Variability in life-history and ecological traits is a buffer against extinction in mammals.

Abstract:

:Anthropogenic degradation of the world's ecosystems is leading to a widespread and accelerating loss of biodiversity. However, not all species respond equally to existing threats, raising the question: what makes a species more vulnerable to extinction? We propose that higher intraspecific variability may reduce the risk of extinction, as different individuals and populations within a species may respond differently to occurring threats. Supporting this prediction, our results show that mammalian species with more variable adult body masses, litter sizes, sexual maturity ages and population densities are less vulnerable to extinction. Our findings reveal the role of local variation among populations, particularly of large mammals, as a buffering mechanism against extinction, and emphasise the importance of considering trait variation in comparative analyses and conservation management.

journal_name

Ecol Lett

journal_title

Ecology letters

authors

González-Suárez M,Revilla E

doi

10.1111/ele.12035

subject

Has Abstract

pub_date

2013-02-01 00:00:00

pages

242-51

issue

2

eissn

1461-023X

issn

1461-0248

journal_volume

16

pub_type

杂志文章
  • Subsidy hypothesis and strength of trophic cascades across ecosystems.

    abstract::Ecosystems are differentially open to subsidies of energy, material and organisms. This fundamental ecosystem attribute has long been recognized but the influence of this property on community regulation has not been investigated. We propose that this environmental attribute may explain variation in the strength of tr...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01235.x

    authors: Leroux SJ,Loreau M

    更新日期:2008-11-01 00:00:00

  • Global negative vegetation feedback to climate warming responses of leaf litter decomposition rates in cold biomes.

    abstract::Whether climate change will turn cold biomes from large long-term carbon sinks into sources is hotly debated because of the great potential for ecosystem-mediated feedbacks to global climate. Critical are the direction, magnitude and generality of climate responses of plant litter decomposition. Here, we present the f...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01051.x

    authors: Cornelissen JH,van Bodegom PM,Aerts R,Callaghan TV,van Logtestijn RS,Alatalo J,Chapin FS,Gerdol R,Gudmundsson J,Gwynn-Jones D,Hartley AE,Hik DS,Hofgaard A,Jónsdóttir IS,Karlsson S,Klein JA,Laundre J,Magnusson B,Michel

    更新日期:2007-07-01 00:00:00

  • Body shape shifting during growth permits tests that distinguish between competing geometric theories of metabolic scaling.

    abstract::Metabolism fuels all of life's activities, from biochemical reactions to ecological interactions. According to two intensely debated theories, body size affects metabolism via geometrical influences on the transport of resources and wastes. However, these theories differ crucially in whether the size dependence of met...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12334

    authors: Hirst AG,Glazier DS,Atkinson D

    更新日期:2014-10-01 00:00:00

  • Do invasive species show higher phenotypic plasticity than native species and, if so, is it adaptive? A meta-analysis.

    abstract::Do invasive plant species have greater phenotypic plasticity than non-invasive species? And, if so, how does this affect their fitness relative to native, non-invasive species? What role might this play in plant invasions? To answer these long-standing questions, we conducted a meta-analysis using data from 75 invasiv...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章,meta分析

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01596.x

    authors: Davidson AM,Jennions M,Nicotra AB

    更新日期:2011-04-01 00:00:00

  • Toxic cascades: multiple anthropogenic stressors have complex and unanticipated interactive effects on temperate reefs.

    abstract::In a changing environment multiple anthropogenic stressors can have novel and non-additive effects on interacting species. We investigated the interactive effects of fishing and harmful algal blooms on the predator-sea urchin-macroalgae trophic cascade. Fishing of urchin predators had indirect negative effects on macr...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01512.x

    authors: Shears NT,Ross PM

    更新日期:2010-09-01 00:00:00

  • Natural selection acts in opposite ways on correlated hormonal mediators of prenatal maternal effects in a wild bird population.

    abstract::Maternal hormones are important mediators of prenatal maternal effects. Although many experimental studies have demonstrated their potency in shaping offspring phenotypes, we know remarkably little about their adaptive value. Using long-term data on a wild collared flycatcher (Ficedula albicollis) population, we show ...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12339

    authors: Tschirren B,Postma E,Gustafsson L,Groothuis TG,Doligez B

    更新日期:2014-10-01 00:00:00

  • Demographic compensation among populations: what is it, how does it arise and what are its implications?

