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.

Conservation biology

Rarity bites

Nature volume 444, pages 555–556 (2006)Cite this article

Rare species have to cope not only with habitat loss, genetic bottlenecks and invasive competitors, but also with a self-reinforcing cycle of human greed. This last threat has now been dragged into the spotlight.

It makes sense that, as a valued commodity becomes scarce, its cost rises. Indeed, tests of the economic theories of demand have shown that consumers greatly value the hedonic exclusivity of owning rare objects, such as coins or stamps1. But is this desire restricted to the harmless venture of collecting historical curiosities? Writing in PLoS Biology, Courchamp and colleagues2 suggest not. They describe an under-appreciated thorn in the side of endangered species already teetering on the brink of extinction — the lure of the few.

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

Relevant articles

Open Access articles citing this article.

Access options

Buy article

Get time limited or full article access on ReadCube.

$32.00

Buy

All prices are NET prices.

Figure 1: Object of desire — the critically endangered Bali starling.

T. TAN

References

  1. Koford, K. & Tschoegl, A. E. J. Econ. Behav. Organ. 34, 445–457 (1998).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Courchamp, F. et al. PLoS Biol. 4, e415 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Rodriguez-Estrella, R., Carmen, M. & Moreno, B. Biodivers. Conserv. 15, 1621–1625 (2006).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Webb, J. K., Brook, B. W. & Shine, R. Oryx 36, 170–181 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Sodhi, N. S. & Brook, B. W. Southeast Asian Biodiversity in Crisis (Cambridge Univ. Press, 2006).

    Google Scholar 

  6. http://www.cites.org

  7. Gilpin, M. E. & Soule, M. E. in Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity and Diversity (ed. Soule, M. E.) 19–34 (Sinauer, Sunderland, MA, 1986).

    Google Scholar 

  8. Fagan, W. F. & Holmes, E. E. Ecol. Lett. 9, 51–60 (2006).

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  9. Bulte, E. H., Horan, R. D. & Shogren, J. F. Ecol. Econ. 45, 271–279 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. http://www.redlist.org

  11. Stuart, B. L., Rhodin, A. G. J., Grismer, L. L. & Hansel, T. Science 312, 1137 (2006).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School for Environmental Research, Charles Darwin University, Darwin, 0909, Northern Territory, Australia

    Barry W. Brook B W

  2. Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, 117543, Singapore

    Navjot S. Sodhi N S

Authors
  1. Barry W. Brook B W
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. Navjot S. Sodhi N S
    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

Brook, B., Sodhi, N. Rarity bites. Nature 444, 555–556 (2006). https://doi.org/10.1038/444555a

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/444555a

This article is cited by

Search

Advanced search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

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