Abstract

Recent extinction rates are 100 to 1000 times their pre-human levels in well-known, but taxonomically diverse groups from widely different environments. If all species currently deemed "threatened" become extinct in the next century, then future extinction rates will be 10 times recent rates. Some threatened species will survive the century, but many species not now threatened will succumb. Regions rich in species found only within them (endemics) dominate the global patterns of extinction. Although new technology provides details of habitat losses, estimates of future extinctions are hampered by our limited knowledge of which areas are rich in endemics.

Keywords

Threatened speciesExtinction (optical mineralogy)EndemismBiodiversityEcologyConservation-dependent speciesHabitat destructionHabitatGeographyExtinction debtEndangered speciesBiologyNear-threatened speciesPaleontology

Affiliated Institutions

Related Publications

Publication Info

Year
1995
Type
article
Volume
269
Issue
5222
Pages
347-350
Citations
2117
Access
Closed

External Links

Social Impact

Altmetric

Social media, news, blog, policy document mentions

Citation Metrics

2117
OpenAlex

Cite This

Stuart L. Pimm, G.J. Russell, John L. Gittleman et al. (1995). The Future of Biodiversity. Science , 269 (5222) , 347-350. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.269.5222.347

Identifiers

DOI
10.1126/science.269.5222.347