Dataset Information

The commonness of rarity: Global and future distribution of rarity across land plants.

ABSTRACT: A key feature of life's diversity is that some species are common but many more are rare. Nonetheless, at global scales, we do not know what fraction of biodiversity consists of rare species. Here, we present the largest compilation of global plant diversity to quantify the fraction of Earth's plant biodiversity that are rare. A large fraction, ~36.5% of Earth's ~435,000 plant species, are exceedingly rare. Sampling biases and prominent models, such as neutral theory and the k-niche model, cannot account for the observed prevalence of rarity. Our results indicate that (i) climatically more stable regions have harbored rare species and hence a large fraction of Earth's plant species via reduced extinction risk but that (ii) climate change and human land use are now disproportionately impacting rare species. Estimates of global species abundance distributions have important implications for risk assessments and conservation planning in this era of rapid global change.

SUBMITTER: Enquist BJ

PROVIDER: S-EPMC6881168 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Nov

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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Publications

The commonness of rarity: Global and future distribution of rarity across land plants.

Enquist Brian J BJ Feng Xiao X Boyle Brad B Maitner Brian B Newman Erica A EA Jørgensen Peter Møller PM Roehrdanz Patrick R PR Thiers Barbara M BM Burger Joseph R JR Corlett Richard T RT Couvreur Thomas L P TLP Dauby Gilles G Donoghue John C JC Foden Wendy W Lovett Jon C JC Marquet Pablo A PA Merow Cory C Midgley Guy G Morueta-Holme Naia N Neves Danilo M DM Oliveira-Filho Ary T AT Kraft Nathan J B NJB Park Daniel S DS Peet Robert K RK Pillet Michiel M Serra-Diaz Josep M JM Sandel Brody B Schildhauer Mark M Šímová Irena I Violle Cyrille C Wieringa Jan J JJ Wiser Susan K SK Hannah Lee L Svenning Jens-Christian JC McGill Brian J BJ

Science advances 20191127 11

A key feature of life's diversity is that some species are common but many more are rare. Nonetheless, at global scales, we do not know what fraction of biodiversity consists of rare species. Here, we present the largest compilation of global plant diversity to quantify the fraction of Earth's plant biodiversity that are rare. A large fraction, ~36.5% of Earth's ~435,000 plant species, are exceedingly rare. Sampling biases and prominent models, such as neutral theory and the k-niche model, canno ...[more]

PMID: 31807712

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Dataset Information

The commonness of rarity: Global and future distribution of rarity across land plants.

Publications

The commonness of rarity: Global and future distribution of rarity across land plants.

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