Widespread winners and narrow-ranged losers: Land use homogenizes biodiversity in local assemblages worldwide.

ABSTRACT: Human use of the land (for agriculture and settlements) has a substantial negative effect on biodiversity globally. However, not all species are adversely affected by land use, and indeed, some benefit from the creation of novel habitat. Geographically rare species may be more negatively affected by land use than widespread species, but data limitations have so far prevented global multi-clade assessments of land-use effects on narrow-ranged and widespread species. We analyse a large, global database to show consistent differences in assemblage composition. Compared with natural habitat, assemblages in disturbed habitats have more widespread species on average, especially in urban areas and the tropics. All else being equal, this result means that human land use is homogenizing assemblage

SUBMITTER: Newbold T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6279023 | biostudies-literature | 2018 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature