ORCID Profile
0000-0002-5418-3688
Current Organisation
Sapienza Università di Roma
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Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 04-2022
DOI: 10.1016/J.TREE.2021.12.002
Abstract: The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species is central in bio ersity conservation, but insufficient resources h er its long-term growth, updating, and consistency. Models or automated calculations can alleviate those challenges by providing standardised estimates required for assessments, or prioritising species for (re-)assessments. However, while numerous scientific papers have proposed such methods, few have been integrated into assessment practice, highlighting a critical research-implementation gap. We believe this gap can be bridged by fostering communication and collaboration between academic researchers and Red List practitioners, and by developing and maintaining user-friendly platforms to automate application of the methods. We propose that developing methods better encompassing Red List criteria, systems, and drivers is the next priority to support the Red List.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 29-09-2020
DOI: 10.1111/ECOG.05126
Abstract: Global landscapes are changing due to human activities with consequences for both bio ersity and ecosystems. For single species, terrestrial mammal population densities have shown mixed responses to human pressure, with both increasing and decreasing densities reported in the literature. How the impacts of human activities on mammal populations translates into altered global density patterns remains unclear. Here we aim to disentangle the effect of human impacts on large‐scale patterns of mammal population densities using a global dataset of 6729 population density estimates for 468 mammal species (representing 59% and 44% of mammalian orders and families). We fitted a mixed effect model to explain the variation in density based on a 1‐degree resolution as a function of the human footprint index (HFI), a global proxy of direct and indirect human disturbances, while accounting for body mass, trophic level and primary productivity (normalized vegetation index NDVI). We found a significant positive relationship between population density and HFI, where population densities were higher in areas with a higher HFI (e.g. agricultural or suburban areas – no populations were located in very high HFI urban areas) compared to areas with a low HFI (e.g. wilderness areas). We also tested the effect of the in idual components of the HFI and still found a consistent positive effect. The relationships remained positive even across populations of the same species, although variability among species was high. Our results indicate shifts in mammal population densities in human modified landscapes, which is due to the combined effect of species filtering, increased resources and a possible reduction in competition and predation. Our study provides further evidence that macroecological patterns are being altered by human activities, where some species will benefit from these activities, while others will be negatively impacted or even extirpated.
Publisher: Pensoft Publishers
Date: 13-11-2013
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 12-05-2016
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.13292
Abstract: Although it is generally recognized that global bio ersity is declining, few studies have examined long-term changes in multiple bio ersity dimensions simultaneously. In this study, we quantified and compared temporal changes in the abundance, taxonomic ersity, functional ersity, and phylogenetic ersity of bird assemblages, using roadside monitoring data of the North American Breeding Bird Survey from 1971 to 2010. We calculated 12 abundance and ersity metrics based on 5-year average abundances of 519 species for each of 768 monitoring routes. We did this for all bird species together as well as for four subgroups based on breeding habitat affinity (grassland, woodland, wetland, and shrubland breeders). The majority of the bio ersity metrics increased or remained constant over the study period, whereas the overall abundance of birds showed a pronounced decrease, primarily driven by declines of the most abundant species. These results highlight how stable or even increasing metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic ersity may occur in parallel with substantial losses of in iduals. We further found that patterns of change differed among the species subgroups, with both abundance and ersity increasing for woodland birds and decreasing for grassland breeders. The contrasting changes between abundance and ersity and among the breeding habitat groups underscore the relevance of a multifaceted approach to measuring bio ersity change. Our findings further stress the importance of monitoring the overall abundance of in iduals in addition to metrics of taxonomic, functional, or phylogenetic ersity, thus confirming the importance of population abundance as an essential bio ersity variable.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 05-2023
DOI: 10.1002/ECE3.9961
Abstract: We call for journals to commit to requiring open data be archived in a format that will be simple and clear for readers to understand and use. If applied consistently, these requirements will allow contributors to be acknowledged for their work through citation of open data, and facilitate scientific progress.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 22-07-2021
DOI: 10.1111/GCB.15784
Abstract: As a source of emerging infectious diseases, wildlife assemblages (and related spatial patterns) must be quantitatively assessed to help identify high‐risk locations. Previous assessments have largely focussed on the distributions of in idual species however, transmission dynamics are expected to depend on assemblage composition. Moreover, disease– ersity relationships have mainly been studied in the context of species loss, but assemblage composition and disease risk (e.g. infection prevalence in wildlife assemblages) can change without extinction. Based on the predicted distributions and abundances of 4466 mammal species, we estimated global patterns of disease risk through the calculation of the community‐level basic reproductive ratio R0, an index of invasion potential, persistence, and maximum prevalence of a pathogen in a wildlife assemblage. For density‐dependent diseases, we found that, in addition to tropical areas which are commonly viewed as infectious disease hotspots, northern temperate latitudes included high‐risk areas. We also forecasted the effects of climate change and habitat loss from 2015 to 2035. Over this period, many local assemblages showed no net loss of species richness, but the assemblage composition (i.e. the mix of species and their abundances) changed considerably. Simultaneously, most areas experienced a decreased risk of density‐dependent diseases but an increased risk of frequency‐dependent diseases. We further explored the factors driving these changes in disease risk. Our results suggest that bio ersity and changes therein jointly influence disease risk. Understanding these changes and their drivers and ultimately identifying emerging infectious disease hotspots can help health officials prioritize resource distribution.
