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Biodiversity

Extinction by numbers

Nature volume 403, pages 843–845 (2000)Cite this article

How large will be the loss of species through human activities? And over what time period might that loss unfold? Habitat destruction is the leading cause of species extinction. Generally, many of the species found across large areas of a given habitat are represented in smaller areas of it. So habitat loss initially causes few extinctions, then many only as the last remnants of habitat are destroyed. Thus, at current rates of habitat destruction, the peak of extinctions might not occur for decades. But we should not be complacent. On page 853 of this issue, Myers et al.1 document an uneven, highly clumped, distribution of vulnerable species over the world's land surface. Within these ‘biodiversity hotspots’, habitats are already disproportionately reduced.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Center for Environmental Research and Conservation, MC 5556, Columbia University, 1200 Amsterdam Avenue, New York, New York, 10027, USA

    Stuart L. Pimm

  2. Missouri Botanical Garden, PO Box 299, St Louis, 63166, Missouri, USA

    Peter Raven

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  1. Stuart L. Pimm
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  2. Peter Raven
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Correspondence to Stuart L. Pimm.

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Pimm, S., Raven, P. Extinction by numbers. Nature 403, 843–845 (2000). https://doi.org/10.1038/35002708

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