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- Title
Habitat fragmentation causes immediate and time-delayed biodiversity loss at different trophic levels.
- Authors
Krauss, Jochen; Bommarco, Riccardo; Guardiola, Moisès; Heikkinen, Risto K.; Helm, Aveliina; Kuussaari, Mikko; Lindborg, Regina; Öckinger, Erik; Pärtel, Meelis; Pino, Joan; Pöyry, Juha; Raatikainen, Katja M.; Sang, Anu; Stefanescu, Constantí; Teder, Tiit; Zobel, Martin; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf
- Abstract
Ecology Letters (2010) 13: 597–605 Intensification or abandonment of agricultural land use has led to a severe decline of semi-natural habitats across Europe. This can cause immediate loss of species but also time-delayed extinctions, known as the extinction debt. In a pan-European study of 147 fragmented grassland remnants, we found differences in the extinction debt of species from different trophic levels. Present-day species richness of long-lived vascular plant specialists was better explained by past than current landscape patterns, indicating an extinction debt. In contrast, short-lived butterfly specialists showed no evidence for an extinction debt at a time scale of c. 40 years. Our results indicate that management strategies maintaining the status quo of fragmented habitats are insufficient, as time-delayed extinctions and associated co-extinctions will lead to further biodiversity loss in the future.
- Subjects
EUROPE; FRAGMENTED landscapes; BIOLOGICAL extinction; HABITATS; GRASSLANDS; BIODIVERSITY; LANDSCAPE assessment; MANAGEMENT
- Publication
Ecology Letters, 2010, Vol 13, Issue 5, p597
- ISSN
1461-023X
- Publication type
Letter
- DOI
10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01457.x