Body Size and Extinction Risk in Terrestrial Mammals Above the Species Level

2013 ◽  
Vol 182 (6) ◽  
pp. E196-E214 ◽  
Author(s):  
Susumu Tomiya
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals

scholarly journals Ecological correlates of extinction risk in Chinese terrestrial mammals

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lingying Shuai ◽  
Chuanwu Chen ◽  
Wei Liu ◽  
Wenyan Xu ◽  
Yun Wang ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Ecological Correlates

scholarly journals Biological and extrinsic correlates of extinction risk in Chinese lizards

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yuxi Zhong ◽  
Chuanwu Chen ◽  
Yanping Wang
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Geographic Range ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Habitat Specialization ◽  
Mean Annual Precipitation ◽  
Mean Annual Temperature ◽  
Small Range ◽  
Extrinsic Factors

Abstract China is a country with one of the most species rich reptile faunas in the world. However, nearly a quarter of Chinese lizard species assessed by the China Biodiversity Red List are threatened. Nevertheless, to date, no study has explicitly examined the pattern and processes of extinction and threat in Chinese lizards. In this study, we conducted the first comparative phylogenetic analysis of extinction risk in Chinese lizards. We addressed the following three questions: 1) What is the pattern of extinction and threat in Chinese lizards? 2) Which species traits and extrinsic factors are related to their extinction risk? 3) How can we protect Chinese lizards based on our results? We collected data on ten species traits (body size, clutch size, geographic range size, activity time, reproductive mode, habitat specialization, habitat use, leg development, maximum elevation, and elevation range) and seven extrinsic factors (mean annual precipitation, mean annual temperature, mean annual solar insolation, normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), human footprint, human population density, and human exploitation). After phylogenetic correction, these variables were used separately and in combination to assess their associations with extinction risk. We found that Chinese lizards with small geographic range, large body size, high habitat specialization, and living in high precipitation areas were vulnerable to extinction. Conservation priority should thus be given to species with the above extinction-prone traits so as to effectively protect Chinese lizards. Preventing future habitat destruction should also be a primary focus of management efforts because species with small range size and high habitat specialization are particularly vulnerable to habitat loss.

Allometry of home range size in lake and river fishes

1995 ◽  
Vol 52 (7) ◽  
pp. 1499-1508 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles K. Minns
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Home Range ◽  
Freshwater Fish ◽  
Fish Population ◽  
Home Range Size ◽  
Range Size ◽  
Territory Size ◽  
Home Ranges ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals

A data set assembled from published literature supported the hypotheses that (i) home range size increases allometrically with body size in temperate freshwater fishes, and (ii) fish home ranges are larger in lakes than rivers. The allometric model fitted was home range = A∙(body size)B. Home ranges in lakes were 19–23 times larger than those in rivers. Additional analyses showed that membership in different taxonomic groupings of fish, the presence–absence of piscivory, the method of measuring home range, and the latitude position of the water bodies were not significant predictive factors. Home ranges of freshwater fish were smaller than those of terrestrial mammals, birds, and lizards. Home ranges were larger than area per fish values derived by inverting fish population and assemblage density–size relationships from lakes and rivers and territory–size relationships in stream salmonids. The weight exponent (B) of fish home range was lower than values reported for other vertebrates, 0.58 versus a range of 0.96–1.14. Lake–river home range differences were consistent with differences reported in allometric models of freshwater fish density and production.

scholarly journals Areal sizes of high, intermediate, low and total suitable habitats are correlated to the global extinction risk for mammals

2014 ◽  
Vol 66 (3) ◽  
pp. 963-967
Author(s):  
You-Hua Chen
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Species Conservation ◽  
Species Extinction ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals ◽  
Global Extinction ◽  
Extinction Risk Assessment ◽  
Suitable Habitats ◽  
Threatened Status ◽  
Polyserial Correlation

The relationships between areal sizes of high, intermediate, low, and total sum of habitats with low, intermediate and high suitability habitat ranges, and the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) threatened status of global terrestrial mammals were studied. Polyserial correlation analysis showed that all types of areal size closely and positively correlated with IUCN categories of threatened species. The results indicate that area-based extinction risk assessment is feasible and reliable in species? conservation prioritization. Furthermore, the partial polyserial correlation test indicates that significant correlations between the IUCN threatened status of species and range sizes of high, intermediate and low suitability habitats are not influenced by the polyserial correlation between IUCN threatened status and total suitability habitat range size. Thus, the prediction of species? extinction risks can be accurately fulfilled by evaluating the areal size of any one of total, high, intermediate or low suitability ranges. The present study implies that if the area size information of a totally suitable range is not available for species? extinction risk assessment, the usage of areal sizes from any parts of suitable habitats (high, intermediate or low) are effective surrogates.

scholarly journals Examining predator–prey body size, trophic level and body mass across marine and terrestrial mammals

2014 ◽  
Vol 281 (1797) ◽  
pp. 20142103 ◽  
Author(s):  
Marlee A. Tucker ◽  
Tracey L. Rogers
Keyword(s):  
Community Structure ◽  
Body Size ◽  
Body Mass ◽  
Marine Environment ◽  
Trophic Level ◽  
Marine Mammals ◽  
Trophic Position ◽  
Trophic Levels ◽  
Predator Prey ◽  
Terrestrial Mammals

