Publication Date:
2012-08-24
Description:
Introduction The world’s biodiversity is in crisis (e.g. Terborgh, 1999; Ceballos et al ., 2010; Cardinale et al ., 2012). Of biodiversity’s various levels, species hold a special place in the imagination of conservationists and the public alike: people equate to them more readily than to elements such as genes and ecosystems. The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species categorises species’ extinction risk (Vié et al ., 2009). Recent comprehensive Red List assessments show high threat levels for amphibians (30% of 6,347 species considered globally threatened), birds (12% of 9,990), mammals (21% of 5,488), cycads (52% of 289), conifers (28% of 620) and freshwater crabs (17% of 1,281 species; but a further 49% of them were listed as Data Deficient) (Cumberlidge et al ., 2009; Hilton-Taylor et al ., 2009). Recent losses far exceed typical ‘background’ extinction rates, those before people dominated the earth (e.g. Baillie et al ., 2004; McCullum, 2007; Ceballos et al ., 2010). Moreover, the Red Li...
Print ISSN:
1993-3800
Electronic ISSN:
1993-3819
Topics:
Energy, Environment Protection, Nuclear Power Engineering
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