    abstract::Most species are exposed to significant environmental gradients across their ranges, but vital rates (survival, growth, reproduction and recruitment) need not respond in the same direction to those gradients. Opposing vital rate trends across environments, a phenomenon that has been loosely called 'demographic compens...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12505

    authors: Villellas J,Doak DF,García MB,Morris WF

    更新日期:2015-11-01 00:00:00

  • Habitat structure and the evolution of diffusible siderophores in bacteria.

    abstract::Bacteria typically rely on secreted metabolites, potentially shareable at the community level, to scavenge resources from the environment. The evolution of diffusible, shareable metabolites is, however, difficult to explain because molecules can get lost, or be exploited by cheating mutants. A key question is whether ...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12371

    authors: Kümmerli R,Schiessl KT,Waldvogel T,McNeill K,Ackermann M

    更新日期:2014-12-01 00:00:00

  • Herbivory enhances positive effects of plant genotypic diversity.

    abstract::Both plant diversity and vertebrate herbivores can impact plant fitness and ecosystem functioning, however their interactions have not been explicitly tested. We manipulated plant genotypic diversity of the native plant Oenothera biennis and monitored its survivorship and lifetime fitness with and without one of its m...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2010.01452.x

    authors: Parker JD,Salminen JP,Agrawal AA

    更新日期:2010-05-01 00:00:00

  • Stable isotopes are quantitative indicators of trophic niche.

    abstract::Hette-Tronquart (2019, Ecol. Lett.) raises three concerns about our interpretation of stable isotope data in Sheppard et al. (2018, Ecol. Lett., 21, 665). We feel that these concerns are based on comparisons that are unreasonable or ignore the ecological context from which the data were collected. Stable isotope ratio...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.13374

    authors: Marshall HH,Inger R,Jackson AL,McDonald RA,Thompson FJ,Cant MA

    更新日期:2019-11-01 00:00:00

  • Extreme streams: species persistence and genomic change in montane insect populations across a flooding gradient.

    abstract::The ecological and evolutionary consequences of extreme events are poorly understood. Here, we tested predictions about species persistence and population genomic change in aquatic insects in 14 Colorado mountain streams across a hydrological disturbance gradient caused by a one in 500-year rainfall event. Taxa persis...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12918

    authors: Poff NL,Larson EI,Salerno PE,Morton SG,Kondratieff BC,Flecker AS,Zamudio KR,Funk WC

    更新日期:2018-04-01 00:00:00

  • Carbon dioxide supersaturation promotes primary production in lakes.

    abstract::A majority of the world's lakes are supersaturated with respect to carbon dioxide (CO(2) ). By experimental manipulation of the CO(2) concentration in supersaturated boreal lakes, we demonstrate that phytoplankton primary production was up to 10 times higher in supersaturated lake water in comparison with water with C...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 信件

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01762.x

    authors: Jansson M,Karlsson J,Jonsson A

    更新日期:2012-06-01 00:00:00

  • The ecogenetic link between demography and evolution: can we bridge the gap between theory and data?

    abstract::Calls to understand the links between ecology and evolution have been common for decades. Population dynamics, i.e. the demographic changes in populations, arise from life history decisions of individuals and thus are a product of selection, and selection, on the contrary, can be modified by such dynamical properties ...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章,评审

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2007.01086.x

    authors: Kokko H,López-Sepulcre A

    更新日期:2007-09-01 00:00:00

  • What controls the distribution of tropical forest and savanna?

    abstract::Forest and savanna biomes dominate the tropics, yet factors controlling their distribution remain poorly understood. Climate is clearly important, but extensive savannas in some high rainfall areas suggest a decoupling of climate and vegetation. In some situations edaphic factors are important, with forest often assoc...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章,评审

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2012.01771.x

    authors: Murphy BP,Bowman DM

    更新日期:2012-07-01 00:00:00

  • Brain expansion in early hominins predicts carnivore extinctions in East Africa.

