 1936, 39% since the 1980's. However, losses over longer time spans may be as high as 92%. Based on these estimates, historical seagrass meadows could have stored 11.5 Mt of carbon and supported approximately 400 million fish. Our results demonstrate the vast scale of losses and highlight the opportunities to restore seagrass to support a range of ecosystems services.
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Affiliation(s)
- Alix E. Green
- Department of Geography, University College London (UCL), London, United Kingdom
| | - Richard K. F. Unsworth
- Seagrass Ecosystem Research Group, Swansea University, Swansea, United Kingdom
- Project Seagrass, Sustainable Places Research Institute, Cardiff, United Kingdom
| | | | - Peter J. S. Jones
- Department of Geography, University College London (UCL), London, United Kingdom
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Fernández-Llamazares Á, Díaz-Reviriego I, Luz AC, Cabeza M, Pyhälä A, Reyes-García V. Rapid ecosystem change challenges the adaptive capacity of Local Environmental Knowledge. Glob Environ Change 2015; 31:272-284. [PMID: 26097291 PMCID: PMC4471143 DOI: 10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2015.02.001] [Citation(s) in RCA: 41] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 05/05/2023]
Abstract
The use of Local Environmental Knowledge has been considered as an important strategy for adaptive management in the face of Global Environmental Change. However, the unprecedented rates at which global change occurs may pose a challenge to the adaptive capacity of local knowledge systems. In this paper, we use the concept of the shifting baseline syndrome to examine the limits in the adaptive capacity of the local knowledge of an indigenous society facing rapid ecosystem change. We conducted semi-structured interviews regarding perceptions of change in wildlife populations and in intergenerational transmission of knowledge amongst the Tsimane', a group of hunter-gatherers of Bolivian Amazonia (n = 300 adults in 13 villages). We found that the natural baseline against which the Tsimane' measure ecosystem changes might be shifting with every generation as a result of (a) age-related differences in the perception of change and (b) a decrease in the intergenerational sharing of environmental knowledge. Such findings suggest that local knowledge systems might not change at a rate quick enough to adapt to conditions of rapid ecosystem change, hence potentially compromising the adaptive success of the entire social-ecological system. With the current pace of Global Environmental Change, widening the gap between the temporal rates of on-going ecosystem change and the timescale needed for local knowledge systems to adjust to change, efforts to tackle the shifting baseline syndrome are urgent and critical for those who aim to use Local Environmental Knowledge as a tool for adaptive management.
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Affiliation(s)
- Álvaro Fernández-Llamazares
- Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Metapopulation Research Centre, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
- Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, ICTA, Edifici Z, Carrer de les Columnes, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, 08193-Bellaterra, Barcelona, Spain. Tel.: (+34)935868649 // Fax: (+34)935813331 //
| | - Isabel Díaz-Reviriego
- Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Ana C. Luz
- Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
| | - Mar Cabeza
- Metapopulation Research Centre, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Aili Pyhälä
- Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Metapopulation Research Centre, Department of Biosciences, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland
| | - Victoria Reyes-García
- Institut de Ciència i Tecnologia Ambientals, Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain
- Institució Catalana de Recerca i Estudis Avançats, Barcelona, Spain
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Abstract
The recent extinction of the Caribbean monk seal Monachus tropicalis has been considered an example of a human-caused extinction in the marine environment, and this species was considered a driver of the changes that have occurred in the structure of Caribbean coral reef ecosystems since colonial times. I searched archaeological records, historical data, and geographic names (used as a proxy of the presence of seals) and evaluated the use and quality of these data to conclude that since prehistoric times the Caribbean monk seal was always rare and vulnerable to human predation. This finding supports the hypothesis that in AD 1500, the Caribbean monk seal persisted as a small fragmented population in which individuals were confined to small keys, banks, or isolated islands in the Gulf of Mexico and the Caribbean Sea. This hypothesis is contrary to the assumption that the species was widespread and abundant historically. The theory that the main driver of monk seal extinction was harvesting for its oil for use in the sugar cane industry of Jamaica during the 18th century is based primarily on anecdotal information and is overemphasized in the literature. An analysis of reported human encounters with this species indicates monk seal harvest was an occasional activity, rather than an ongoing enterprise. Nevertheless, given the rarity of this species and its restricted distribution, even small levels of hunting or specimen collecting must have contributed to its extinction, which was confirmed in the mid-20th century. Some sources had been overlooked or only partially reviewed, others misinterpreted, and a considerable amount of anecdotal information had been uncritically used. Critical examination of archaeological and historical records is required to infer accurate estimations of the historical abundance of a species. In reconstructing the past to address the shifting baseline syndrome, it is important to avoid selecting evidence to confirm modern prejudices.
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Affiliation(s)
- Julio A Baisre
- Acuario Nacional de Cuba, Ave.1ra y Calle 60, Miramar, Playa, La Habana.
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