Refugee species: which historic baseline should inform conservation planning?
(2012) In Diversity and Distributions 18(12). p.1258-1261- Abstract
- Understanding species’ historical ranges can provide important information for conservation planning in the face of environmental change. Cromsigt et al. (this issue) comment on our recent European bison (Bison bonasus) range reconstruction, suggesting that bison were already 8000 years ago a refugee species (i.e. restricted to marginal habitat due to past human pressure) and that species distribution models (SDM) are generally of limited use for refugee species conservation. While we welcome this discussion, we find no evidence for the claim that human pressure prior to 8000 BP determined where bison occurred. More importantly, as human pressure is generally high and increasing, attempts to restore species across their former range may... (More)
- Understanding species’ historical ranges can provide important information for conservation planning in the face of environmental change. Cromsigt et al. (this issue) comment on our recent European bison (Bison bonasus) range reconstruction, suggesting that bison were already 8000 years ago a refugee species (i.e. restricted to marginal habitat due to past human pressure) and that species distribution models (SDM) are generally of limited use for refugee species conservation. While we welcome this discussion, we find no evidence for the claim that human pressure prior to 8000 BP determined where bison occurred. More importantly, as human pressure is generally high and increasing, attempts to restore species across their former range may fail where the factors that relegated species into refugee status are still at play or where their optimal habitat has vanished. Identifying areas where human pressure is low and where refugee species have persisted over the last millennia is crucial, and SDM based on historical data are important for doing so. Refugee species suffer from the shifting baseline syndrome, but careful reality checks are needed and all available data should be considered before determining the baseline that should inform conservation planning. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/3127652
- author
- Kuemmerle, Tobias ; Hickler, Thomas LU ; Olofsson, Jörgen LU ; Schurgers, Guy LU and Radeloff, Volker C
- organization
- publishing date
- 2012
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- Conservation planning, European bison, refugee species, species distribution models
- in
- Diversity and Distributions
- volume
- 18
- issue
- 12
- pages
- 1258 - 1261
- publisher
- Wiley-Blackwell
- external identifiers
-
- wos:000310727500011
- scopus:84868575005
- ISSN
- 1366-9516
- DOI
- 10.1111/ddi.12013
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- yes
- id
- d3d6f65f-c65b-4f45-b13e-82d0ef6906c6 (old id 3127652)
- date added to LUP
- 2016-04-01 14:29:38
- date last changed
- 2023-04-27 12:41:59
@article{d3d6f65f-c65b-4f45-b13e-82d0ef6906c6,
abstract = {{Understanding species’ historical ranges can provide important information for conservation planning in the face of environmental change. Cromsigt et al. (this issue) comment on our recent European bison (Bison bonasus) range reconstruction, suggesting that bison were already 8000 years ago a refugee species (i.e. restricted to marginal habitat due to past human pressure) and that species distribution models (SDM) are generally of limited use for refugee species conservation. While we welcome this discussion, we find no evidence for the claim that human pressure prior to 8000 BP determined where bison occurred. More importantly, as human pressure is generally high and increasing, attempts to restore species across their former range may fail where the factors that relegated species into refugee status are still at play or where their optimal habitat has vanished. Identifying areas where human pressure is low and where refugee species have persisted over the last millennia is crucial, and SDM based on historical data are important for doing so. Refugee species suffer from the shifting baseline syndrome, but careful reality checks are needed and all available data should be considered before determining the baseline that should inform conservation planning.}},
author = {{Kuemmerle, Tobias and Hickler, Thomas and Olofsson, Jörgen and Schurgers, Guy and Radeloff, Volker C}},
issn = {{1366-9516}},
keywords = {{Conservation planning; European bison; refugee species; species distribution models}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{12}},
pages = {{1258--1261}},
publisher = {{Wiley-Blackwell}},
series = {{Diversity and Distributions}},
title = {{Refugee species: which historic baseline should inform conservation planning?}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/ddi.12013}},
doi = {{10.1111/ddi.12013}},
volume = {{18}},
year = {{2012}},
}