The current biodiversity extinction event: Scenarios for mitigation and recovery

Abstract

The current massive degradation of habitat and extinction of species is taking place on a catastrophically short timescale, and their effects will fundamentally reset the future evolution of the planet's biota. The fossil record suggests that recovery of global ecosystems has required millions or even tens of millions of years. Thus, intervention by humans, the very agents of the current environmental crisis, is required for any possibility of short-term recovery or maintenance of the biota. Many current recovery efforts have deficiencies, including insufficient information on the diversity and distribution of species, ecological processes, and magnitude and interaction of threats to biodiversity (pollution, overharvesting, climate change, disruption of biogeochemical cycles, introduced or invasive species, habitat loss and fragmentation through land use, disruption of community structure in habitats, and others). A much greater and more urgently applied investment to address these deficiencies is obviously warranted. Conservation and restoration in human-dominated ecosystems must strengthen connections between human activities, such as agricultural or harvesting practices, and relevant research generated in the biological, earth, and atmospheric sciences. Certain threats to biodiversity require intensive international cooperation and input from the scientific community to mitigate their harmful effects, including climate change and alteration of global biogeochemical cycles. In a world already transformed by human activity, the connection between humans and the ecosystems they depend on must frame any strategy for the recovery of the biota.

Divergence in Forest-Type Response to Climate and Weather: Evidence for Regional Links Between Forest-Type Evenness and Net Primary Productivity

“…Furthermore, these global change processes may be resulting in widespread alterations to some aspects of biological diversity (Sala and others 2000;Novacek and Cleland 2001), moving the diversityecosystem function debate beyond theoretical ecology into land management relevance (Chapin and others 2000;Hooper and others 2005;Srivastava and Vellend 2005;Diaz and others 2007). Because changing climate and disturbance regimes may reduce diversity, understanding the relationship between broadly defined measures of biological diversity and ecosystem function over larger areas is increasingly relevant to land managers and policy makers (Chapin and others 2000;Elmqvist and others 2003;Hooper and others 2005;Srivastava and Vellend 2005;Diaz and others 2007).…”

Adult longevity and its relationship with conservation status in European butterflies

“…In addition, low mobility was typically reported for threatened butterlies (Kotiaho et al 2005;Mattila et al 2006;Nylin and Bergström 2009;Habel et al 2015). This is not surprising, because less mobile species with low colonization success rates are more vulnerable to the efects of habitat fragmentation, which is nowadays a crucial threat for butterlies (Thomas 1995;Novacek and Cleland 2001;Baguette and Schtickzelle 2006;Franzen and;Johannesson 2007). Also as a consequence of habitat fragmentation, butterlies with greater patch size requirements are highly represented among species of conservation concern (Cowley et al 1999;Kotiaho et al 2005;Baguette and Stevens 2013).…”

Ecological restoration of farmland: progress and prospects

“…However, more recently, there has been an important move beyond conservation efforts to an appreciation of the value of natural, undisturbed remnants and to a better recognition of the role that highly modified landscapes play in maintaining native biodiversity . As Novacek & Cleland (2001) pointed out 'we are obviously past any point where strategies that focus on preservation of 'pristine' habitats are sufficient for the job. Greater attention must be placed on human-dominated landscapes that .…”