<i>This is the way the world ends; not with a bang but a whimper</i>: Estimating the number and ongoing rate of extinctions of Australian non-marine invertebrates.

ABSTRACT: Biodiversity is in rapid decline, but the extent of loss is not well resolved for poorly known groups. We estimate the number of extinctions for Australian non-marine invertebrates since the European colonisation of the continent. Our analyses use a range of approaches, incorporate stated uncertainties and recognise explicit caveats. We use plausible bounds for the number of species, two approaches for estimating extinction rate, and Monte Carlo simulations to select combinations of projected distributions from these variables. We conclude that 9,111 (plausible bounds of 1,465 to 56,828) Australian species have become extinct over this 236-year period. These estimates dwarf the number of formally recognised extinctions of Australian invertebrates (10 species) and of the single invertebrate

SUBMITTER: Woinarski JCZ 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC11895748 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature