IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/nat/nature/v436y2005i7048d10.1038_436192a.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Top predators and biodiversity

Author

Listed:
  • Fabrizio Sergio

    (Estación Biológica de Doñana, CSIC
    Raptor Conservation Research Unit, Trento Museum of Natural Sciences)

  • Ian Newton

    (Centre for Ecology and Hydrology, Monks Wood, Abbots Ripton, Huntingdon)

  • Luigi Marchesi

    (Raptor Conservation Research Unit, Trento Museum of Natural Sciences)

Abstract

The charisma of top vertebrate predators is often used by conservationists as a lever for financial support1,2, to raise environmental awareness2,3 and in planning protected areas4,5,6 — a strategy that has been criticized3,5,7. Here we use information collected from five raptor species that differ widely in their diet and habitat associations to show that sites occupied by these predators are consistently associated with high biodiversity. The biodiversity at these sites is more extensive than it is at sites selected at random, or at sites occupied by species from lower down the trophic pyramid (insectivorous or herbivorous species, for example). Our results indicate that conservation focusing on top predators can be ecologically justified because it delivers broader biodiversity benefits.

Suggested Citation

  • Fabrizio Sergio & Ian Newton & Luigi Marchesi, 2005. "Top predators and biodiversity," Nature, Nature, vol. 436(7048), pages 192-192, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:436:y:2005:i:7048:d:10.1038_436192a
    DOI: 10.1038/436192a
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.nature.com/articles/436192a
    File Function: Abstract
    Download Restriction: Access to the full text of the articles in this series is restricted.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1038/436192a?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Ivajnšič, Danijel & Denac, Damijan & Denac, Katarina & Pipenbaher, Nataša & Kaligarič, Mitja, 2020. "The Scops owl (Otus scops) under human-induced environmental change pressure," Land Use Policy, Elsevier, vol. 99(C).
    2. Dennhardt, Andrew J. & Duerr, Adam E. & Brandes, David & Katzner, Todd E., 2015. "Modeling autumn migration of a rare soaring raptor identifies new movement corridors in central Appalachia," Ecological Modelling, Elsevier, vol. 303(C), pages 19-29.
    3. Moung-Jin Lee & Wonkyong Song & Saro Lee, 2015. "Habitat Mapping of the Leopard Cat ( Prionailurus bengalensis ) in South Korea Using GIS," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 7(4), pages 1-21, April.
    4. Zachary D Hughes & Eli P Fenichel & Leah R Gerber, 2011. "The Potential Impact of Labor Choices on the Efficacy of Marine Conservation Strategies," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 6(8), pages 1-10, August.
    5. Sofia S. Oliveira & Joana Pereira & Paulo Santos & Ruth Pereira, 2020. "Awareness and Knowledge of Portugal Residents about Natura 2000," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 12(22), pages 1-12, November.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:nat:nature:v:436:y:2005:i:7048:d:10.1038_436192a. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    We have no bibliographic references for this item. You can help adding them by using this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Sonal Shukla or Springer Nature Abstracting and Indexing (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.nature.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.