Holocene Extinctions

by Samuel T. Turvey (Editor)

Overview

The extent to which human activity has influenced species extinctions during the recent prehistoric past remains controversial due to other factors such as climatic fluctuations and a general lack of data. However, the Holocene (the geological interval spanning the last 11,500 years from the end of the last glaciation) has witnessed massive levels of extinctions that have continued into the modern historical era, but in a context of only relatively minor climatic fluctuations. This makes a detailed consideration of these extinctions a useful system for investigating the impacts of human activity over time. Holocene Extinctions describes and analyses the range of global extinction events which have occurred during this key time period, as well as their relationship to both earlier and ongoing species losses. By integrating information from fields as diverse as zoology, ecology, palaeontology, archaeology and geography, and by incorporating data from a broad range of taxonomic groups and ecosystems, this novel text provides a fascinating insight into human impacts on global extinction rates, both past and present. This truly interdisciplinary book is suitable for both graduate students and researchers in these varied fields. It will also be of value and use to policy-makers and conservation professionals since it provides valuable guidance on how to apply lessons from the past to prevent future biodiversity loss and inform modern conservation planning.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191579981
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	05/28/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	25 MB
Note:	This product may take a few minutes to download.

About the Author

Samuel Turvey is Research Fellow at the Institute of Zoology, a department of the Zoological Society of London. He is a conservation biologist with a principal interest in the history and prehistory of human-caused extinctions and in developing conservation strategies for today's threatened species. He was deeply involved with the conservation efforts surrounding the Yangtze River dolphin, and was the lead author of the 2007 paper in Biology Letters which declared that it was probably extinct, generating tremendous international media attention. He has published numerous other academic papers in a range of scientific journals, including Nature.

Table of Contents

Preface ix

A note on radiocarbon dating conventions xi

List of contributors xii

1 An introduction to Late Glacial-Holocene environments Anson W. Mackay 1

2 In the shadow of the megafauna: prehistoric mammal and bird extinctions across the Holocene Samuel T. Turvey 17

3 Holocene mammal extinctions Samuel T. Turvey 41

4 Holocene avian extinctions Tommy Tyrberg 63

5 Past and future patterns of freshwater mussel extinctions in North America during the Holocene Wendell R. Haag 107

6 Holocene extinctions in the sea Nicholas K. Dulvy John K. Pinnegar John D. Reynolds 129

7 Procellariiform extinctions in the Holocene: threat processes and wider ecosystem-scale implications R. Paul Scofield 151

8 Coextinction: anecdotes, models, and speculation Robert R. Dunn 167

9 Probabilistic methods for determining extinction chronologies Ben Collen Samuel T. Turvey 181

10 The past is another country: is evidence for prehistoric, historical, and present-day extinction really comparable? Samuel T. Turvey Joanne H. Cooper 193

11 Holocene deforestation: a history of human-environmental interactions, climate change, and extinction Rob Marchant Simon Brewer Thompson Webb III Samuel T. Turvey 213

12 The shape of things to come: non-native mammalian predators and the fate of island bird diversity Julie L. Lockwood Tim M. Blackburn Phillip Cassey Julian D. Olden 235

13 The Quaternary fossil record as a source of data for evidence-based conservation: is the past the key to the future? John R. Stewart 249

14 Holocene extinctions and the loss of feature diversity Arne Ø. Mooers Simon J. Goring Samuel T. Turvey Tyler S. Kuhn 263

References 279

Index339

Editorial Reviews

"This volume represents a valuable contribution to the literature on the late Quaternary and particularly on extinction dynamics. It should be of considerable use to conservation biologists and paleontologists, as well as anyone interested in the historical record of the Earth." — The Quarterly Review of Biology

Holocene Extinctions is a superb book on both empirical and conceptual levels, one that will surely lead to future analyses of these extinctions in new and important directions. This book is the first to provide a general survey and analysis of these more recent losses [of the Holocene period]. It is, at the same time, a valuable and enduring contribution to historic biogeography and conservation biology."—Integrative and Comparative Biology

From the Publisher