Dataset Information

A comprehensive quantitative assessment of bird extinction risk in Brazil.

ABSTRACT: In an effort to avoid species loss, scientists have focused their efforts on the mechanisms making some species more prone to extinction than others. However, species show different responses to threats given their evolutionary history, behavior, and intrinsic biological features. We used bird biological features and external threats to (1) understand the multiple pathways driving Brazilian bird species to extinction, (2) to investigate if and how extinction risk is geographically structured, and (3) to quantify how much diversity is currently represented inside protected areas. We modeled the extinction risk of 1557 birds using classification trees and evaluated the relative contribution of each biological feature and external threat in predicting extinction risk. We also quantified the proportion of species and their geographic range currently protected by the network of Brazilian protected areas. The optimal classification tree showed different pathways to bird extinction. Habitat conversion was the most important predictor driving extinction risk though other variables, such as geographic range size, type of habitat, hunting or trapping and trophic guild, were also relevant in our models. Species under higher extinction risk were concentrated mainly in the Cerrado Biodiversity Hotspot and were not quite represented inside protected areas, neither in richness nor range. Predictive models could assist conservation actions, and this study could contribute by highlighting the importance of natural history and ecology in these actions.

SUBMITTER: Machado N

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3741389 | biostudies-literature | 2013

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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A comprehensive quantitative assessment of bird extinction risk in Brazil.

Machado Nathália N Loyola Rafael Dias RD

PloS one 20130812 8

In an effort to avoid species loss, scientists have focused their efforts on the mechanisms making some species more prone to extinction than others. However, species show different responses to threats given their evolutionary history, behavior, and intrinsic biological features. We used bird biological features and external threats to (1) understand the multiple pathways driving Brazilian bird species to extinction, (2) to investigate if and how extinction risk is geographically structured, an ...[more]

PMID: 23951302

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Project description:Geographic range size is often conceptualized as a fixed attribute of a species and treated as such for the purposes of quantification of extinction risk; species occupying smaller geographic ranges are assumed to have a higher risk of extinction, all else being equal. However many species are mobile, and their movements range from relatively predictable to-and-fro migrations to complex irregular movements shown by nomadic species. These movements can lead to substantial temporary expansion and contraction of geographic ranges, potentially to levels which may pose an extinction risk. By linking occurrence data with environmental conditions at the time of observations of nomadic species, we modeled the dynamic distributions of 43 arid-zone nomadic bird species across the Australian continent for each month over 11 years and calculated minimum range size and extent of fluctuation in geographic range size from these models. There was enormous variability in predicted spatial distribution over time; 10 species varied in estimated geographic range size by more than an order of magnitude, and 2 species varied by >2 orders of magnitude. During times of poor environmental conditions, several species not currently classified as globally threatened contracted their ranges to very small areas, despite their normally large geographic range size. This finding raises questions about the adequacy of conventional assessments of extinction risk based on static geographic range size (e.g., IUCN Red Listing). Climate change is predicted to affect the pattern of resource fluctuations across much of the southern hemisphere, where nomadism is the dominant form of animal movement, so it is critical we begin to understand the consequences of this for accurate threat assessment of nomadic species. Our approach provides a tool for discovering spatial dynamics in highly mobile species and can be used to unlock valuable information for improved extinction risk assessment and conservation planning.

Project description:Diffusion tensor tractography is increasingly used to examine structural connectivity in the brain in various conditions, but its test-retest reliability is understudied. The main purposes of this study were to evaluate 1) the reliability of quantitative measurements of diffusion tensor tractography and 2) the effect on reliability of the number of gradient sampling directions and scan repetition. Images were acquired from ten healthy participants. Ten fiber regions of nine major fiber tracts were reconstructed and quantified using six fiber variables. Intra- and inter-session reliabilities were estimated using intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC) and coefficient of variation (CV), and were compared to pinpoint major error sources. Additional pairwise comparisons were made between the reliability of images with 30 directions and NEX 2 (DTI30-2), 30 directions and NEX 1 (DTI30-1), and 15 directions and NEX 2 (DTI15-2) to determine whether increasing gradient directions and scan repetition improved reliability. Of the 60 tractography measurements, 43 showed intersession CV ? 10%, ICC ? .70, or both for DTI30-2, 40 measurements for DTI30-1, and 37 for DTI15-2. Most of the reliable measurements were associated with the tracts corpus callosum, cingulum, cerebral peduncular fibers, uncinate fasciculus, and arcuate fasciculus. These reliable measurements included factional anisotropy (FA) and mean diffusivity of all 10 fiber regions. Intersession reliability was significantly worse than intra-session reliability for FA, mean length, and tract volume measurements from DTI15-2, indicating that the combination of MRI signal variation and physiological noise/change over time was the major error source for this sequence. Increasing the number of gradient directions from 15 to 30 while controlling the scan time, significantly affected values for all six variables and reduced intersession variability for mean length and tract volume measurements. Additionally, while increasing scan repetition from 1 to 2 had no significant effect on the reliability for DTI with 30 directions, this significantly reduced the upward bias in FA values from all 10 fiber regions and fiber count, mean length, and tract volume measurements from 5 to 7 fiber regions. In conclusion, diffusion tensor tractography provided many measurements with high test-retest reliability across different fiber variables and various fiber tracts even for images with 15 directions (NEX 2). Increasing the number of gradient directions from 15 to 30 with equivalent scan time reduced variability whereas increasing repetition from 1 to 2 for 30-direction DTI improved the accuracy of tractography measurements.

Dataset Information

A comprehensive quantitative assessment of bird extinction risk in Brazil.

Publications

A comprehensive quantitative assessment of bird extinction risk in Brazil.

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