PMID: 11607581Sep 26, 1995Paper

Forest losses predict bird extinctions in eastern North America

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
S L Pimm, R A Askins

Abstract

Claims that there will be a massive loss of species as tropical forests are cleared are based on the relationship between habitat area and the number of species. Few studies calibrate extinction with habitat reduction. Critics raise doubts about this calibration, noting that there has been extensive clearing of the eastern North American forest, yet only 4 of its approximately 200 bird species have gone extinct. We analyze the distribution of bird species and the timing and extent of forest loss. The forest losses were not concurrent across the region. Based on the maximum extent of forest losses, our calculations predict fewer extinctions than the number observed. At most, there are 28 species of birds restricted to the region. Only these species would be at risk even if all the forests were cleared. Far from providing comfort to those who argue that the current rapid rate of tropical deforestation might cause fewer extinctions than often claimed, our results suggest that the losses may be worse. In contrast to eastern North America, small regions of tropical forest often hold hundreds of endemic bird species.

References

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Citations

Jul 21, 2009·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Kenneth J Feeley, Miles R Silman
Jul 17, 2013·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Ilkka HanskiJoel Rybicki
Mar 24, 2006·Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences·Owen T Lewis
Mar 11, 2010·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Lian Pin Koh, Jaboury Ghazoul
Sep 23, 2009·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Ghislain RompréGeorge Angehr
Jul 11, 2006·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Stuart PimmPaul R Ehrlich
Aug 15, 2002·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Eric W SeabloomDavid M Stoms
May 19, 2006·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·D Brent Gurd
Dec 2, 2005·Biological Reviews of the Cambridge Philosophical Society·Robert M Ewers, Raphael K Didham
Feb 8, 2008·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Grant Harris, Stuart L Pimm
Jun 12, 2008·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Mariana M ValeStuart L Pimm
Mar 30, 2007·Molecular Ecology·Austin L Hughes, Mary Ann K Hughes
Mar 5, 2013·Ecology Letters·Joel Rybicki, Ilkka Hanski
Dec 21, 2010·Ecology Letters·Hélène MorlonJessica L Green
May 25, 2013·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·Erik Kiviat
Aug 13, 2013·Ecology Letters·Robert M EwersDaniel C Reuman
Feb 13, 2013·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·James B McGrawJennifer Chandler
Apr 23, 2010·Evolution; International Journal of Organic Evolution·Anthony Waldron
May 16, 2013·Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences·John M HalleyNikolaos Monokrousos
May 17, 2006·Trends in Ecology & Evolution·S Joseph Wright
Jul 2, 2015·Conservation Biology : the Journal of the Society for Conservation Biology·Samuel M JantzGeorge C Hurtt
Dec 21, 2013·Current Biology : CB·Stuart L Pimm, Thomas Brooks
Sep 28, 2016·PeerJ·Gilbert BarrantesEric J Fuchs
Aug 30, 2006·Ecology·Henrique M Pereira, Gretchen C Daily
Aug 30, 2006·Ecological Applications : a Publication of the Ecological Society of America·Eric W SeabloomAndy P Dobson
Mar 8, 2000·Nature·N MyersJ Kent
Jun 17, 2011·Nature·T M Brooks
Dec 19, 2001·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·J S BrasharesM K Sam
Nov 18, 2015·Nature Communications·Petr KeilWalter Jetz
Jun 4, 2020·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Elizabeth J GreenWilliam D Simonson
Aug 23, 2017·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·William D NewmarkJohn M Halley
Oct 20, 2018·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Yanping WangVirginie Millien
Jul 31, 2020·Nature·Jonathan M ChaseFelix May
Feb 3, 2021·Proceedings. Biological Sciences·Brian Tilston SmithMichael G Harvey

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