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Estimaciones de Tasas de Extinción para una Flora Moderna Neotropical
Author(s) -
Pitman Nigel C. A.,
Jørgensen Peter M.,
Williams Robert S. R.,
LeónYánez Susana,
Valencia Renato
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
conservation biology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.2
H-Index - 222
eISSN - 1523-1739
pISSN - 0888-8892
DOI - 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2002.01259.x
Subject(s) - extinction (optical mineralogy) , flora (microbiology) , endangered species , ecology , geography , habitat destruction , habitat , local extinction , endemism , critically endangered , biology , population , biological dispersal , paleontology , demography , sociology , bacteria , genetics
Concerns about elevated extinction rates in the tropics are a common feature of the conservation literature, but direct measurements are rare. We present the first quantitative estimates of extinction rate in a complete Neotropical flora based on historical plant‐collection records, quantitative measurements of forest loss and plant diversity, and the conservation status of endemic plant species in Ecuador. Our analyses suggest that 19–46 endemic plant species have gone extinct in Ecuador over the last 250 years, mostly because of habitat loss, and therefore are now globally extinct. An additional 282 species, nearly 7% of Ecuador's endemic flora, qualify as critically endangered. We found evidence of impending large‐scale plant extinctions in the country's coastal and Andean forests, but little extinction and low potential for extinction in the Amazonian lowlands.