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Rarity in mass extinctions and the future of ecosystems

Nature volume 528, pages 345–351 (2015)Cite this article

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Abstract

The fossil record provides striking case studies of biodiversity loss and global ecosystem upheaval. Because of this, many studies have sought to assess the magnitude of the current biodiversity crisis relative to past crises—a task greatly complicated by the need to extrapolate extinction rates. Here we challenge this approach by showing that the rarity of previously abundant taxa may be more important than extinction in the cascade of events leading to global changes in the biosphere. Mass rarity may provide the most robust measure of our current biodiversity crisis relative to those past, and new insights into the dynamics of mass extinction.

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Figure 1: Mass rarity and mass extinction are indistinguishable in the fossil record, and may have the same ecosystem effects.
Figure 2: The sequence of taxonomic and ecosystem events across extinctions is unclear.
Figure 3: The geological brevity of mass extinctions makes it difficult to discern the relative importance of various processes.

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Acknowledgements

This manuscript arose out of discussion sparked by Arizona State University’s Origins Project workshop hosted by L. Krauss and M. Laubichler; interdisciplinary training in the first class of the National Science Foundation IGERT programme in the Center for Marine Biodiversity & Conservation (led by N. Knowlton, J. B. C. Jackson, E. Sala, R. Carson, M. Tillman; supported by P. Dockery) at the Scripps Institution of Oceanography; and long association with D. E. G. Briggs and group. This manuscript was greatly improved through discussions with J. B. C. Jackson, K. L. Cramer, M. S. Roth and the Yale Paleontology group. D.H.E. acknowledges support from the NASA Astrobiology Institute. S.A.F.D. acknowledges support from a Peter Buck Fellowship at NMNH.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geology and Geophysics, Yale University, New Haven, 06520-8109, Connecticut, USA

    Pincelli M. Hull

  2. Department of Paleobiology, National Museum of Natural History, Washington, 20013-7012, DC, USA

    Simon A. F. Darroch & Douglas H. Erwin

  3. Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences, Vanderbilt University, Nashville, 37235-1805, Tennessee, USA

    Simon A. F. Darroch

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Hull, P., Darroch, S. & Erwin, D. Rarity in mass extinctions and the future of ecosystems. Nature 528, 345–351 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature16160

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