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Dryad

Data from: Extinction selectivity obscures patterns of trait-dependent endangerment in Columbiformes

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May 03, 2024 version files 15.60 MB

Abstract

Understanding how extinction has occurred in the recent past is crucial to unravel its main drivers as well as to implement effective conservation practices to minimize global biodiversity loss. It has long been hypothesized that extinction risk is not randomly distributed among traits of species. However, the actual traits making species more prone to extinction may have been overlooked because already extinct species are often not considered in comparative analyses of extinction risk. We characterized the drivers of extinction in a cosmopolitan bird clade, including Holocene and contemporary extinctions potentially related to human impacts, and provided evidence of an ‘extinction selectivity’ in species traits. We constructed a new phylogenetic hypothesis of the Columbiformes, a cosmopolitan bird clade consisting of 33 recently extinct and 351 extant species. Then, we integrated data on geography, behaviour, and morphology to reveal the drivers of extinction risk. We used phylogenetic generalized least square models to test the effect of geography, behaviour, and morphology on the risk of extinction and identified differences in the drivers of extinction when including vs. excluding recently extinct species. Our analysis revealed that Columbiformes endemic from islands with ground-foraging habits, weak flying abilities, migratory behaviour, and larger body sizes are more vulnerable to extinction.  Our results also show that excluding recently extinct species identifies extinction drivers differently from those when including recently extinct species. Only by accurately identifying the traits that increase extinction risk can we develop targeted conservation measures that promote the long-term persistence of threatened species. Extinction selectivity has important implications for the conservation of biological communities and ultimately ecosystem functioning, considering the critical role Columbiformes often play as seed dispersers.