Widespread extinction debts and colonization credits in United States breeding bird communities

Haddou, Y., Mancy, R. , Matthiopoulos, J. , Spatharis, S. and Dominoni, D. M. (2022) Widespread extinction debts and colonization credits in United States breeding bird communities. Nature Ecology and Evolution, 6(3), pp. 324-331. (doi: 10.1038/s41559-021-01653-3) (PMID:35145265) (PMCID:PMC8913367)

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Abstract

Species extinctions and colonizations in response to land cover change often occur with time lags rather than instantaneously, leading to extinction debts and colonization credits. These debts and credits can lead to erroneous predictions of future biodiversity. Recent attempts to measure debts and credits have been limited to small geographical areas and have not considered multiple land cover types, or the directionality of land cover change. Here we quantify the relative contribution of past and current landscapes on the current effective number of species of 2,880 US bird communities, explicitly measuring the response of biodiversity to increases and decreases in five land cover types. We find that the current effective number of species is still largely explained by the past landscape composition (legacy effect), depending on the type, magnitude and directionality of recent land cover change. This legacy effect leads to widespread extinction debts and colonization credits. Specifically, we reveal debts across 52% of the United States, particularly in recently urbanized areas, and colonization credits in the remaining 48%, which are primarily associated with grassland decrease. We conclude that biodiversity policy targets risk becoming rapidly obsolete unless past landscapes are considered and debts and credits accounted for.

Item Type:Articles
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:Haddou, Mr Yacob and Mancy, Dr Rebecca and Spatharis, Dr Sofie and Dominoni, Dr Davide and Matthiopoulos, Professor Jason
Creator Roles:
Haddou, Y.Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft
Mancy, R.Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft
Matthiopoulos, J.Conceptualization, Formal analysis, Writing – original draft
Spatharis, S.Conceptualization, Writing – original draft
Dominoni, D.Conceptualization, Writing – original draft
Authors: Haddou, Y., Mancy, R., Matthiopoulos, J., Spatharis, S., and Dominoni, D. M.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > MRC/CSO SPHSU
College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Life Sciences
College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Biodiversity, One Health & Veterinary Medicine
Journal Name:Nature Ecology and Evolution
Publisher:Nature Research
ISSN:2397-334X
ISSN (Online):2397-334X
Published Online:10 February 2022
Copyright Holders:Copyright © 2022 The Authors
First Published:First published in Nature Ecology and Evolution 6(3): 324–331
Publisher Policy:Reproduced under a Creative Commons License
Related URLs:

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Project CodeAward NoProject NamePrincipal InvestigatorFunder's NameFunder RefLead Dept
303242Unravelling the impact of artificial light at night on circadian disruption, immunity, and infection riskDavide DominoniNatural Environment Research Council (NERC)NE/S005773/1Institute of Biodiversity, Animal Health and Comparative Medicine
3048230041Places and healthRich MitchellMedical Research Council (MRC)MC_UU_00022/4HW - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit
3048230091Places and healthRich MitchellOffice of the Chief Scientific Adviser (CSO)SPHSU19HW - MRC/CSO Social and Public Health Sciences Unit