The threats endangering Australia's at-risk fauna

Reducing the rate of species extinctions is one of the great challenges of our time. Understanding patterns in the distribution and frequency of both threatened species and the threatening processes affecting them improves our ability to mitigate threats and prioritize management actions. In this qu...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:	Biological conservation Vol. 222; pp. 172 - 179
Main Authors:	Allek, Adriana, Assis, Ariadna S., Eiras, Nicoli, Amaral, Thais P., Williams, Brooke, Butt, Nathalie, Renwick, Anna R., Bennett, Joseph R., Beyer, Hawthorne L.
Format:	Journal Article
Language:	English
Published:	Elsevier Ltd 01-06-2018
Subjects:	Body mass Conservation Extinction risk Prioritization Threatened species Vulnerability Prioritization Vulnerability Threatened species Body mass Extinction risk Conservation
Online Access:	Get full text
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Summary:	Reducing the rate of species extinctions is one of the great challenges of our time. Understanding patterns in the distribution and frequency of both threatened species and the threatening processes affecting them improves our ability to mitigate threats and prioritize management actions. In this quantitative synthesis of processes threatening Australian at-risk fauna, we find that species are impacted by a median of six threats (range 1–19), though there is considerable variation in numbers of threats among major taxonomic groups. Invasive species, habitat loss, biological resource use, natural systems modification and climate change are the processes most commonly affecting Australian threatened species. We identified an uneven distribution of research knowledge among species, with half of the total number of species-specific peer-reviewed scientific publications associated with only 11 threatened species (2.7%). Furthermore, the number of threats associated with each species was correlated with the research effort for that species, and research effort was correlated with body mass. Hence, there appears to be a research bias towards larger-bodied species, and certain charismatic species, that could result in inferences biased towards these favored species. However, after accounting for these effects we found that for birds, amphibians, reptiles and marine mammals body mass is positively correlated with the number of threats associated with each species. Many threats also co-occur, indicating that threat syndromes may be common.
ISSN:	0006-3207 1873-2917
DOI:	10.1016/j.biocon.2018.03.029