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. 2016 Feb;12(2):20150623.
doi: 10.1098/rsbl.2015.0623.

Alien species as a driver of recent extinctions

Céline Bellard  1 , Phillip Cassey  2 , Tim M Blackburn  3
Affiliations

Alien species as a driver of recent extinctions

Céline Bellard et al. Biol Lett. 2016 Feb.

Abstract

We assessed the prevalence of alien species as a driver of recent extinctions in five major taxa (plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds and mammals), using data from the IUCN Red List. Our results show that alien species are the second most common threat associated with species that have gone completely extinct from these taxa since AD 1500. Aliens are the most common threat associated with extinctions in three of the five taxa analysed, and for vertebrate extinctions overall.

Keywords: amphibian; bird; mammal; non-native species; plant; reptile.

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Figures

Figure 1.
Figure 1.
The locations of the (now lost) native ranges of the 134 extinct (EX + EW) species for which alien species are listed as a driver.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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