Habitat fragmentation and its lasting impact on Earth’s ecosystems
Nick M. Haddad,Lars A. Brudvig,Jean Clobert,Kendi F. Davies,Andrew Gonzalez,Robert D. Holt,Thomas E. Lovejoy,Joseph O. Sexton,Mike P. Austin,Cathy D. Collins,William M. Cook,Ellen I. Damschen,Robert M. Ewers,Bryan L. Foster,Clinton N. Jenkins,Andrew J. King,William F. Laurance,Douglas J. Levey,Chris Margules,Chris Margules,Brett A. Melbourne,A. O. Nicholls,A. O. Nicholls,John L. Orrock,Dan-Xia Song,John R. Townshend +25 more
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TLDR
An analysis of global forest cover is conducted to reveal that 70% of remaining forest is within 1 km of the forest’s edge, subject to the degrading effects of fragmentation, indicating an urgent need for conservation and restoration measures to improve landscape connectivity.Abstract:
We conducted an analysis of global forest cover to reveal that 70% of remaining forest is within 1 km of the forest’s edge, subject to the degrading effects of fragmentation. A synthesis of fragmentation experiments spanning multiple biomes and scales, five continents, and 35 year sd emonstrates that habitatfragmentation reduces biodiversity by 13 to 75% and impairs key ecosystem functions by decreasing biomass and altering nutrient cycles. Effects are greatest in the smallest and most isolated fragments, and they magnify with the passage of time. These findings indicate an urgent need for conservation and restoration measures to improve landscape connectivity, which will reduce extinction rates and help maintain ecosystem services.read more
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On underestimation of global vulnerability to tree mortality and forest die‐off from hotter drought in the Anthropocene
TL;DR: In this article, the authors identify ten contrasting perspectives that shape the vulnerability debate but have not been discussed collectively and present a set of global vulnerability drivers that are known with high confidence: (1) droughts eventually occur everywhere; (2) warming produces hotter Droughts; (3) atmospheric moisture demand increases nonlinearly with temperature during drought; (4) mortality can occur faster in hotter Drought, consistent with fundamental physiology; (5) shorter Drought can become lethal under warming, increasing the frequency of lethal Drought; and (6) mortality happens rapidly
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Impending extinction crisis of the world's primates: why primates matter
Alejandro Estrada,Paul A. Garber,Anthony B. Rylands,Christian Roos,Eduardo Fernandez-Duque,Anthony Di Fiore,K. Anne-Isola Nekaris,Vincent Nijman,Eckhard W. Heymann,Joanna E. Lambert,Francesco Rovero,Claudia Barelli,Joanna M. Setchell,Thomas R. Gillespie,Russell A. Mittermeier,Luis D. Verde Arregoitia,Miguel de Guinea,Sidney F. Gouveia,Ricardo Dobrovolski,Sam Shanee,Noga Shanee,Sarah A. Boyle,Agustín Fuentes,Katherine C. MacKinnon,Katherine R. Amato,Andreas L. S. Meyer,Serge A. Wich,Serge A. Wich,Robert W. Sussman,Ruliang Pan,Inza Koné,Baoguo Li +31 more
TL;DR: Raising global scientific and public awareness of the plight of the world’s primates and the costs of their loss to ecosystem health and human society is imperative.
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Future threats to biodiversity and pathways to their prevention
TL;DR: Proactive international efforts to increase crop yields, minimize land clearing and habitat fragmentation, and protect natural lands could increase food security in developing nations and preserve much of Earth's remaining biodiversity.
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The exceptional value of intact forest ecosystems
James E. M. Watson,James E. M. Watson,Tom Evans,Oscar Venter,Brooke Williams,Brooke Williams,Ayesha I. T. Tulloch,Ayesha I. T. Tulloch,Claire Louise Stewart,Ian D. Thompson,Justina C. Ray,Kris A. Murray,Alvaro Salazar,Clive McAlpine,Peter Potapov,Joe Walston,John G. Robinson,Michael Painter,David Wilkie,Christopher E. Filardi,William F. Laurance,Richard A. Houghton,Sean L. Maxwell,Hedley S. Grantham,Hedley S. Grantham,Cristián Samper,Stephanie Wang,Lars Laestadius,Rebecca K. Runting,Gustavo A. Silva-Chávez,Jamison Ervin,David B. Lindenmayer +31 more
TL;DR: It is argued that maintaining and, where possible, restoring the integrity of dwindling intact forests is an urgent priority for current global efforts to halt the ongoing biodiversity crisis, slow rapid climate change and achieve sustainability goals.
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Evolution of life in urban environments.
TL;DR: The suite of pressures that urban environments exert, the ways in which species may (or may not) adapt, and the larger impact of these evolutionary events on natural processes and human populations are reviewed.
References
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