Spatial patterns in species distributions reveal biodiversity change

Robert J. Wilson (), Chris D. Thomas, Richard Fox, David B. Roy and William E. Kunin
Additional contact information
Robert J. Wilson: University of Leeds
Chris D. Thomas: University of Leeds
Richard Fox: Butterfly Conservation
David B. Roy: NERC Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood
William E. Kunin: University of Leeds

Nature, 2004, vol. 432, issue 7015, 393-396

Abstract: Abstract Interpretation of global biodiversity change is hampered by a lack of information on the historical status of most species in most parts of the world1,2,3,4,5. Here we show that declines and increases can be deduced from current species distributions alone, using spatial patterns of occupancy combined with distribution size. Declining species show sparse, fragmented distributions for their distribution size, reflecting the extinction process; expanding species show denser, more aggregated distributions, reflecting colonization. Past distribution size changes for British butterflies were deduced successfully from current distributions, and former distributions had some power to predict future change. What is more, the relationship between distribution pattern and change in British butterflies independently predicted distribution change for butterfly species in Flanders, Belgium, and distribution change in British rare plant species is similarly related to spatial distribution pattern. This link between current distribution patterns and processes of distribution change could be used to assess relative levels of threat facing different species, even for regions and taxa lacking detailed historical and ecological information.

Date: 2004
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DOI: 10.1038/nature03031

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