Publisher: American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS)
Date: 10-10-2014
Abstract: In 2010, the international community, under the auspices of the Convention on Biological Diversity, agreed on 20 bio ersity-related “Aichi Targets” to be achieved within a decade. We provide a comprehensive mid-term assessment of progress toward these global targets using 55 indicator data sets. We projected indicator trends to 2020 using an adaptive statistical framework that incorporated the specific properties of in idual time series. On current trajectories, results suggest that despite accelerating policy and management responses to the bio ersity crisis, the impacts of these efforts are unlikely to be reflected in improved trends in the state of bio ersity by 2020. We highlight areas of societal endeavor requiring additional efforts to achieve the Aichi Targets, and provide a baseline against which to assess future progress.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 23-02-2016
DOI: 10.1111/CONL.12159
Publisher: Elsevier BV
Date: 09-2017
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 07-12-2016
DOI: 10.1111/COBI.12846
Abstract: Conservation planning and bio ersity assessments need quantitative targets to optimize planning options and assess the adequacy of current species protection. However, targets aiming at persistence require population-specific data, which limit their use in favor of fixed and nonspecific targets, likely leading to unequal distribution of conservation efforts among species. We devised a method to derive equitable population targets that is, quantitative targets of population size that ensure equal probabilities of persistence across a set of species and that can be easily inferred from species-specific traits. In our method, we used models of population dynamics across a range of life-history traits related to species' body mass to estimate minimum viable population targets. We applied our method to a range of body masses of mammals, from 2 g to 3825 kg. The minimum viable population targets decreased asymptotically with increasing body mass and were on the same order of magnitude as minimum viable population estimates from species- and context-specific studies. Our approach provides a compromise between pragmatic, nonspecific population targets and detailed context-specific estimates of population viability for which only limited data are available. It enables a first estimation of species-specific population targets based on a readily available trait and thus allows setting equitable targets for population persistence in large-scale and multispecies conservation assessments and planning.
Publisher: Springer Science and Business Media LLC
Date: 24-06-2021
DOI: 10.1038/S41559-021-01494-0
Abstract: The Living Planet Index (LPI) is a standardized indicator for tracking population trends through time. Due to its ability to aggregate many time series in a single metric, the LPI has been proposed as an indicator for the Convention on Biological Diversity's post-2020 Global Bio ersity Strategy. However, here we show that random population fluctuations introduce biases when calculating the LPI. By combining simulated and empirical data, we show how random fluctuations lead to a declining LPI even when overall population trends are stable and imprecise estimates of the LPI when populations increase or decrease nonlinearly. We applied randomization null models that demonstrate how random fluctuations exaggerate declines in the global LPI by 9.6%. Our results confirm substantial declines in the LPI but highlight sources of uncertainty in quantitative estimates. Randomization null models are useful for presenting uncertainty around indicators of progress towards international bio ersity targets.
Publisher: Wiley
Date: 2019
DOI: 10.1111/DDI.12885
No related grants have been discovered for Luca Santini.