Predator–prey relationships and trophic levels are indicators of community structure, and are important for monitoring ecosystem changes. Mammals colonized the marine environment on seven separate occasions, which resulted in differences in species' physiology, morphology and behaviour. It is likely that these changes have had a major effect upon predator–prey relationships and trophic position; however, the effect of environment is yet to be clarified. We compiled a dataset, based on the literature, to explore the relationship between body mass, trophic level and predator–prey ratio across terrestrial ( n = 51) and marine ( n = 56) mammals. We did not find the expected positive relationship between trophic level and body mass, but we did find that marine carnivores sit 1.3 trophic levels higher than terrestrial carnivores. Also, marine mammals are largely carnivorous and have significantly larger predator–prey ratios compared with their terrestrial counterparts. We propose that primary productivity, and its availability, is important for mammalian trophic structure and body size. Also, energy flow and community structure in the marine environment are influenced by differences in energy efficiency and increased food web stability. Enhancing our knowledge of feeding ecology in mammals has the potential to provide insights into the structure and functioning of marine and terrestrial communities.

scholarly journals Rapid action in the Palaeogene, the relationship between phenotypic and taxonomic diversification in Coenozoic mammals

2013 ◽  
Vol 280 (1750) ◽  
pp. 20122244 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Raia ◽  
F. Carotenuto ◽  
F. Passaro ◽  
P. Piras ◽  
D. Fulgione ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Resource Utilization ◽  
Evolutionary Biology ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Phenotypic Evolution ◽  
Diversification Rates ◽  
Rapid Action ◽  
Hierarchic Level ◽  
The Relationship ◽  
Size Estimates

A classic question in evolutionary biology concerns the tempo and mode of lineage evolution. Considered variously in relation to resource utilization, intrinsic constraints or hierarchic level, the question of how evolutionary change occurs in general has continued to draw the attention of the field for over a century and a half. Here we use the largest species-level phylogeny of Coenozoic fossil mammals (1031 species) ever assembled and their body size estimates, to show that body size and taxonomic diversification rates declined from the origin of placentals towards the present, and very probably correlate to each other. These findings suggest that morphological and taxic diversifications of mammals occurred hierarchically, with major shifts in body size coinciding with the birth of large clades, followed by taxonomic diversification within these newly formed clades. As the clades expanded, rates of taxonomic diversification proceeded independently of phenotypic evolution. Such a dynamic is consistent with the idea, central to the Modern Synthesis, that mammals radiated adaptively, with the filling of adaptive zones following the radiation.

Measuring insect rarity: practical issues, pragmatic approaches

2013 ◽  
Vol 1 (10) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Simone Fattorini ◽  
Andrea Di Giulio ◽  
Leonardo Dapporto
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Short Review ◽  
Species Traits ◽  
Conservation Priorities ◽  
Literature Information ◽  
Invertebrate Conservation ◽  
Species Vulnerability ◽  
Museum Data ◽  
Data Field

Rarity is often considered an indication of species extinction risk, and rarity measures are used as important tools to predict species vulnerability and hence to establish conservation priorities. For these reasons, rarity is among the most important issues involved in conservation programs. A number of studies have attempted to investigate relationships between rarity and extinction risk in plants and vertebrates, whereas only few papers have investigated similar issues in invertebrate taxa. This has limited the use of standardized rarity measures in invertebrate conservation studies. Assessing rarity is especially important when other pieces of information are difficult, or even definitively impossible, to obtain, as commonly found for most insects. Four broad categories of rarity are commonly recognized: geographical, ecological, population and phylogenetic rarity. On the basis of this framework, we present here a short review of the rarity forms most frequently investigated in insect studies, and their relationships with the main species traits related to extinction risk (such as body size, mobility, trophic level, host specificity, larval and adult behaviours, etc.). We discuss what they mean, how they can be measured, which type of data (field collections, museum data, literature information) are needed and how to avoid the most common pitfalls associated with rarity studies, with indications for pragmatic approaches in data analysis.

scholarly journals Body Size, Extinction Risk and Knowledge Bias in New World Snakes

PLoS ONE ◽  
2014 ◽  
Vol 9 (11) ◽  
pp. e113429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bruno Vilela ◽  
Fabricio Villalobos ◽  
Miguel Ángel Rodríguez ◽  
Levi Carina Terribile
Keyword(s):  
Body Size ◽  
New World ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Knowledge Bias

scholarly journals Species identity and depth predict bleaching severity in reef-building corals: shall the deep inherit the reef?

2017 ◽  
Vol 284 (1864) ◽  
pp. 20171551 ◽  
Author(s):  
Paul R. Muir ◽  
Paul A. Marshall ◽  
Ameer Abdulla ◽  
J. David Aguirre
Keyword(s):  
Coral Cover ◽  
Extinction Risk ◽  
Species Level ◽  
Population Recovery ◽  
Bleaching Event ◽  
Species Identity ◽  
Resistant Species ◽  
Repeated Events ◽  
Coral Reef Ecosystems ◽  
Reef Recovery

Mass bleaching associated with unusually high sea temperatures represents one of the greatest threats to corals and coral reef ecosystems. Deeper reef areas are hypothesized as potential refugia, but the susceptibility of Scleractinian species over depth has not been quantified. During the most severe bleaching event on record, we found up to 83% of coral cover severely affected on Maldivian reefs at a depth of 3–5 m, but significantly reduced effects at 24–30 m. Analysis of 153 species' responses showed depth, shading and species identity had strong, significant effects on susceptibility. Overall, 73.3% of the shallow-reef assemblage had individuals at a depth of 24–30 m with reduced effects, potentially mitigating local extinction and providing a source of recruits for population recovery. Although susceptibility was phylogenetically constrained, species-level effects caused most lineages to contain some partially resistant species. Many genera showed wide variation between species, including Acropora, previously considered highly susceptible. Extinction risk estimates showed species and lineages of concern and those likely to dominate following repeated events. Our results show that deeper reef areas provide refuge for a large proportion of Scleractinian species during severe bleaching events and that the deepest occurring individuals of each population have the greatest potential to survive and drive reef recovery.

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