Extinction and endangerment of Hawaiian honeycreepers: a comparative approach
- Author:
-
Freed, Leonard A.
- Title:
- Extinction and endangerment of Hawaiian honeycreepers: a comparative approach
- Periodical:
- Genetics and the extinction of species: DNA and the conservation of biodiversity
- Year:
- 1999
- Pages:
- p. 137-162
- Subject:
-
Endangered species
Extinct birds
Hawaiian honeycreepers
Drepanididae
Birds conservation
- Summary:
- The author uses the comparative method to investigate proximate and ultimate causes of extinction and endangerment of Hawaiian honeycreepers (Drepanidinae). Extinct species were specialized on understory plant species, with limited distribution entirely within the range of introduced disease and vectors. Endangered species are restricted now in distribution to upper elevations, where introduced disease and vectors are less prevalent. Unlisted species had a larger historical distribution, are found in more than one type habitat, and both larger clutch sizes and more broods per year than endangered species. The genetics underlying ecological specialization and immunity, and lower genotypic diversity associated with lower reproductive rate, are related to the ultimate causes of endangerment and extinction.
- Collection:
- Monographs