Geology topics
Nigel J. Collar
Publications and source records attributed to Nigel J. Collar.
Conservation threats and priorities for raptors across Asia
With long coastlines and some of the world’s most important rivers, mountain ranges, high-altitude plateaus, and islands, Asia is the largest and most populous continent in the world (Lyde 1904; Spencer 1954; Population Reference Bureau 2016). Asia supports all major terrestrial ecosystems and all major climatic types (Galloway et al. 1998; Braimoh and Huang 2015). These include barren ice fields and taigas in North Asia; boreal forests and cold deserts in West, Central, and East Asia; temperate and tropical forests (wet and dry) in East and Southeast Asia; and grasslands in Central and South Asia (Udvardy 1975; Braimoh and Huang 2015). Together, the ecoregions of Asia foster some of the greatest biodiversity on Earth, including six (24%) of 25 global biodiversity hotspots (Myers et al. 2000).
The impact of conservation on the status of the world's vertebrates
Using data for 25,780 species categorized on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List, we present an assessment of the status of the world's vertebrates. One-fifth of species are classified as Threatened, and we show that this figure is increasing: On average, 52 species of mammals, birds, and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year. However, this overall pattern conceals the impact of conservation successes, and we show that the rate of deterioration would have been at least one-fifth again as much in the absence of these. Nonetheless, current conservation efforts remain insufficient to offset the main drivers of biodiversity loss in these groups: agricultural expansion, logging, overexploitation, and invasive alien species.