Patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for Arctic vertebrates
Conserving Arctic wildlife will be challenging given the ongoing environmental changes in the region. In addition, there is a lack of fundamental biological information for many Arctic species, including a dearth of knowledge surrounding conservation threats and the risk of extinction. In this study...
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ftloyolamarymuni:oai:digitalcommons.lmu.edu:bio_fac-1164 2023-06-11T04:08:05+02:00 Patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for Arctic vertebrates Bittick, Sarah Joy 2018-01-01T08:00:00Z application/pdf https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/bio_fac/141 https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/context/bio_fac/article/1164/viewcontent/Bittick_2018_Patterns.pdf unknown Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/bio_fac/141 https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/context/bio_fac/article/1164/viewcontent/Bittick_2018_Patterns.pdf Biology Faculty Works Biology text 2018 ftloyolamarymuni 2023-05-08T06:40:51Z Conserving Arctic wildlife will be challenging given the ongoing environmental changes in the region. In addition, there is a lack of fundamental biological information for many Arctic species, including a dearth of knowledge surrounding conservation threats and the risk of extinction. In this study, we gather all available data on research effort and life-history traits to assess the current state of scientific knowledge surrounding 389 Arctic vertebrate species. We also quantify patterns of species evaluation by the IUCN Red List, a global database of conservation risk used to measure success and prioritize resources in many conservation programs. We find that 10% of Arctic vertebrates have been the subject of no peer-reviewed studies during the last 30 years, and that we have little life history knowledge for many species. Arctic marine fishes are especially poorly known with an average of 3.5 (out of six) key life-history traits unknown. In a multivariate analysis, whether an Arctic species had been evaluated by the IUCN Red List was most strongly predicted by research effort and varied among taxonomic groups. In addition, we found that species that have been evaluated by the IUCN Red List continue to receive more research attention than species which have not been evaluated. Protecting all Arctic species may, therefore, require research programs and methods to halt research inertia and shift more attention onto species that are poorly known. Text Arctic Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School: Digital Commons Arctic |
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Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School: Digital Commons |
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Biology |
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Biology Bittick, Sarah Joy Patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for Arctic vertebrates |
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Biology |
description |
Conserving Arctic wildlife will be challenging given the ongoing environmental changes in the region. In addition, there is a lack of fundamental biological information for many Arctic species, including a dearth of knowledge surrounding conservation threats and the risk of extinction. In this study, we gather all available data on research effort and life-history traits to assess the current state of scientific knowledge surrounding 389 Arctic vertebrate species. We also quantify patterns of species evaluation by the IUCN Red List, a global database of conservation risk used to measure success and prioritize resources in many conservation programs. We find that 10% of Arctic vertebrates have been the subject of no peer-reviewed studies during the last 30 years, and that we have little life history knowledge for many species. Arctic marine fishes are especially poorly known with an average of 3.5 (out of six) key life-history traits unknown. In a multivariate analysis, whether an Arctic species had been evaluated by the IUCN Red List was most strongly predicted by research effort and varied among taxonomic groups. In addition, we found that species that have been evaluated by the IUCN Red List continue to receive more research attention than species which have not been evaluated. Protecting all Arctic species may, therefore, require research programs and methods to halt research inertia and shift more attention onto species that are poorly known. |
format |
Text |
author |
Bittick, Sarah Joy |
author_facet |
Bittick, Sarah Joy |
author_sort |
Bittick, Sarah Joy |
title |
Patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for Arctic vertebrates |
title_short |
Patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for Arctic vertebrates |
title_full |
Patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for Arctic vertebrates |
title_fullStr |
Patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for Arctic vertebrates |
title_full_unstemmed |
Patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for Arctic vertebrates |
title_sort |
patterns of uncertainty in life-history and extinction risk for arctic vertebrates |
publisher |
Digital Commons at Loyola Marymount University and Loyola Law School |
publishDate |
2018 |
url |
https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/bio_fac/141 https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/context/bio_fac/article/1164/viewcontent/Bittick_2018_Patterns.pdf |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
Biology Faculty Works |
op_relation |
https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/bio_fac/141 https://digitalcommons.lmu.edu/context/bio_fac/article/1164/viewcontent/Bittick_2018_Patterns.pdf |
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1768381215236161536 |