Abstract

P>Intensification or abandonment of agricultural land use has led to a severe decline of semi-natural habitats across Europe. This can cause immediate loss of species but also time-delayed extinctions, known as the extinction debt. In a pan-European study of 147 fragmented grassland remnants, we found differences in the extinction debt of species from different trophic levels. Present-day species richness of long-lived vascular plant specialists was better explained by past than current landscape patterns, indicating an extinction debt. In contrast, short-lived butterfly specialists showed no evidence for an extinction debt at a time scale of c. 40 years. Our results indicate that management strategies maintaining the status quo of fragmented habitats are insufficient, as time-delayed extinctions and associated co-extinctions will lead to further biodiversity loss in the future.

Keywords

Conservation; extinction cascades; extinction debt; grassland communities; habitat loss; habitat management; landscape change; relaxation time; species longevity

Published in

Ecology Letters
2010, Volume: 13, number: 5, pages: 597-605
Publisher: WILEY-BLACKWELL

SLU Authors

• Bommarco, Riccardo

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

• Öckinger, Erik

  • Department of Ecology, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences
    

Sustainable Development Goals

SDG15 Protect, restore and promote sustainable use of terrestrial ecosystems, sustainably manage forests, combat desertification, and halt and reverse land degradation and halt biodiversity loss
SDG13 Take urgent action to combat climate change and its impacts


UKÄ Subject classification

Environmental Sciences related to Agriculture and Land-use


Publication identifier

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01457.x

Permanent link to this page (URI)

https://res.slu.se/id/publ/61111