Mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the South American Chaco
Habitat loss is the primary cause of local extinctions. Yet, there is considerable uncertainty regarding how fast species respond to habitat loss, and how time-delayed responses vary in space. We focused on the Argentine Dry Chaco (c. 32 million ha), a global deforestation hotspot, and tested for ti...
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2018
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| Acceso en línea: | https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_00218901_v55_n3_p1218_SemperPascual http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00218901_v55_n3_p1218_SemperPascual |
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paper:paper_00218901_v55_n3_p1218_SemperPascual2023-06-08T14:42:41Z Mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the South American Chaco agricultural expansion biodiversity loss deforestation extinction debt Gran Chaco habitat loss landscape transformation restoration time-delayed responses tropical dry forest agricultural extension biodiversity bird community composition conservation status deforestation habitat loss landscape ecology local extinction mammal species richness Argentina Chaco [Argentina] Gran Chaco Aves Mammalia Habitat loss is the primary cause of local extinctions. Yet, there is considerable uncertainty regarding how fast species respond to habitat loss, and how time-delayed responses vary in space. We focused on the Argentine Dry Chaco (c. 32 million ha), a global deforestation hotspot, and tested for time-delayed response of bird and mammal communities to landscape transformation. We quantified the magnitude of extinction debt by modelling contemporary species richness as a function of either contemporary or past (2000 and 1985) landscape patterns. We then used these models to map communities' extinction debt. We found strong evidence for an extinction debt: landscape structure from 2000 explained contemporary species richness of birds and mammals better than contemporary and 1985 landscapes. This suggests time-delayed responses between 10 and 25 years. Extinction debt was especially strong for forest specialists. Projecting our models across the Chaco highlighted areas where future local extinctions due to unpaid extinction debt are likely. Areas recently converted to agriculture had highest extinction debt, regardless of the post-conversion land use. Few local extinctions were predicted in areas with remaining larger forest patches. Synthesis and applications. The evidence for an unpaid extinction debt in the Argentine Dry Chaco provides a substantial window of opportunity for averting local biodiversity losses. However, this window may close rapidly if conservation activities such as habitat restoration are not implemented swiftly. Our extinction debt maps highlight areas where such conservation activities should be implemented. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Applied Ecology © 2018 British Ecological Society 2018 https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_00218901_v55_n3_p1218_SemperPascual http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00218901_v55_n3_p1218_SemperPascual |
| institution |
Universidad de Buenos Aires |
| institution_str |
I-28 |
| repository_str |
R-134 |
| collection |
Biblioteca Digital - Facultad de Ciencias Exactas y Naturales (UBA) |
| topic |
agricultural expansion biodiversity loss deforestation extinction debt Gran Chaco habitat loss landscape transformation restoration time-delayed responses tropical dry forest agricultural extension biodiversity bird community composition conservation status deforestation habitat loss landscape ecology local extinction mammal species richness Argentina Chaco [Argentina] Gran Chaco Aves Mammalia |
| spellingShingle |
agricultural expansion biodiversity loss deforestation extinction debt Gran Chaco habitat loss landscape transformation restoration time-delayed responses tropical dry forest agricultural extension biodiversity bird community composition conservation status deforestation habitat loss landscape ecology local extinction mammal species richness Argentina Chaco [Argentina] Gran Chaco Aves Mammalia Mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the South American Chaco |
| topic_facet |
agricultural expansion biodiversity loss deforestation extinction debt Gran Chaco habitat loss landscape transformation restoration time-delayed responses tropical dry forest agricultural extension biodiversity bird community composition conservation status deforestation habitat loss landscape ecology local extinction mammal species richness Argentina Chaco [Argentina] Gran Chaco Aves Mammalia |
| description |
Habitat loss is the primary cause of local extinctions. Yet, there is considerable uncertainty regarding how fast species respond to habitat loss, and how time-delayed responses vary in space. We focused on the Argentine Dry Chaco (c. 32 million ha), a global deforestation hotspot, and tested for time-delayed response of bird and mammal communities to landscape transformation. We quantified the magnitude of extinction debt by modelling contemporary species richness as a function of either contemporary or past (2000 and 1985) landscape patterns. We then used these models to map communities' extinction debt. We found strong evidence for an extinction debt: landscape structure from 2000 explained contemporary species richness of birds and mammals better than contemporary and 1985 landscapes. This suggests time-delayed responses between 10 and 25 years. Extinction debt was especially strong for forest specialists. Projecting our models across the Chaco highlighted areas where future local extinctions due to unpaid extinction debt are likely. Areas recently converted to agriculture had highest extinction debt, regardless of the post-conversion land use. Few local extinctions were predicted in areas with remaining larger forest patches. Synthesis and applications. The evidence for an unpaid extinction debt in the Argentine Dry Chaco provides a substantial window of opportunity for averting local biodiversity losses. However, this window may close rapidly if conservation activities such as habitat restoration are not implemented swiftly. Our extinction debt maps highlight areas where such conservation activities should be implemented. © 2018 The Authors. Journal of Applied Ecology © 2018 British Ecological Society |
| title |
Mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the South American Chaco |
| title_short |
Mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the South American Chaco |
| title_full |
Mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the South American Chaco |
| title_fullStr |
Mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the South American Chaco |
| title_full_unstemmed |
Mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the South American Chaco |
| title_sort |
mapping extinction debt highlights conservation opportunities for birds and mammals in the south american chaco |
| publishDate |
2018 |
| url |
https://bibliotecadigital.exactas.uba.ar/collection/paper/document/paper_00218901_v55_n3_p1218_SemperPascual http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.12110/paper_00218901_v55_n3_p1218_SemperPascual |
| _version_ |
1768546705325686784 |