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      Invasive predators and global biodiversity loss

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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.

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          Most cited references33

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          Avian extinction and mammalian introductions on oceanic islands.

          The arrival of humans on oceanic islands has precipitated a wave of extinctions among the islands' native birds. Nevertheless, the magnitude of this extinction event varies markedly between avifaunas. We show that the probability that a bird species has been extirpated from each of 220 oceanic islands is positively correlated with the number of exotic predatory mammal species established on those islands after European colonization and that the effect of these predators is greater on island endemic species. In contrast, the proportions of currently threatened species are independent of the numbers of exotic mammalian predator species, suggesting that the principal threat to island birds has changed through time as species susceptible to exotic predators have been driven extinct.
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            • Record: found
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            • Article: not found

            Mammal invaders on islands: impact, control and control impact

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              • Article: not found

              Have the Harmful Effects of Introduced Rats on Islands been Exaggerated?

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                Author and article information

                Journal
                Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A
                Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A
                pnas
                pnas
                PNAS
                Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America
                National Academy of Sciences
                0027-8424
                1091-6490
                4 October 2016
                16 September 2016
                : 113
                : 40
                : 11261-11265
                Affiliations
                [1] aCentre for Integrative Ecology, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, Deakin University , Geelong, VIC 3216, Australia;
                [2] bCentre for Ecosystem Management, School of Natural Sciences, Edith Cowan University , Joondalup, WA 6027, Australia;
                [3] c Landcare Research , Auckland 1072, New Zealand;
                [4] dInstitute for Land, Water and Society, School of Environmental Science, Charles Sturt University , Albury, NSW 2640, Australia;
                [5] eDesert Ecology Research Group, School of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Sydney , Sydney, NSW 2006, Australia
                Author notes
                1To whom correspondence should be addressed. Email: tim.doherty.0@ 123456gmail.com .

                Edited by Daniel S. Simberloff, The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, TN, and approved July 20, 2016 (received for review February 12, 2016)

                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.

                Author information
                http://orcid.org/0000-0001-7745-0251
                Article
                PMC5056110 PMC5056110 5056110 201602480
                10.1073/pnas.1602480113
                5056110
                27638204
                ff842169-4152-4c8b-a034-b8ed010a03e9
                History
                Page count
                Pages: 5
                Categories
                Biological Sciences
                Ecology

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

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