Human harvest, climate change and their synergistic effects drove the Chinese Crested Tern to the brink of extinction
Synergistic effect refers to simultaneous actions of separate factors which have a greater total effect than the sum of the individual factor effects. However, there has been a limited knowledge on how synergistic effects occur and individual roles of different drivers are not often considered. Ther...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Elsevier
2015-07-01
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| Series: | Global Ecology and Conservation |
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| Online Access: | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415000682 |
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| author | Shuihua Chen Zhongyong Fan Daniel D. Roby Yiwei Lu Cangsong Chen Qin Huang Lijing Cheng Jiang Zhu |
| author_facet | Shuihua Chen Zhongyong Fan Daniel D. Roby Yiwei Lu Cangsong Chen Qin Huang Lijing Cheng Jiang Zhu |
| author_sort | Shuihua Chen |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Synergistic effect refers to simultaneous actions of separate factors which have a greater total effect than the sum of the individual factor effects. However, there has been a limited knowledge on how synergistic effects occur and individual roles of different drivers are not often considered. Therefore, it becomes quite challenging to manage multiple threatening processes simultaneously in order to mitigate biodiversity loss. In this regard, our hypothesis is, if the traits actually play different roles in the synergistic interaction, conservation efforts could be made more effectively. To understand the synergistic effect and test our hypothesis, we examined the processes associated with the endangerment of critically endangered Chinese Crested Tern (Thalasseus bernsteini), whose total population number was estimated no more than 50. Through monitoring of breeding colonies and investigations into causative factors, combined with other data on human activities, we found that widespread human harvest of seabird eggs and increasing frequency of typhoons are the major factors that threatened the Chinese Crested Tern. Furthermore, 28 percent of breeding failures were due to the synergistic effects in which egg harvest-induced renestings suffered the higher frequent typhoons. In such combined interactions, the egg harvest has clearly served as a proximal factor for the population decline, and the superimposition of enhanced typhoon activity further accelerated the species toward imminent extinction. Our findings suggest that species endangerment, on one hand, should be treated as a synergistic process, while conservation efforts, on the other hand, should focus principally on combatting the threat that triggers synergistic effects. |
| first_indexed | 2024-12-23T14:32:47Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-01205c7e4cce4bba9760d3bca2c72950 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2351-9894 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-12-23T14:32:47Z |
| publishDate | 2015-07-01 |
| publisher | Elsevier |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Global Ecology and Conservation |
| spelling | doaj.art-01205c7e4cce4bba9760d3bca2c729502022-12-21T17:43:26ZengElsevierGlobal Ecology and Conservation2351-98942015-07-014C13714510.1016/j.gecco.2015.06.006Human harvest, climate change and their synergistic effects drove the Chinese Crested Tern to the brink of extinctionShuihua Chen0Zhongyong Fan1Daniel D. Roby2Yiwei Lu3Cangsong Chen4Qin Huang5Lijing Cheng6Jiang Zhu7Department of Life Science, Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Hangzhou, 310014, ChinaDepartment of Life Science, Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Hangzhou, 310014, ChinaU.S. Geological Survey-Oregon Cooperative Fish and Wildlife Research Unit, Department of Fisheries and Wildlife, Oregon State University, Corvallis, OR 97331, USADepartment of Life Science, Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Hangzhou, 310014, ChinaDepartment of Life Science, Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Hangzhou, 310014, ChinaDepartment of Life Science, Zhejiang Museum of Natural History, Hangzhou, 310014, ChinaInstitute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, ChinaInstitute of Atmospheric Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100029, ChinaSynergistic effect refers to simultaneous actions of separate factors which have a greater total effect than the sum of the individual factor effects. However, there has been a limited knowledge on how synergistic effects occur and individual roles of different drivers are not often considered. Therefore, it becomes quite challenging to manage multiple threatening processes simultaneously in order to mitigate biodiversity loss. In this regard, our hypothesis is, if the traits actually play different roles in the synergistic interaction, conservation efforts could be made more effectively. To understand the synergistic effect and test our hypothesis, we examined the processes associated with the endangerment of critically endangered Chinese Crested Tern (Thalasseus bernsteini), whose total population number was estimated no more than 50. Through monitoring of breeding colonies and investigations into causative factors, combined with other data on human activities, we found that widespread human harvest of seabird eggs and increasing frequency of typhoons are the major factors that threatened the Chinese Crested Tern. Furthermore, 28 percent of breeding failures were due to the synergistic effects in which egg harvest-induced renestings suffered the higher frequent typhoons. In such combined interactions, the egg harvest has clearly served as a proximal factor for the population decline, and the superimposition of enhanced typhoon activity further accelerated the species toward imminent extinction. Our findings suggest that species endangerment, on one hand, should be treated as a synergistic process, while conservation efforts, on the other hand, should focus principally on combatting the threat that triggers synergistic effects.http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415000682Synergistic effectSpecies endangermentHuman harvestClimate changeChinese Crested Tern |
| spellingShingle | Shuihua Chen Zhongyong Fan Daniel D. Roby Yiwei Lu Cangsong Chen Qin Huang Lijing Cheng Jiang Zhu Human harvest, climate change and their synergistic effects drove the Chinese Crested Tern to the brink of extinction Global Ecology and Conservation Synergistic effect Species endangerment Human harvest Climate change Chinese Crested Tern |
| title | Human harvest, climate change and their synergistic effects drove the Chinese Crested Tern to the brink of extinction |
| title_full | Human harvest, climate change and their synergistic effects drove the Chinese Crested Tern to the brink of extinction |
| title_fullStr | Human harvest, climate change and their synergistic effects drove the Chinese Crested Tern to the brink of extinction |
| title_full_unstemmed | Human harvest, climate change and their synergistic effects drove the Chinese Crested Tern to the brink of extinction |
| title_short | Human harvest, climate change and their synergistic effects drove the Chinese Crested Tern to the brink of extinction |
| title_sort | human harvest climate change and their synergistic effects drove the chinese crested tern to the brink of extinction |
| topic | Synergistic effect Species endangerment Human harvest Climate change Chinese Crested Tern |
| url | http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2351989415000682 |
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