Anthropogenic and environmental drivers of modern range loss in large mammals.

ABSTRACT: The extinction of a species is inevitably preceded by the extirpation of a series of local populations. Ecological theory predicts that vulnerability to extirpation varies between populations and is ultimately linked to environmental heterogeneity. If populations of a species are present in multiple regions separated by abrupt changes in environmental conditions (e.g., biomes), spatial variation in vulnerability to extirpation may be closely linked to the distribution of these regions. In the absence of abrupt shifts in environmental conditions, populations at the edge of a species' range should have low growth rates and be more vulnerable to extirpation, whereas populations located in the core of the species' range should be exposed to more favorable environmental conditions, have higher

SUBMITTER: Yackulic CB 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3054034 | biostudies-literature | 2011 Mar

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature