Global patterns of fragmentation and connectivity of mammalian carnivore habitat

Crooks, Kevin R.; Burdett, Christopher L.; Theobald, David M.; Rondinini, Carlo; Boitani, Luigi

doi:10.1098/rstb.2011.0120

Cited by 287 publications

(221 citation statements)

References 58 publications

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“…Different spatial patterns of habitat loss and different histories of landscape conversion will have different impacts on biodiversity [46] and could potentially alter the ranking of countries presented here. However, these effects are landscape-and species-specific and cannot presently be incorporated into our analyses.…”

Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Future hotspots of terrestrial mammal loss

Visconti

Pressey

Giorgini

et al. 2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

122

116

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Current levels of endangerment and historical trends of species and habitats are the main criteria used to direct conservation efforts globally. Estimates of future declines, which might indicate different priorities than past declines, have been limited by the lack of appropriate data and models. Given that much of conservation is about anticipating and responding to future threats, our inability to look forward at a global scale has been a major constraint on effective action. Here, we assess the geography and extent of projected future changes in suitable habitat for terrestrial mammals within their present ranges. We used a global earth-system model, IMAGE, coupled with fine-scale habitat suitability models and parametrized according to four global scenarios of human development. We identified the most affected countries by 2050 for each scenario, assuming that no additional conservation actions other than those described in the scenarios take place. We found that, with some exceptions, most of the countries with the largest predicted losses of suitable habitat for mammals are in Africa and the Americas. African and North American countries were also predicted to host the most species with large proportional global declines. Most of the countries we identified as future hotspots of terrestrial mammal loss have little or no overlap with the present global conservation priorities, thus confirming the need for forward-looking analyses in conservation priority setting. The expected growth in human populations and consumption in hotspots of future mammal loss mean that local conservation actions such as protected areas might not be sufficient to mitigate losses. Other policies, directed towards the root causes of biodiversity loss, are required, both in Africa and other parts of the world.

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Section: Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Future hotspots of terrestrial mammal loss

Visconti

Pressey

Giorgini

et al. 2011

Phil. Trans. R. Soc. B

Self Cite

122

116

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Answering this question is important for a number of reasons. First, many large carnivore populations exist outside protected areas and are embedded within human-dominated landscapes [9][10][11]. Second, there is increased focus on using large carnivores in the context of ecosystem restoration [12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Incorporating anthropogenic effects into trophic ecology: predator–prey interactions in a human-dominated landscape

et al. 2015

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Apex predators perform important functions that regulate ecosystems worldwide. However, little is known about how ecosystem regulation by predators is influenced by human activities. In particular, how important are top-down effects of predators relative to direct and indirect human-mediated bottom-up and top-down processes? Combining data on species' occurrence from camera traps and hunting records, we aimed to quantify the relative effects of topdown and bottom-up processes in shaping predator and prey distributions in a human-dominated landscape in Transylvania, Romania. By global standards this system is diverse, including apex predators (brown bear and wolf), mesopredators (red fox) and large herbivores (roe and red deer). Humans and free-ranging dogs represent additional predators in the system. Using structural equation modelling, we found that apex predators suppress lower trophic levels, especially herbivores. However, direct and indirect topdown effects of humans affected the ecosystem more strongly, influencing species at all trophic levels. Our study highlights the need to explicitly embed humans and their influences within trophic cascade theory. This will greatly expand our understanding of species interactions in human-modified landscapes, which compose the majority of the Earth's terrestrial surface.

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“…Relocation as an adaptive strategy is especially useful with events with a rapid onset [30] or great magnitude, or with individuals with a very low tolerance. For many animal species, relocation has been made more difficult by habitat fragmentation [75] and changes in predictability of yearly events [33]. As such, conservationists may opt for translocation of endangered species.…”

Section: Relocationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Coping with Change: A Closer Look at the Underlying Attributes of Change and the Individual Response to Unstable Environments

Langenhof

Komdeur

2013

Sustainability

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Abstract:Although the study of environmental change has long been of academic interest, the effects of change have become a much more pressing concern in the past few decades due to the often disruptive effect of human expansion and innovation. Researchers from many fields contribute to understanding our footprint on the natural world, problems we cause, and strategies we can employ to protect key species and ecosystems. Unfortunately, environmental change and its consequences are often studied without an awareness of the inherent attributes of the changes. As a result, the relevance of new advances in this field may be easily missed or misunderstood, and existing knowledge is not optimally applied. In this paper, we aim to facilitate the multi-disciplinary comparison of studies on environmental change, by offering a meta-level perspective on the process of change from the point of view of the individual animal. We propose an inclusive definition of change that can be applied across contexts, in which we take our understanding of -change‖ from an event to an interaction between a physical occurrence and an individual's state. Furthermore, we discuss key event-and individual-based attributes of change, their relevance in today's changing world, and how they relate to animals' available behavioural, physiological and cross-generational responses. We hope that by uncovering the underlying fundamental (or structure) of change, fellow scientists may better share their experience and knowledge gained from years of studying individual species and situations.

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Global patterns of fragmentation and connectivity of mammalian carnivore habitat

Cited by 287 publications

References 58 publications

Future hotspots of terrestrial mammal loss

Future hotspots of terrestrial mammal loss

Incorporating anthropogenic effects into trophic ecology: predator–prey interactions in a human-dominated landscape

Coping with Change: A Closer Look at the Underlying Attributes of Change and the Individual Response to Unstable Environments

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