Secondary extinctions of biodiversity

Jedediah F Brodie; Clare E Aslan; Haldre S Rogers; Kent H Redford; John L Maron; Judith L Bronstein; Craig R Groves

doi:10.1016/j.tree.2014.09.012

Secondary extinctions of biodiversity

Trends Ecol Evol. 2014 Dec;29(12):664-72. doi: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.09.012. Epub 2014 Oct 25.

Authors

Jedediah F Brodie¹, Clare E Aslan², Haldre S Rogers³, Kent H Redford⁴, John L Maron⁵, Judith L Bronstein⁶, Craig R Groves⁷

Affiliations

¹ Department of Botany, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada; Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada; Biodiversity Research Centre, University of British Columbia, Vancouver BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada. Electronic address: brodie@biodiversity.ubc.ca.
² Conservation Education and Science Department, Arizona-Sonora Desert Museum, Tucson, AZ 85743, USA.
³ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, Rice University, Houston, TX 77005, USA.
⁴ Archipelago Consulting, Portland, ME 04112, USA.
⁵ Division of Biological Sciences, University of Montana, Missoula, MT 59803, USA.
⁶ Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Arizona, Tucson, AZ 85721, USA.
⁷ The Nature Conservancy, Bozeman, MT 59715, USA.

PMID: 25445878
DOI: 10.1016/j.tree.2014.09.012

Abstract

Extinctions beget further extinctions when species lose obligate mutualists, predators, prey, or hosts. Here, we develop a conceptual model of species and community attributes affecting secondary extinction likelihood, incorporating mechanisms that buffer organisms against partner loss. Specialized interactors, including 'cryptic specialists' with diverse but nonredundant partner assemblages, incur elevated risk. Risk is also higher for species that cannot either evolve new traits following partner loss or obtain novel partners in communities reorganizing under changing environmental conditions. Partner loss occurs alongside other anthropogenic impacts; multiple stressors can circumvent ecological buffers, enhancing secondary extinction risk. Stressors can also offset each other, reducing secondary extinction risk, a hitherto unappreciated phenomenon. This synthesis suggests improved conservation planning tactics and critical directions for research on secondary extinctions.

Keywords: co-extinction; conservation planning; extinction debt; functional redundancy; mutualism; resilience; species interactions; trophic cascade.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Animals
Biodiversity*
Biological Evolution*
Conservation of Natural Resources*
Extinction, Biological*
Models, Biological*
Risk Factors