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Global effects of land use on local terrestrial biodiversity.

Authors :
Newbold, Tim
Hudson, Lawrence N.
Hill, Samantha L. L.
Contu, Sara
Lysenko, Igor
Senior, Rebecca A.
Börger, Luca
Bennett, Dominic J.
Choimes, Argyrios
Collen, Ben
Day, Julie
De Palma, Adriana
Díaz, Sandra
Echeverria-Londoño, Susy
Edgar, Melanie J.
Feldman, Anat
Garon, Morgan
Harrison, Michelle L. K.
Alhusseini, Tamera
Ingram, Daniel J.
Source :
Nature; 4/2/2015, Vol. 520 Issue 7545, p45-50, 6p
Publication Year :
2015

Abstract

Human activities, especially conversion and degradation of habitats, are causing global biodiversity declines. How local ecological assemblages are responding is less clear-a concern given their importance for many ecosystem functions and services. We analysed a terrestrial assemblage database of unprecedented geographic and taxonomic coverage to quantify local biodiversity responses to land use and related changes. Here we show that in the worst-affected habitats, these pressures reduce within-sample species richness by an average of 76.5%, total abundance by 39.5% and rarefaction-based richness by 40.3%. We estimate that, globally, these pressures have already slightly reduced average within-sample richness (by 13.6%), total abundance (10.7%) and rarefaction-based richness (8.1%), with changes showing marked spatial variation. Rapid further losses are predicted under a business-as-usual land-use scenario; within-sample richness is projected to fall by a further 3.4% globally by 2100, with losses concentrated in biodiverse but economically poor countries. Strong mitigation can deliver much more positive biodiversity changes (up to a 1.9% average increase) that are less strongly related to countries' socioeconomic status. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Details

Language :
English
ISSN :
00280836
Volume :
520
Issue :
7545
Database :
Complementary Index
Journal :
Nature
Publication Type :
Academic Journal
Accession number :
101870393
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature14324