Extinction events typically represent extended processes of decline that cannot be reconstructed using short-term studies. Long-term archives are necessary to determine past baselines and the extent of human-caused biodiversity change, but the capacity of historical datasets to provide predictive power for conservation must be assessed within a robust analytical framework. Local Chinese gazetteers represent a more than 400-year country-level dataset containing abundant information on past environmental conditions and include extensive records of gibbons, which have a restricted present-day distribution but formerly occurred across much of China.
Original Source [2]
Links:
[1] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/feature-article/historical-data-baseline-conservation-reconstructing-long-term-faunal-extinction
[2] http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/royprsb/282/1813/20151299.full.pdf
[3] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/samuel-t-turvey
[4] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/jennifer-j-crees
[5] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/author/martina-m-i-di-fonzo
[6] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/journal/proceedings-royal-society-b
[7] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/fauna
[8] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/extinct-species
[9] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/china
[10] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/monkey
[11] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/wildlife
[12] http://admin.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/category/thesaurus/history