Cities may save some threatened species but not their ecological functions

[Background] Urbanization is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Wildlife responses to urbanization, however, are greatly variable and, paradoxically, some threatened species may achieve much larger populations in urban than in natural habitats. Urban conservation hotspots may the...

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Detalles Bibliográficos
Autores: Luna, Álvaro, Romero-Vidal, Pedro, Hiraldo, Fernando, Tella, José Luis
Tipo de recurso: artículo
Estado:Versión publicada
Fecha de publicación:2018
País:España
Institución:Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC)
Repositorio:DIGITAL.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
OAI Identifier:oai:digital.csic.es:10261/167501
Acceso en línea:http://hdl.handle.net/10261/167501
Access Level:acceso abierto
Palabra clave:Urban habitats
Threatened species
Ecological functions
Seed dispersal
Parrots
Poaching
Descripción
Sumario:[Background] Urbanization is one of the main causes of biodiversity loss worldwide. Wildlife responses to urbanization, however, are greatly variable and, paradoxically, some threatened species may achieve much larger populations in urban than in natural habitats. Urban conservation hotspots may therefore help some species avoid regional or even global extinctions, but not conserve their often overlooked ecological functions in the wild. We aim to draw attention to this issue using two species of globally threatened parrots occurring in the Dominican Republic: the Hispaniolan amazon (Amazona ventralis) and the Hispaniolan parakeet (Psittacara chloropterus).