Institution
Australian Museum
Archive•Sydney, New South Wales, Australia•
About: Australian Museum is a archive organization based out in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Population & Genus. The organization has 943 authors who have published 3652 publications receiving 106318 citations. The organization is also known as: The Australian Museum & Colonial Museum.
Topics: Population, Genus, Biodiversity, Monophyly, Species richness
Papers published on a yearly basis
Papers
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TL;DR: There is now sufficient evidence to regard the controversies regarding the contribution of genetic factors to extinction risk as resolved, and if genetic factors are ignored, extinction risk will be underestimated and inappropriate recovery strategies may be used.
1,981 citations
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TL;DR: It follows that the proportion of individuals in a population foraging in ways that enhance their fitness will tend to increase over time, and the average foraging behavior will increasingly come to be characterized by those characteristics that enhance individual fitness.
Abstract: Proponents of optimal foraging theory attempt to predict the behavior of animals while they are foraging; this theory is based on a number of assump tions ( 133 , 155 , 2 10, 23 1 ) . First, an individual's contribution to the next generation (i.e. its "fitness") depends on its behavior while foraging. This contribution may be measured genetically or culturally as the proportion of an individual's genes or "ideas", respectively, in the next generation. In the former case, the theory is simply an extension of Darwin's theory of evolution. Second, it is assumed that there should be a heritable component of foraging behavior, i.e. an animal that forages in a particular manner should be likely to have offspring that tend to forage in the same manner. This heritable compo nent can be either the actual foraging responses made by an animal or the rules by which an animal learns to make such responses. In other words, optimal foraging theory may apply regardless of whether the foraging behavior is learned or innate. Given these first two assumptions, it follows that the proportion of individuals in a population foraging in ways that enhance their fitness will tend to increase over time. Unless countervailed by sufficiently strong group selection (see 287, 242), foraging behavior will therefore evolve, and the average foraging behavior will increasingly come to be characterized by those characteristics that enhance individual fitness. The third assumption is that the relationship between foraging behavior and fitness is known. This relationship is usually referred to as the currency of fitness (23 1 ) . In general, any such currency will include a time scale, although in some cases it may be assumed that fitness is a function of some rate.
1,917 citations
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World Wide Fund for Nature1, The Nature Conservancy2, National University of Singapore3, Russian Academy of Sciences4, Fisheries and Oceans Canada5, Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León6, University of Costa Rica7, Columbia University8, Rhodes University9, Australian Museum10, Brigham Young University11, Drexel University12, Harvard University13
TL;DR: Preliminary data for fish species compiled by ecoregion reveal some previously unrecognized areas of high biodiversity, highlighting the benefit of looking at the world's freshwaters through a new framework.
Abstract: We present a new map depicting the first global biogeographic regionalization of Earth's freshwater systems. This map of freshwater ecoregions is based on the distributions and compositions of freshwater fish species and incorporates major ecological and evolutionary patterns. Covering virtually all freshwater habitats on Earth, this ecoregion map, together with associated species data, is a useful tool for underpinning global and regional conservation planning efforts (particularly to identify outstanding and imperiled freshwater systems); for serving as a logical framework for large-scale conservation strategies; and for providing a global-scale knowledge base for increasing freshwater biogeographic literacy. Preliminary data for fish species compiled by ecoregion reveal some previously unrecognized areas of high biodiversity, highlighting the benefit of looking at the world's freshwaters through a new framework.
1,515 citations
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TL;DR: Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse of shallow water marine ecosystems but are being degraded worldwide by human activities and climate warming, and conservation efforts targeted toward them could help avert the loss of tropical reef biodiversity.
Abstract: Coral reefs are the most biologically diverse of shallow water marine ecosystems but are being degraded worldwide by human activities and climate warming. Analyses of the geographic ranges of 3235 species of reef fish, corals, snails, and lobsters revealed that between 7.2% and 53.6% of each taxon have highly restricted ranges, rendering them vulnerable to extinction. Restricted-range species are clustered into centers of endemism, like those described for terrestrial taxa. The 10 richest centers of endemism cover 15.8% of the world's coral reefs (0.012% of the oceans) but include between 44.8 and 54.2% of the restricted-range species. Many occur in regions where reefs are being severely affected by people, potentially leading to numerous extinctions. Threatened centers of endemism are major biodiversity hotspots, and conservation efforts targeted toward them could help avert the loss of tropical reef biodiversity.
1,491 citations
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Michael R. Hoffmann1, Craig Hilton-Taylor2, Ariadne Angulo2, Monika Böhm3 +170 more•Institutions (81)
TL;DR: Though the threat of extinction is increasing, overall declines would have been worse in the absence of conservation, and current conservation efforts remain insufficient to offset the main drivers of biodiversity loss in these groups.
Abstract: 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.
1,333 citations
Authors
Showing all 956 results
Name | H-index | Papers | Citations |
---|---|---|---|
George S. Wilson | 88 | 716 | 33034 |
Richard Frankham | 64 | 156 | 28426 |
Nathan Lo | 53 | 212 | 9349 |
Gregory D. Edgecombe | 53 | 306 | 13590 |
Jonathan Majer | 49 | 186 | 7899 |
Yoram Yom-Tov | 46 | 209 | 8115 |
Daniel P. Faith | 45 | 103 | 8096 |
Stephen Wroe | 45 | 133 | 5392 |
Graham H. Pyke | 43 | 125 | 13650 |
Doug P. Armstrong | 42 | 155 | 6906 |
Michael Archer | 42 | 225 | 6470 |
Philip A. Bland | 41 | 278 | 5507 |
Christopher A. Reid | 40 | 216 | 6901 |
Jeffrey M. Leis | 40 | 113 | 6943 |
Daniel Lunney | 40 | 229 | 5420 |