Shifted distribution baselines: neglecting long-term biodiversity records risks overlooking potentially suitable habitat for conservation management.

ABSTRACT: Setting appropriate conservation measures to halt the loss of biodiversity requires a good understanding of species' habitat requirements and potential distribution. Recent (past few decades) ecological data are typically used to estimate and understand species' ecological niches. However, historical local extinctions may have truncated species-environment relationships, resulting in a biased perception of species' habitat preferences. This may result in incorrect assessments of the area potentially available for their conservation. Incorporating long-term (centuries-old) occurrence records with recent records may provide better information on species-environment relationships and improve the modelling and understanding of habitat suitability. We test whether neglecting long-term occurrenc

SUBMITTER: Monsarrat S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6863494 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature