Quantifying the anthropocene loss of bioindicators for an early industrial region: an equitable baseline for biodiversity restoration

• Published in: Biodiversity and conservation Vol. 27; no. 9; pp. 2363 - 2377
• Main Authors: Ellis, Christopher J., Yahr, Rebecca, Coppins, Brian J.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Dordrecht Springer Netherlands 01.07.2018; Springer; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Anthropocene; Biodiversity; Biodiversity loss; Bioindicators; Biological diversity; Biomedical and Life Sciences; Biomonitoring; Climate Change/Climate Change Impacts; Conservation Biology/Ecology; Ecology; Environmental policy; Epiphytes; Habitat loss; Hazards; Indicator organisms; Indicator species; Indicators (Biology); Industrial areas; Industrial pollution; Industrialization; Life Sciences; Local extinction; Net losses; Original Paper; Protected species; Protection and preservation; Restoration; Species extinction; Tropical environments; Urban biodiversity; Wildlife conservation; Anthropocene; Bioindicators; Net biodiversity gain; Restoration ecology; Shifting baselines; Archaeobotany
• ISSN: 0960-3115; 1572-9710
• DOI: 10.1007/s10531-018-1541-y

Directly observed biodiversity data have a limited temporal span of c. 100–150 years. Consequently, for a region such as temperate Western Europe, our knowledge of species distributions is restricted to a period impacted by the process of massive industrialisation. There is a danger of shifted baselines in terms of conservation policy and targets. Here we present a novel source of high resolution archaeobotanical information for lichen epiphyte bioindicators; these data can reconstruct species distributions for the pre-industrial European landscape. We compare these historic records to a species’ post-industrial distribution and environmental response, quantifying the spatial trend and causes of biodiversity loss. The results indicate regional extinction rates of c. 76% in response to habitat loss and industrial pollution. We propose pre-industrial baselines that would better represent biodiversity restoration for temperate regions (net gain), and which would be equitable with advocacy for species and habitat protection in the present-day tropics (no net loss).