Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • Brief Communications Arising
  • Published:

He and Hubbell reply

Nature volume 482, pages E5–E6 (2012)Cite this article

Subjects

Abstract

Replying to H. M. Pereira, L. Borda-de-Água & I. Santos Martins Nature 482, 10.1038/nature10857; C. D. Thomas & M. Williamson Nature 482, 10.1038/nature10858

Pereira et al.1 argue that our conclusion2 that species–area relationships (SARs) always overestimate extinction is not general because the spatial configuration of landscape destruction can influence the results. Thomas and Williamson3 argue that there are many other causes of extinction besides habitat loss. We agree with the latter comment, but show that the arguments of Pereira et al. are not substantiated.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

  • Purchase on Springer Link
  • Instant access to full article PDF
Buy now

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Pereira, H. M., Borda-de-Água, L. & Santos Martins, I. Geometry and scale in species–area relationships. Nature 482, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038/nature10857 (2012)

  2. He, F. & Hubbell, S. P. Species–area relationships always overestimate extinction rates from habitat loss. Nature 473, 368–371 (2011)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

  3. Thomas, C. D. & Williamson, M. Extinction and climate change. Nature 482, http://dx.doi.org/10.1038.nature10858 (2012)

  4. Brooks, T. & Balmford, A. Atlantic forest extinctions. Nature 380, 115 (1996)

    Article  ADS  Google Scholar 

  5. Thomas, C. D. et al. Extinction risk from climate change. Nature 427, 145–148 (2004)

    Article  ADS  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Biocontrol, and SYSU-Alberta Joint Lab for Biodiversity Conservation, School of Life Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University, Guangzhou, 510275, China

    Fangliang He

  2. †Department of Renewable Resources, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta, T6G 2H1, Canada. fhe@ualberta.ca,

    Fangliang He

  3. Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Los Angeles, 90095, California, USA

    Stephen P. Hubbell

  4. ‖Center for Tropical Forest Science, Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, Unit 0948, APO AA 34002-0948, Republic of Panama,

    Stephen P. Hubbell

Authors
  1. Fangliang He
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Stephen P. Hubbell
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

He, F., Hubbell, S. He and Hubbell reply. Nature 482, E5–E6 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10859

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nature10859

This article is cited by

Comments

By submitting a comment you agree to abide by our Terms and Community Guidelines. If you find something abusive or that does not comply with our terms or guidelines please flag it as inappropriate.

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing Anthropocene

Sign up for the Nature Briefing: Anthropocene newsletter — what matters in anthropocene research, free to your inbox weekly.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing: Anthropocene