Extinction debt: a challenge for biodiversity conservation

Kuussaari, Mikko; Bommarco, Riccardo; Heikkinen, Risto K.; Helm, Aveliina; Krauß, Jochen; Lindborg, Regina; Öckinger, Erik; Pärtel, Meelis; Pino, Joan; Roda, Ferran Camas; Stefanescu, Constantí; Teder, Tiit; Zobel, Martin; Steffan‐Dewenter, Ingolf

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2009.04.011

Cited by 1,140 publications

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“…The results of the present study suggest that in the case of kurgans extinction of habitat specialists on kurgans has occurred. Furthermore, as the current degree of isolation and the kurgan area are the main predictors of habitat specialist species density on kurgans, the authors conclude that the relaxation time (Kuussaari et al 2009) has passed, which in turns means that the extinction debt is close to being 'paid' and the species richness on kurgans is approaching a new equilibrium state. This may be an effect of the very small amount of remaining habitat in the landscape as suggested by Cousins (2009).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

“…Kurgans have some characteristics distinguishing them from many other studied habitat islands like their relatively small area, uniform shape and structure, long period of isolation, reaching 200 years (Lisetskii 1992), and a very high degree of anthropogenic transformation of the surrounding landscape. These features of kurgans could suggest that these objects are 'too small' and 'too isolated' for the persistence of certain habitat specialist populations in the long-run and that there should be an extinction threshold in such cases (Kuussaari et al 2009). Nevertheless, the response of vascular plant species richness could be very slow, as individuals of long-lived plant species can survive for decades or even longer (Helm et al 2006).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Habitat islands resulting from habitat loss due to anthropogenic activities are usually characterized by a shorter period of isolation (usually in the order of tens or hundreds of years). This can cause potential problems associated with the detection of long-term processes such as colonization and extinction of species occurring on islands, for example due to the phenomenon known as extinction debt (Cousins 2009;Kuussaari et al 2009). Research on the influence of habitat loss and fragmentation on species richness could help to plan protected areas and their spatial arrangement (Niebuhr et al 2015).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Isolation and patch size drive specialist plant species density within steppe islands: a case study of kurgans in southern Ukraine

et al. 2016

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The fragmentation and isolation of preserved habitat patches within intensive agricultural landscape threaten species survival in steppes. In Ukraine, \5 % of the original steppe area has survived, mostly in nature reserves, loess ravines and kurgans (burial mounds). The latter are small, but relatively numerous objects. The aim of this study was to investigate whether plant species density (= the number of species per plot) within small steppe patches on kurgans differs from that within large steppe enclaves in southern Ukraine. Another aim was to determine the influence of patch area, isolation and heat load index on species density on kurgans. Presence-absence data for vascular plant species were collected on plots of a size of 100 and 1 m 2 . Thirty kurgans and ten sites within large steppe enclaves were sampled. Every noted species was classified as specialist or generalist. For kurgans data on area and degree of isolation were collected. Additionally the heat load index for plots on kurgans was calculated. The density of habitat specialists was higher in larger steppe enclaves than on kurgans at both spatial scales. On kurgans the most important predictors of specialist density were isolation (negative) and kurgan area (positive). The density of generalists was positively affected by the heat load index. Kurgans can provide refuges for steppe plant species. However, our results show that over a longer time period, proximity to larger steppe refuges is important to maintain species diversity within these small patches.Communicated by Johannes Kamp.Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 95%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Isolation and patch size drive specialist plant species density within steppe islands: a case study of kurgans in southern Ukraine

et al. 2016

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“…Recently, disequilibrium situations in landscapes have received particular attention in ecological studies at the landscape level (Cousins 2009;Kuussaari et al 2009). Human-driven landscapes are characterized by destruction and fragmentation of (semi-)natural habitats (Saunders et al 1991).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…As a consequence, dynamic communities that experience habitat destruction and/or creation of new habitat patches may face two disequilibrium situations with regard to patch spatial characteristics. First, following decrease in habitat area and connectivity, an extinction threshold (sensu Kuussaari et al 2009) can be reached for several species. However, extinction may be delayed resulting in the creation of an extinction debt in fragmented habitats (Hanski & Ovaskainen 2002;Jackson & Sax 2009;Kuussaari et al 2009).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Testing coexistence of extinction debt and colonization credit in fragmented calcareous grasslands with complex historical dynamics

et al. 2011

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Calcareous grasslands are among the most species-rich ecosystems in temperate countries.However, these ecosystems have suffered from fragmentation and destruction during the last century. We studied the response of calcareous grassland plant diversity to landscape changes in Belgium. Results indicated that high area loss (since 1965) old habitat patches exhibited an extinction debt inverse to low area loss old habitat patches, little depending on the area loss threshold (60%, 70%, 80% or 90%) considered for the distinction between the high and low area loss patches. However, human activities also created new habitat patches in the landscape and therefore provided opportunities for calcareous grassland plant species to colonize new habitats.This also provided opportunities to study species colonization abilities in the context of habitat restoration. We analyzed species richness in new patches compared to old patches in order to detect colonization credit. We detected the presence of a colonization credit in new patches when using high loss old patches (area loss>80%, exhibiting an extinction debt) or all old patches as a reference. However, when the reference was low loss old patches alone (area loss<80%, less likely to exhibit an extinction debt), no colonization credit was detected. In addition, species composition was similar between new patches and old patches. These results are encouraging for restoration programs. However, the results indicated that the presence of an extinction debt in reference habitats could lead to inaccurate conclusions in restoration monitoring. Therefore, extinction debt should be considered when choosing reference habitats to evaluate restoration success.

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Relative importance of landscape and species characteristics on extinction debt, immigration credit and relaxation time after habitat turnover

Lalechère

Archaux²,

Jabot

2019

Population Ecology

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Habitat turnover concomitantly causes destruction and creation of habitat patches. Following such a perturbation, metapopulations harbor either an extinction debt or an immigration credit, that is the future decrease or increase in population numbers due to this disturbance. Extinction debt and immigration credit are rarely considered simultaneously and disentangled from the relaxation time (time to new equilibrium). In this contribution, we test the relative importance of two potential drivers of time‐delayed metapopulation dynamics: the spatial configuration of the habitat turnover and species dispersal ability. We provide a simulation‐based investigation projecting metapopulation dynamics following habitat turnover in virtual landscapes. We consider two virtual species (a short‐distance and a long‐distance disperser) and five scenarios of habitat turnover depending on net habitat loss or gain and habitat aggregation. Our analyses reveal that (a) the main determinant of the magnitude of the extinction debt or immigration credit is the net change in total habitat area, followed by species dispersal distance and finally by the post‐turnover habitat aggregation; (b) relaxation time weakly depends on the magnitude of the immigration credit or of the extinction debt; (c) the main determinant of relaxation time is dispersal distance followed by the net change in total habitat area and finally by the post‐turnover habitat aggregation. These results shed light on the relative importance of dispersal ability and habitat turnover spatial structure on the components of time‐delayed metapopulation dynamics.

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Extinction debt: a challenge for biodiversity conservation

Cited by 1,140 publications

References 63 publications

Isolation and patch size drive specialist plant species density within steppe islands: a case study of kurgans in southern Ukraine

Isolation and patch size drive specialist plant species density within steppe islands: a case study of kurgans in southern Ukraine

Testing coexistence of extinction debt and colonization credit in fragmented calcareous grasslands with complex historical dynamics

Relative importance of landscape and species characteristics on extinction debt, immigration credit and relaxation time after habitat turnover

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