An introduction to the spatial correlation between human
population and biodiversity
Marco Pautasso,Division of Biology,
Imperial College London, Silwood Campus, UK
22 April 2008, Oxford (UK)
from: Lonsdale et al. (2008) European Journal of Forest Research
Random sample of 100 papers per year on ‘species richness’ in WOS (1991-2004)
Global biodiversity patterns: vascular plants
from Barthlott et al. (2007) Erdkunde
Global human population density patterns
from Small & Cohen (2004) Current Anthropology
Species-people correlation in Europe
from Araujo (2003) Global Ecology & Biogeography
plants birds
people
spp
n = 2877, r2 = 0.18, y = 1.75+ 0.22x, p < 0.0001
1
2
3
4
2 3 4 5 6 7
log10 human population size (n)
log1
0 vas
cula
r pla
nt s
pp ri
chne
ss (n
)
A positive species-people correlation for vascular plants in US counties
Data from the Synthesis of the North American Flora, Ohio and Virginia not included
Sampling bias?
from: Pautasso & McKinney (2007) Conservation Biology
US counties with (•) or without (o) Universities and/or Botanical Gardens
from: Pautasso & McKinney (2007) Conservation Biology
• N = 692, r2 = 0.13, y = 2.15 (SE = 0.08) + 0.15 (SE = 0.01) x, p < 0.0001
o N = 2187, r2 = 0.10, y = 2.18 (SE = 0.05) + 0.15 (SE = 0.01) x, p < 0.0001
from: Hufnagel, Brockmann & Geisel (2004) PNAS
number of passengers per day
Active conservation?
Photos of veteran trees courtesy of G. Bortolotti; Map of human population density from Swiss Federal Statistical Office
Celtis australis, San Gimignano
Quercus robur, Udine
Castanea sativa,St. Alfio, Sicily
Quercus cerris,Amatrice, Latium
Cupressussempervirens, Forli
people / km2
no information
(c)y = -2.03 + 0.49x, r2 = 0.15, p < 0.0001
0
1
2
4 5 6 7log10 province human population size
log1
0 vet
eran
tree
spec
ies
(c)
y = -1.70 + 0.47x, r2 = 0.69, p < 0.0001
0
1
2
4 5 6 7 8
log10 region human population size
log1
0 vet
eran
tree
spec
ies
(b)y = -2.98 + 0.68x, r2 = 0.13, p < 0.0001
0
1
2
4 5 6 7log10 province human population size
log 1
0 vet
eran
tree
indi
vidu
als
(b)
y = -1.99 + 0.58x, r2 = 0.56, p < 0.00010
1
2
3
4 5 6 7 8
log10 region human population size
log1
0 vet
eran
tree
indi
vidu
als
(c)(a)
(b)
a & b: abundance, c & d: spp richness, a & c: regions; b & d: provinces; from: Pautasso & Chiarucci (2008) Annals of Botany
(d)
Monumental trees in Italy’s regions and provinces
Source: United States Department of Agriculture, 2004Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service, Plant Protection and Quarantine
Trace forward/back zipcode
Positive (Phytophthora ramorum) site
Hold released
Species introductions?
Sudden Oak Death in California
from Desprez-Loustau et al. (2007) Trends in Ecology & Evolution
from: Pautasso & Parmentier (2007) Botanica Helvetica
(c)
(d)
(a) (c)
log 1
0sp
pri
chne
ss (n
)
(b)
Living collections of the world’s botanical gardens
(d)
(yr)
(a) from: Kreft et al. (2008) Ecology Letters, (b) from Cramer et al. (1999) Global Change Biology(c) from: Kreft & Pautasso (in preparation), (d) from Imhoff et al. (2004) Nature
(b)(a)
Both species and people correlate with productivity?
(c) (d)
NPP (g C yr-1 m-2)
vascular plant species richness terrestrial net primary productivity
human-appropriated net primary productivityspp-people correlation(plants on islands)
Take-home message
1) the scale-dependence of the species-people correlation has implications for conservation,
2) a positive spp-people correlation could be due to i) sampling bias, (ii) active
conservation, and (iii) species introductions,
3) but its most plausible/frequent explanation is a correlation of both people and spp
richness with environmental productivity
Acknowledgements
Ottmar Holdenrieder,
ETHZ, CH
Mike Jeger, Imperial College,
Silwood Park
Ingrid Parmentier,
Univ. of Bruxelles, Belgium
Kevin Gaston, Univ. of
Sheffield
Joel Cohen,
Rockefeller Univ., US
Peter Weisberg, Univ. of Nevada,
Reno, US
Mike McKinney, Univ. of Tennessee, USHolger Kreft,
Univ. of California, San Diego, US
Alessandro Chiarucci Univ. of Siena, Italy
References Barbosa AM, Fontaneto D, Marini L & Pautasso M (2010) Positive regional species–people correlations: a sampling artefact or a key issue for sustainable development? Animal Conservation 13: 446-447Cantarello E, Steck CE, Fontana P, Fontaneto D, Marini L & Pautasso M (2010) A multi-scale study of Orthoptera species richness and human population size controlling for sampling effort. Naturwissenschaften 97: 265-271Chiari C, Dinetti M, Licciardello C, Licitra G & Pautasso M (2010) Urbanization and the more-individuals hypothesis. Journal of Animal Ecology 79: 366-371Dehnen-Schmutz K, Holdenrieder O, Jeger MJ & Pautasso M (2010) Structural change in the international horticultural industry: some implications for plant health. Scientia Horticulturae 125: 1-15Golding J, Güsewell S, Kreft H, Kuzevanov VY, Lehvävirta S, Parmentier I & Pautasso M (2010) Species-richness patterns of the living collections of the world's botanic gardens: a matter of socio-economics? Annals of Botany 105: 689-696Pautasso M (2009) Geographical genetics and the conservation of forest trees. Perspectives in Plant Ecology, Systematics and Evolution 11: 157-189Pautasso M & Dinetti M (2009) Avian species richness, human population and protected areas across Italy’s regions. Environmental Conservation 36: 22-31Pautasso M & McKinney ML (2007) The botanist effect revisited: plant species richness, county area and human population size in the US. Conservation Biology 21, 5: 1333-1340 Pautasso M & Parmentier I (2007) Are the living collections of the world’s botanical gardens following species-richness patterns observed in natural ecosystems? Botanica Helvetica 117: 15-28Pautasso M & Powell G (2009) Aphid biodiversity is correlated with human population in European countries. Oecologia 160: 839-846Pautasso M & Zotti M (2009) Macrofungal taxa and human population in Italy's regions. Biodiversity & Conservation 18: 473-485Pecher C, Fritz S, Marini L, Fontaneto D & Pautasso M (2010) Scale-dependence of the correlation between human population and the species richness of stream macroinvertebrates. Basic Applied Ecology 11: 272-280