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