    abstract::While the anthropogenic impact on ecosystems today is evident, it remains unclear if the detrimental effect of hominins on co-occurring biodiversity is a recent phenomenon or has also been the pattern for earlier hominin species. We test this using the East African carnivore fossil record. We analyse the diversity of ...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 信件

    doi:10.1111/ele.13451

    authors: Faurby S,Silvestro D,Werdelin L,Antonelli A

    更新日期:2020-03-01 00:00:00

  • Evolutionary response when selection and genetic variation covary across environments.

    abstract::Although models of evolution usually assume that the strength of selection on a trait and the expression of genetic variation in that trait are independent, whenever the same ecological factor impacts both parameters, a correlation between the two may arise that accelerates trait evolution in some environments and slo...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12662

    authors: Wood CW,Brodie ED 3rd

    更新日期:2016-10-01 00:00:00

  • The potential for indirect effects between co-flowering plants via shared pollinators depends on resource abundance, accessibility and relatedness.

    abstract::Co-flowering plant species commonly share flower visitors, and thus have the potential to influence each other's pollination. In this study we analysed 750 quantitative plant-pollinator networks from 28 studies representing diverse biomes worldwide. We show that the potential for one plant species to influence another...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12342

    authors: Carvalheiro LG,Biesmeijer JC,Benadi G,Fründ J,Stang M,Bartomeus I,Kaiser-Bunbury CN,Baude M,Gomes SI,Merckx V,Baldock KC,Bennett AT,Boada R,Bommarco R,Cartar R,Chacoff N,Dänhardt J,Dicks LV,Dormann CF,Ekroos J,Hen

    更新日期:2014-11-01 00:00:00

  • Managing ecosystem services: what do we need to know about their ecology?

    abstract::Human domination of the biosphere has greatly altered ecosystems, often overwhelming their capacity to provide ecosystem services critical to our survival. Yet ecological understanding of ecosystem services is quite limited. Previous work maps the supply and demand for services, assesses threats to them, and estimates...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00751.x

    authors: Kremen C

    更新日期:2005-05-01 00:00:00

  • On the relationship between body condition and parasite infection in wildlife: a review and meta-analysis.

    abstract::Body condition metrics are widely used to infer animal health and to assess costs of parasite infection. Since parasites harm their hosts, ecologists might expect negative relationships between infection and condition in wildlife, but this assumption is challenged by studies showing positive or null condition-infectio...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章,meta分析,评审

    doi:10.1111/ele.13160

    authors: Sánchez CA,Becker DJ,Teitelbaum CS,Barriga P,Brown LM,Majewska AA,Hall RJ,Altizer S

    更新日期:2018-12-01 00:00:00

  • Individual personalities predict social behaviour in wild networks of great tits (Parus major).

    abstract::Social environments have an important effect on a range of ecological processes, and form a crucial component of selection. However, little is known of the link between personality, social behaviour and population structure. We combine a well-understood personality trait with large-scale social networks in wild songbi...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12181

    authors: Aplin LM,Farine DR,Morand-Ferron J,Cole EF,Cockburn A,Sheldon BC

    更新日期:2013-11-01 00:00:00

  • Community evolution increases plant productivity at low diversity.

    abstract::Species extinctions from local communities negatively affect ecosystem functioning. Ecological mechanisms underlying these impacts are well studied, but the role of evolutionary processes is rarely assessed. Using a long-term field experiment, we tested whether natural selection in plant communities increased biodiver...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 信件

    doi:10.1111/ele.12879

    authors: van Moorsel SJ,Hahl T,Wagg C,De Deyn GB,Flynn DFB,Zuppinger-Dingley D,Schmid B

    更新日期:2018-01-01 00:00:00

  • Unexpected spatial stability of water chemistry in headwater stream networks.

    abstract::Understanding how water and solutes enter and propagate through freshwater landscapes in the Anthropocene is critical to protecting and restoring aquatic ecosystems and ensuring human water security. However, high hydrochemical variability in headwater streams, where most carbon and nutrients enter river networks, has...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12897

    authors: Abbott BW,Gruau G,Zarnetske JP,Moatar F,Barbe L,Thomas Z,Fovet O,Kolbe T,Gu S,Pierson-Wickmann AC,Davy P,Pinay G

    更新日期:2018-02-01 00:00:00

  • Sampling volume in root studies: the pitfalls of under-sampling exposed using accumulation curves.

