Study predicts the catastrophic effect bird extinctions will have on the world\u2019s ecosystems without effective global conservation strategies <\/p>
Human interference in nature has not only caused the extinction of hundreds of bird species but has also caused fundamental changes in the roles that birds play in the global environment, according to a recent study.<\/strong><\/p> Research conducted by the University of Birmingham in the UK highlights\u00a0the ongoing crisis the world is facing in terms of biodiversity<\/a>\u00a0loss\u00a0and links it to\u00a0the need to learn from\u00a0the\u00a0effects of\u00a0bird species\u00a0extinctions\u00a0over thousands of years.\u00a0<\/p> In\u00a0particular\u00a0scientists\u00a0studied the\u00a0consequences\u00a0of the\u00a0current accelerated demise\u00a0of avian species\u00a0on\u00a0future\u00a0ecosystems.\u00a0The information\u00a0they documented\u00a0will be\u00a0vital in\u00a0helping\u00a0countries set\u00a0effective\u00a0targets for global conservation, ecosystem restoration and rewilding.<\/p> Some 600 bird species are thought to have become extinct in the past 12,000 years, causing disruption\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0natural order\u00a0in their native habitats.\u00a0Tracking the effects of this\u00a0historic elimination of a bird species is\u00a0crucial\u00a0in informing\u00a0on\u00a0the potential effect of future mass bird extinctions on our environment\u00a0in general.<\/p> Dr Tom Matthews, who led the research says: \u201cThe sheer number of bird species that have become extinct is, of course, a big part of the extinction crisis, but what we also need to focus on is that every species has a job or function within the environment and therefore plays a really important role in its ecosystem.\u00a0<\/p> \u201cSome birds control pests by eating insects, scavenger birds recycle dead matter, others eat fruit and disperse the seeds,\u00a0enabling more plants and trees to grow, and some, like hummingbirds, are very important pollinators. When those species die out, the important role that they play (the functional diversity) dies with them.\u201d<\/p> One small example of this is the extinction of the Dodo Tree on the island of Mauritius. That species that relied on the Dodo bird<\/a> to eat its fruit and therefore spread its seed in its droppings and when the bird was hunted out of existence, the tree disappeared as well.<\/p> It is well known that our dominant species has been responsible for the\u00a0sudden\u00a0demise of other species\u00a0sharing\u00a0our planet\u00a0over the thousands of years of our existence. From 300,000 years ago,when humanoids first emerged in Africa and began to spread across the globe,\u00a0to the present day,\u00a0we have been exploiting the earth\u2019s natural resources.\u00a0<\/p> When we left off a nomadic lifestyle and began to settle in communities and farm the land around 12,000 years ago,\u00a0the pace of forced extinctions accelerated.\u00a0<\/p> Habitat was claimed for crops, affecting local biodiversity, and hunting for food and to safeguard \u00a0people \u00a0from predators depleted numbers and led to the eventual loss of whole families of animals.These circumstances are\u00a0called anthropogenic\u00a0changes \u2013\u00a0alterations\u00a0to\u00a0nature brought about by\u00a0humans.\u00a0<\/p> The University of Birmingham\u00a0study focuses on the effect that a loss of bird species has had on the environment where\u00a0it\u00a0previously lived.\u00a0And scientists\u00a0have discovered that a lack of a particular bird species has had far-reaching effects beyond just the obvious. <\/p> Depending on the type of bird and its lifestyle, the hole\u00a0it has\u00a0left in the ecosystem by\u00a0its\u00a0disappearance has been seen in\u00a0reduced flower pollination, reduced seed dispersal, the breakdown of top-down control of insect populations\u00a0-including many pests and disease\u00a0transmitters\u00a0–\u00a0as well as\u00a0in an\u00a0increase\u00a0in\u00a0disease outbreaks due to\u00a0the\u00a0reduced\u00a0disposal\u00a0of carrion.\u00a0<\/p> But it\u2019s not only the direct consequences of that species no longer inhabiting an area\u00a0that matters. Scientists have documented how the extinction of a species\u00a0naturally\u00a0halts\u00a0the evolution of that species\u00a0–\u00a0what\u00a0is termed\u00a0phylogenetic diversity\u00a0–\u00a0which\u00a0will\u00a0fundamentally change the way that an\u00a0entire\u00a0environment develops.\u00a0Looking into the loss of, for instance, flower pollination<\/a> has shown how\u00a0this has affected the ability of\u00a0not just one but\u00a0groups of plant species from adapting to climate changeover time.<\/p> Dr Matthews\u00a0adds:\u00a0\u201cThese results are a timely reminder that the current extinction crisis is not just about species numbers. By identifying declines in avian functional and phylogenetic diversity driven by human actions, our findings highlight the urgent need to understand and predict the impacts of past anthropogenic extinctions on ecosystem function in order to prepare for the magnitude of expected future loss from the projected 1,000 bird species that are expected to die out completely over the next two centuries.\u201d<\/p> Main image: The\u00a0extinction of the Dodo caused the eradication of other species on the island of Mauritius. Dodo<\/a>\u00a0\u00a9\u00a0Gunter Hofer<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0Dreamstime.com<\/a><\/strong><\/p> <\/body><\/html>\n Study predicts the catastrophic effect bird extinctions will have on the world\u2019s ecosystems without effective global conservation strategies <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":42194,"template":"","categories":[1],"acf":{"readingTimeMinutes":"4"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/humans-to-blame-for-600-bird-extinctions-causing-untold-damage-to-ecosystems.jpg",1280,853,false],"thumbnail":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/humans-to-blame-for-600-bird-extinctions-causing-untold-damage-to-ecosystems-150x150.jpg",150,150,true],"medium":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/humans-to-blame-for-600-bird-extinctions-causing-untold-damage-to-ecosystems-300x200.jpg",300,200,true],"medium_large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/humans-to-blame-for-600-bird-extinctions-causing-untold-damage-to-ecosystems-768x512.jpg",768,512,true],"large":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/humans-to-blame-for-600-bird-extinctions-causing-untold-damage-to-ecosystems-1024x682.jpg",800,533,true],"1536x1536":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/humans-to-blame-for-600-bird-extinctions-causing-untold-damage-to-ecosystems.jpg",1280,853,false],"2048x2048":["https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/uploads\/sites\/44\/2024\/10\/humans-to-blame-for-600-bird-extinctions-causing-untold-damage-to-ecosystems.jpg",1280,853,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"importmanagerhub@sprylab.com","author_link":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/author\/importmanagerhubsprylab-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Study predicts the catastrophic effect bird extinctions will have on the world\u2019s ecosystems without effective global conservation strategies","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed\/42193"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/rss_feed"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/rss_feed"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/42194"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=42193"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/c01.purpledshub.com\/bbcwildlife\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=42193"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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