The Biogeography of Globally Threatened Seabirds and Island Conservation Opportunities |
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Authors: | DENA R. SPATZ KELLY M. NEWTON REINA HEINZ BERNIE TERSHY NICK D. HOLMES STUART H. M. BUTCHART DONALD A. CROLL |
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Affiliation: | 1. Coastal Conservation Action Lab, Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, , Santa Cruz, CA, 95060 U.S.A.;2. Island Conservation, , Santa Cruz, CA, 95060 U.S.A.;3. BirdLife International, Wellbrook Court, , Cambridge, CB3 0NA, United Kingdom |
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Abstract: | Seabirds are the most threatened group of marine animals; 29% of species are at some risk of extinction. Significant threats to seabirds occur on islands where they breed, but in many cases, effective island conservation can mitigate these threats. To guide island‐based seabird conservation actions, we identified all islands with extant or extirpated populations of the 98 globally threatened seabird species, as recognized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, and quantified the presence of threatening invasive species, protected areas, and human populations. We matched these results with island attributes to highlight feasible island conservation opportunities. We identified 1362 threatened breeding seabird populations on 968 islands. On 803 (83%) of these islands, we identified threatening invasive species (20%), incomplete protected area coverage (23%), or both (40%). Most islands with threatened seabirds are amenable to island‐wide conservation action because they are small (57% were <1 km2), uninhabited (74%), and occur in high‐ or middle‐income countries (96%). Collectively these attributes make islands with threatened seabirds a rare opportunity for effective conservation at scale. La Biogeografía de Aves Marinas Amenazadas Globalmente y las Oportunidades de Conservación en Islas |
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Keywords: | biogeography endangered species global conservation planning invasive species island conservation protected areas á reas protegidas biogeografí a conservació n de islas especies en peligro especies invasoras planeació n de la conservació n global |
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