Boakes, EH;
Fuller, RA;
McGowan, PJ;
Mace, GM;
(2016)
Uncertainty in identifying local extinctions: the distribution of missing data and its effects on biodiversity measures.
Biology Letters
, 12
(3)
, Article 20150824. 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0824.
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Abstract
Identifying local extinctions is integral to estimating species richness and geographic range changes and informing extinction risk assessments. However, the species occurrence records underpinning these estimates are frequently compromised by a lack of recorded species absences making it impossible to distinguish between local extinction and lack of survey effort-for a rigorously compiled database of European and Asian Galliformes, approximately 40% of half-degree cells contain records from before but not after 1980. We investigate the distribution of these cells, finding differences between the Palaearctic (forests, low mean human influence index (HII), outside protected areas (PAs)) and Indo-Malaya (grassland, high mean HII, outside PAs). Such cells also occur more in less peaceful countries. We show that different interpretations of these cells can lead to large over/under-estimations of species richness and extent of occurrences, potentially misleading prioritization and extinction risk assessment schemes. To avoid mistakes, local extinctions inferred from sightings records need to account for the history of survey effort in a locality.
Type: | Article |
---|---|
Title: | Uncertainty in identifying local extinctions: the distribution of missing data and its effects on biodiversity measures |
Location: | England |
Open access status: | An open access version is available from UCL Discovery |
DOI: | 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0824 |
Publisher version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1098/rsbl.2015.0824 |
Language: | English |
Additional information: | Copyright © 2016 The Authors. Published by the Royal Society under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/, which permits unrestricted use, provided the original author and source are credited. |
Keywords: | biodiversity monitoring, extinction inference, galliformes, local extinction, spatial bias, species occurrence data |
UCL classification: | UCL UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > School of Life and Medical Sciences > Faculty of Life Sciences > Div of Biosciences > Genetics, Evolution and Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment UCL > Provost and Vice Provost Offices > UCL BEAMS > Faculty of the Built Environment > Bartlett School Env, Energy and Resources |
URI: | https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1482673 |
1. | United States | 9 |
2. | China | 6 |
3. | United Kingdom | 3 |
4. | Netherlands | 1 |
5. | Germany | 1 |
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