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Abstract

To assess the coextinction of species (the loss of a species upon the loss of another), we present a probabilistic model, scaled with empirical data. The model examines the relationship between coextinction levels (proportion of species extinct) of affiliates and their hosts across a wide range of coevolved interspecific systems: pollinating Ficus wasps and Ficus, parasites and their hosts, butterflies and their larval host plants, and ant butterflies and their host ants. Applying a nomographic method based on mean host specificity (number of host species per affiliate species), we estimate that 6300 affiliate species are “coendangered” with host species currently listed as endangered. Current extinction estimates need to be recalibrated by taking species coextinctions into account.

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We thank K. Brennan, C. L. Nunn, S. V. Mironov, D. H. Clayton, J.-P. Hugot, J. M. Morales, J. Dabert, V. Novotny, and C. Mao for useful discussions. We also thank three anonymous reviewers for their comments. R.R.D. was funded by a Fulbright Fellowship, N.S.S and L.P.K were supported by the National University of Singapore (R-154-000-210-112), R.K.C. was supported by US-NSF grant DEB-0072702, H.C.P.'s databasing work was funded by a Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council Canada Discovery Grant, and V.S.S. was supported by a Wellcome Trust Biodiversity Fellowship.

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Published In

Science
Volume 305 | Issue 5690
10 September 2004

Submission history

Received: 4 June 2004
Accepted: 29 July 2004
Published in print: 10 September 2004

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Notes

Supporting Online Material
www.sciencemag.org/cgi/content/full/305/5690/1632/DC1
Materials and Methods
Figs. S1 and S2
Tables S1 and S2

Authors

Affiliations

Lian Pin Koh*,†
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543.
Robert R. Dunn*,‡
Department of Environmental Biology, Curtin University of Technology, GPO Box U1987 Perth, Western Australia 6845.
Navjot S. Sodhi§ [email protected]
Department of Biological Sciences, National University of Singapore, 14 Science Drive 4, Singapore 117543.
Robert K. Colwell
Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269–3043, USA.
Heather C. Proctor
Department of Biological Sciences, University of Alberta, Edmonton, Alberta T6G 2E9, Canada.
Vincent S. Smith
Institute of Biomedical and Life Sciences, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, United Kingdom.

Notes

§
To whom correspondence should be addressed. E-mail: [email protected]

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