Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Progress in Physical Geography
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Malanson, G. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

Extinction debt: origins, developments, and applications of a biogeographical trope

George P. Malanson

Department of Geography, University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA 52242, USA, george-malanson{at}uiowa.edu

The concept of the extinction debt has two components: a direct timelag between an environmental perturbation and the consequent extinction of a species and the idea that among species going extinct the strong competitors/weak colonizers go extinct first. Although the term was first used in 1994 in the context of metapopulation models, its roots go back to general systems theory and the theory of island biogeography. It has been qualified and elaborated since 1994, mostly in terms of the effects of spatial pattern on the outcomes. The strongest critiques of the concept emphasize that the direct trade-off between competition and colonization abilities is not simple. The original application was to remnant habitat patches, but it could be applied to spatially heterogeneous habitats that are subject to climate change or invasive species. As a guide to conservation practice, extinction debt remains a general cautionary principle rather than a specific prescription, but the raising of awareness is nevertheless significant.

Key Words: biodiversity • fragmentation • metapopulation • model • timelag.

Progress in Physical Geography, Vol. 32, No. 3, 277-291 (2008)
DOI: 10.1177/0309133308096028
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?