title: Delayed biodiversity change: no time to waste.
abstract: Delayed biodiversity responses to environmental forcing mean that rates of contemporary biodiversity changes are underestimated, yet these delays are rarely addressed in conservation policies. Here, we identify mechanisms that lead to such time lags, discuss shifting human perceptions, and propose how these phenomena should be addressed in biodiversity management and science.
authors.affiliation: Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa; Environment Agency Austria, Spittelauer Lände 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria; Division of Conservation Biology, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology, Faculty Centre of Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria. Electronic address: franz.essl@univie.ac.at.
authors.forename: Franz
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Essl
authors.affiliation: Division of Conservation Biology, Vegetation and Landscape Ecology, Faculty Centre of Biodiversity, University of Vienna, Rennweg 14, 1030 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Stefan
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dullinger
authors.affiliation: Environment Agency Austria, Spittelauer Lände 5, 1090 Vienna, Austria.
authors.forename: Wolfgang
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Rabitsch
authors.affiliation: The Bio-Protection Research Centre, Lincoln University, PO Box 84850, Canterbury, New Zealand.
authors.forename: Philip E
authors.initials: PE
authors.lastname: Hulme
authors.affiliation: Institute of Botany, Department of Invasion Ecology, The Czech Academy of Sciences, 252 43 Průhonice, Czech Republic; Department of Ecology, Faculty of Science, Charles University in Prague, Viničná 7, 128 44 Praha 2, Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Petr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Pyšek
authors.affiliation: Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa; South African National Biodiversity Institute, Kirstenbosch Research Centre, Claremont, 7735, South Africa.
authors.forename: John R U
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Wilson
authors.affiliation: Centre for Invasion Biology, Department of Botany and Zoology, Stellenbosch University, Private Bag X1, Matieland 7602, South Africa.
authors.forename: David M
authors.initials: DM
authors.lastname: Richardson
mesh_terms: D044822:Biodiversity; D057231:Climate Change; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D053476:Extinction, Biological; D006801:Humans; D011157:Population Dynamics
keywords: extinction debt; global change; management; relaxation time; shifting baselines; time lags