    abstract::Root systems are important for global models of below-ground carbon and nutrient cycling. Notoriously difficult sampling methods and the fractal distribution of root diameters in the soil make data being used in these models especially susceptible to error resulting from under-sampling. We applied the concept of speci...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12119

    authors: Taylor BN,Beidler KV,Cooper ER,Strand AE,Pritchard SG

    更新日期:2013-07-01 00:00:00

  • Beyond climate change attribution in conservation and ecological research.

    abstract::There is increasing pressure from policymakers for ecologists to generate more detailed 'attribution' analyses aimed at quantitatively estimating relative contributions of different driving forces, including anthropogenic climate change (ACC), to observed biological changes. Here, we argue that this approach is not pr...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12098

    authors: Parmesan C,Burrows MT,Duarte CM,Poloczanska ES,Richardson AJ,Schoeman DS,Singer MC

    更新日期:2013-05-01 00:00:00

  • Global mismatch between species richness and vulnerability of reef fish assemblages.

    abstract::The impact of anthropogenic activity on ecosystems has highlighted the need to move beyond the biogeographical delineation of species richness patterns to understanding the vulnerability of species assemblages, including the functional components that are linked to the processes they support. We developed a decision t...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12316

    authors: Parravicini V,Villéger S,McClanahan TR,Arias-González JE,Bellwood DR,Belmaker J,Chabanet P,Floeter SR,Friedlander AM,Guilhaumon F,Vigliola L,Kulbicki M,Mouillot D

    更新日期:2014-09-01 00:00:00

  • Intragroup competition predicts individual foraging specialisation in a group-living mammal.

    abstract::Individual foraging specialisation has important ecological implications, but its causes in group-living species are unclear. One of the major consequences of group living is increased intragroup competition for resources. Foraging theory predicts that with increased competition, individuals should add new prey items ...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/ele.12933

    authors: Sheppard CE,Inger R,McDonald RA,Barker S,Jackson AL,Thompson FJ,Vitikainen EIK,Cant MA,Marshall HH

    更新日期:2018-05-01 00:00:00

  • How many freshwater diatoms are pH specialists? A response to Pither & Aarssen (2005).

    abstract::Pither & Aarssen (2005) propose a null model approach to assess the proportion of niche specialist taxa along ecological gradients. They apply this methodology to a large data set of lacustrine diatom assemblages and conclude that a majority of the taxa are generalists on a pH gradient. This conflicts with previous wo...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00875.x

    authors: Telford RJ,Vandvik V,Birks HJ

    更新日期:2006-04-01 00:00:00

  • The loss of indirect interactions leads to cascading extinctions of carnivores.

    abstract::Species extinctions are biased towards higher trophic levels, and primary extinctions are often followed by unexpected secondary extinctions. Currently, predictions on the vulnerability of ecological communities to extinction cascades are based on models that focus on bottom-up effects, which cannot capture the effect...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 信件

    doi:10.1111/ele.12096

    authors: Sanders D,Sutter L,van Veen FJ

    更新日期:2013-05-01 00:00:00

  • Putting prey and predator into the CO2 equation--qualitative and quantitative effects of ocean acidification on predator-prey interactions.

    abstract::Little is known about the impact of ocean acidification on predator-prey dynamics. Herein, we examined the effect of carbon dioxide (CO(2)) on both prey and predator by letting one predatory reef fish interact for 24 h with eight small or large juvenile damselfishes from four congeneric species. Both prey and predator...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 信件

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2011.01683.x

    authors: Ferrari MC,McCormick MI,Munday PL,Meekan MG,Dixson DL,Lonnstedt Ö,Chivers DP

    更新日期:2011-11-01 00:00:00

  • Size of sampling unit strongly influences detection of seedling limitation in a wet tropical forest.

    abstract::Seedling limitation could structure communities, but often is evaluated with sampling units that are orders of magnitude smaller than mature plants. We censused seedlings for 5.5 years in five 1 x 200-m transects in a wet Neotropical forest. For 106 common species (> or = 10 seedlings in a transect), we calculated pre...

    journal_title:Ecology letters

    pub_type: 杂志文章

    doi:10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01278.x

    authors: Kobe RK,Vriesendorp CF

    更新日期:2009-03-01 00:00:00