Living on the edge

Article Abstract:

The collapse of species' ranges towards the periphery is a standard development, rather than an exception, according to research based on 245 species across a broad range of taxonomic groups and geographical areas. It is suggested that human impacts, moving in a front across the landscape, engulf the underlying geographical ecology. It was found that two-thirds of the species studied survived preferentially in their historical peripheries, with one-third surviving only in these peripheries. It seems that disproportionate amounts of habitat survive on the peripheries of hotspots.

Habitat (Ecology), Human beings, Habitat modification, Human-environment interactions

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Atlantic forest extinctions

Article Abstract:

Species-loss data from South America's Atlantic forests are incongruent with the high estimates of future extinction rates culled from deforestation figures. While such data show that almost 90% of the rainforest is gone, no bird species has been reported to be extinct. It thus appears that there is a time lag between deforestation and extinction, which best explains the similarity between the observed numbers of threatened Atlantic forest endemics and the numbers estimated from deforestation.

Natural history, Deforestation, South America, Extinction (Biology), Rain forest ecology

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Biodiversity barometers

Article Abstract:

The Convention on Biological Diversity agreed to reduce rate of biodiversity loss significantly by 2010. A 'red list index' is proposed on the basis of assessment of species extinction risk whereby the governments all across the world are holding themselves accountable for biodiversity conservation.

United States, Administration of Conservation Programs, Endangered Species, Protection and preservation, Biological diversity conservation, Biodiversity conservation

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