Extinct in the wild: The precarious state of Earth’s most threatened group of species
Extinct in the wild: The precarious state of Earth’s most threatened group of species
Extinct in the Wild (EW) species are placed at the highest risk of extinction under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, but the extent and variation in this risk have never been evaluated. Harnessing global databases of ex situ animal and plant holdings, we report on the perilous state of EW species. Most EW animal species-already compromised by their small number of founders-are maintained at population sizes far below the thresholds necessary to ensure demographic security. Most EW plant species depend on live propagation by a small number of botanic gardens, with a minority secured at seed bank institutions. Both extinctions and recoveries are possible fates for EW species. We urgently call for international effort to enable the latter.
Smith, Donal
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Abeli, Thomas
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Bruns, Emily Beckman
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Dalrymple, Sarah E.
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Foster, Jeremy
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Gilbert, Tania
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Hogg, Carolyn J.
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Lloyd, Natasha A.
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Meyer, Abby
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Moehrenschlager, Axel
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Murrell, Olivia
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Rodriguez, Jon Paul
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Smith, Paul P.
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Terry, Andrew
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Ewen, John G.
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24 February 2023
Smith, Donal
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Abeli, Thomas
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Bruns, Emily Beckman
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Dalrymple, Sarah E.
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Foster, Jeremy
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Gilbert, Tania
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Hogg, Carolyn J.
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Lloyd, Natasha A.
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Meyer, Abby
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Moehrenschlager, Axel
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Murrell, Olivia
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Rodriguez, Jon Paul
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Smith, Paul P.
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Terry, Andrew
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Ewen, John G.
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Smith, Donal, Abeli, Thomas, Bruns, Emily Beckman, Dalrymple, Sarah E., Foster, Jeremy, Gilbert, Tania, Hogg, Carolyn J., Lloyd, Natasha A., Meyer, Abby, Moehrenschlager, Axel, Murrell, Olivia, Rodriguez, Jon Paul, Smith, Paul P., Terry, Andrew and Ewen, John G.
(2023)
Extinct in the wild: The precarious state of Earth’s most threatened group of species.
Science, 379 (6634), [eabn2889].
(doi:10.1126/science.add2889).
Abstract
Extinct in the Wild (EW) species are placed at the highest risk of extinction under the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, but the extent and variation in this risk have never been evaluated. Harnessing global databases of ex situ animal and plant holdings, we report on the perilous state of EW species. Most EW animal species-already compromised by their small number of founders-are maintained at population sizes far below the thresholds necessary to ensure demographic security. Most EW plant species depend on live propagation by a small number of botanic gardens, with a minority secured at seed bank institutions. Both extinctions and recoveries are possible fates for EW species. We urgently call for international effort to enable the latter.
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EW 2023 combined pdf
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Accepted/In Press date: 19 January 2023
Published date: 24 February 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
D.S. and J.G.E. acknowledge funding from Research England. A.b.M. acknowledges funding from US Botanic Gardens and National Geographic Society (grant NGS-57037C-19).
Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 American Association for the Advancement of Science. All rights reserved.
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 476859
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/476859
ISSN: 0036-8075
PURE UUID: 171f1d68-2142-45a6-a02b-fecfa2056a38
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Date deposited: 18 May 2023 16:35
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 01:49
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Contributors
Author:
Donal Smith
Author:
Thomas Abeli
Author:
Emily Beckman Bruns
Author:
Sarah E. Dalrymple
Author:
Jeremy Foster
Author:
Tania Gilbert
Author:
Carolyn J. Hogg
Author:
Natasha A. Lloyd
Author:
Abby Meyer
Author:
Axel Moehrenschlager
Author:
Olivia Murrell
Author:
Jon Paul Rodriguez
Author:
Paul P. Smith
Author:
Andrew Terry
Author:
John G. Ewen
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