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Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss

Tim S. Doherty, Alistair S. Glen, Dale G. Nimmo, Euan G. Ritchie, and Chris R. Dickman
PNAS published ahead of print September 16, 2016 https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1602480113
Tim S. Doherty
aCentre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3216, Australia;bCentre for Ecosystem Management, School of Natural Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia;
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  • ORCID record for Tim S. Doherty
  • For correspondence: tim.doherty.0@gmail.com
Alistair S. Glen
cLandcare Research, Auckland 1072, New Zealand;
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Dale G. Nimmo
dInstitute for Land, Water and Society, School of Environmental Science, Charles Sturt University, Albury, NSW 2640, Australia;
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Euan G. Ritchie
aCentre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University, Geelong, VIC 3216, Australia;
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Chris R. Dickman
eDesert Ecology Research Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney, Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
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  1. Edited by Daniel S. Simberloff, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, and approved July 20, 2016 (received for review February 12, 2016)

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Significance

Invasive mammalian predators are arguably the most damaging group of alien animal species for global biodiversity. Thirty species of invasive predator are implicated in the extinction or endangerment of 738 vertebrate species—collectively contributing to 58% of all bird, mammal, and reptile extinctions. Cats, rodents, dogs, and pigs have the most pervasive impacts, and endemic island faunas are most vulnerable to invasive predators. That most impacted species are insular indicates that management of invasive predators on islands should be a global conservation priority. Understanding and mitigating the impact of invasive mammalian predators is essential for reducing the rate of global biodiversity loss.

Abstract

Invasive species threaten biodiversity globally, and invasive mammalian predators are particularly damaging, having contributed to considerable species decline and extinction. We provide a global metaanalysis of these impacts and reveal their full extent. Invasive predators are implicated in 87 bird, 45 mammal, and 10 reptile species extinctions—58% of these groups’ contemporary extinctions worldwide. These figures are likely underestimated because 23 critically endangered species that we assessed are classed as “possibly extinct.” Invasive mammalian predators endanger a further 596 species at risk of extinction, with cats, rodents, dogs, and pigs threatening the most species overall. Species most at risk from predators have high evolutionary distinctiveness and inhabit insular environments. Invasive mammalian predators are therefore important drivers of irreversible loss of phylogenetic diversity worldwide. That most impacted species are insular indicates that management of invasive predators on islands should be a global conservation priority. Understanding and mitigating the impact of invasive mammalian predators is essential for reducing the rate of global biodiversity loss.

  • extinction
  • feral cat
  • island
  • invasive mammal
  • trophic cascade

Footnotes

  • ↵1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: tim.doherty.0{at}gmail.com.
  • Author contributions: T.S.D., A.S.G., D.G.N., E.G.R., and C.R.D. designed research; T.S.D. and A.S.G. performed research; T.S.D. analyzed data; and T.S.D., A.S.G., D.G.N., E.G.R., and C.R.D. wrote the paper.

  • The authors declare no conflict of interest.

  • This article is a PNAS Direct Submission.

  • This article contains supporting information online at www.pnas.org/lookup/suppl/doi:10.1073/pnas.1602480113/-/DCSupplemental.

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Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss
Tim S. Doherty, Alistair S. Glen, Dale G. Nimmo, Euan G. Ritchie, Chris R. Dickman
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2016, 201602480; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1602480113

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Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss
Tim S. Doherty, Alistair S. Glen, Dale G. Nimmo, Euan G. Ritchie, Chris R. Dickman
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences Sep 2016, 201602480; DOI: 10.1073/pnas.1602480113
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