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Global distribution and conservation of rare and threatened vertebrates

Grenyer, Richard, Orme, C. David L., Jackson, Sarah F., Thomas, Gavin H., Davies, Richard G., Davies, T. Jonathan, Jones, Kate E., Olson, Valerie A., Ridgely, Robert S., Rasmussen, Pamela C., and others. (2006) Global distribution and conservation of rare and threatened vertebrates. Nature, 444 (7115). pp. 93-96. ISSN 0028-0836. (doi:10.1038/nature05237) (The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:7512)

The full text of this publication is not currently available from this repository. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided.
Official URL:
https://doi.org/10.1038/nature05237

Abstract

Global conservation strategies commonly assume that different taxonomic groups show congruent geographical patterns of diversity, and that the distribution of extinction-prone species in one group can therefore act as a surrogate for vulnerable species in other groups when conservation decisions are being made(1-4). The validity of these assumptions remains unclear, however, because previous tests have been limited in both geographical and taxonomic extent(5-12). Here we use a database on the global distribution of 19,349 living bird, mammal and amphibian species to show that, although the distribution of overall species richness is very similar among these groups, congruence in the distribution of rare and threatened species is markedly lower. Congruence is especially low among the very rarest species. Cross-taxon congruence is also highly scale dependent, being particularly low at the finer spatial resolutions relevant to real protected areas. 'Hotspots' of rarity and threat are therefore largely non-overlapping across groups, as are areas chosen to maximize species complementarity. Overall, our results indicate that 'silver-bullet' conservation strategies alone will not deliver efficient conservation solutions. Instead, priority areas for biodiversity conservation must be based on high-resolution data from multiple taxa.

Item Type: Article
DOI/Identification number: 10.1038/nature05237
Additional information: ISI Document Delivery No.: 100WS Times Cited: 29 Cited Reference Count: 30 Grenyer, Richard Orme, C. David L. Jackson, Sarah F. Thomas, Gavin H. Davies, Richard G. Davies, T. Jonathan Jones, Kate E. Olson, Valerie A. Ridgely, Robert S. Rasmussen, Pamela C. Ding, Tzung-Su Bennett, Peter M. Blackburn, Tim M. Gaston, Kevin J. Gittleman, John L. Owens, Ian P. F.
Uncontrolled keywords: Reserve selection' Species richness; Indicator groups; Hotspots; Ecoregions; Strategies; Priorities; Patterns; Endemism
Subjects: G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GE Environmental Sciences
G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Human and Social Sciences > School of Anthropology and Conservation > DICE (Durrell Institute of Conservation and Ecology)
Depositing User: C.G.W.G. van-de-Benderskum
Date Deposited: 16 Sep 2008 18:03 UTC
Last Modified: 16 Nov 2021 09:45 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/7512 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Bennett, Peter M..

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