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Habitat fragmentation causes immediate and time-delayed biodiversity loss at different trophic levels

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...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores principales: 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
Formato: Texto
Lenguaje:English
Publicado: Blackwell Publishing Ltd 2010
Materias:
Acceso en línea:https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2871172/
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20337698
http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01457.x
Descripción
Sumario: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.