They found that about 30 percent of all land vertebrates mammals, birds, reptiles and amphibians are experiencing declines and local population losses. In most parts of the world, mammal populations are losing 70 percent of their members because of habitat loss.
In particular, they cite cheetahs, which have declined to around 7,000 members; Borneo and Sumatran orangutans, of which fewer than 5,000 remain; populations of African lions, which have declined by 43 percent since 1993; pangolins, which have been decimated; and giraffes, whose four species now number under 100,000 members.
The study defines populations as the number of individuals in a given species in a 10,000-square-kilometer unit of habitat, known as a quadrat.
Jonathan Losos, a biology professor at Harvard, said that he was not aware of other papers that have used this method, but that it was a reasonable first pass at estimating the extent of species decline and population loss.
Dr. Losos also noted that giving precise estimates of wildlife populations was difficult, in part because scientists do not always agree on what defines a population, which makes the question inherently subjective.
Despite those issues, Dr. Losos said, I think its a very important and troubling paper that documents that the problems we have with biodiversity are much greater than commonly thought.
The authors of the paper suggest that previous estimates of global extinction rates have been too low, in part because scientists have been too focused on complete extinction of a species. Two vertebrate species are estimated to go extinct every year, which the authors wrote does not generate enough public concern, and lends the impression that many species are not severely threatened, or that mass extinction is a distant catastrophe.
Conservatively, scientists estimate that 200 species have gone extinct in the past 100 years; the normal extinction rate over the past two million years has been that two species go extinct every 100 years because of evolutionary and other factors.
Rather than extinctions, the paper looks at how populations are doing: the disappearance of entire populations, and the decrease of the number of individuals within a population. Over all, they found this phenomenon is occurring globally, but that tropical regions, which have the greatest biodiversity, are experiencing the greatest loss in numbers, and that temperate regions are seeing higher proportions of population loss. Dr. Ehrlich, who rose to prominence in the 1960s after he wrote The Population Bomb, a book that predicted the imminent collapse of humanity because of overpopulation, said he saw a similar phenomenon in the animal world as a result of human activity.
There is only one overall solution, and that is to reduce the scale of the human enterprise, he said. Population growth and increasing consumption among the rich is driving it.
He and Dr. Ceballos said that habitat destruction deforestation for agriculture, for example and pollution were the primary culprits, but that climate change exacerbates both problems. Accelerating deforestation and rising carbon pollution are likely to make climate change worse, which could have disastrous consequences for the ability of many species to survive on earth.
Dr. Ceballos struck a slightly more hopeful tone, adding that some species have been able to rebound when some of these pressures are taken away.
Dr. Ehrlich, however, continued to sound the alarm. Were toxifying the entire planet, he said.
When asked about the clear advocacy position the paper has taken, a rarity in scientific literature, he said, Scientists dont give up their responsibility as citizens to say what they think about the data that theyre gathering.
View post:
Era of 'Biological Annihilation' Is Underway, Scientists Warn - New York Times
- Howard H. Seliger, Hopkins biology professor - January 1st, 2013 [January 1st, 2013]
- General Biology-Concepts and Investigations - Video - January 31st, 2013 [January 31st, 2013]
- Biology Reproduction part 13 (Sexual reproduction: Flower Structure) CBSE class 10 X - Video - January 9th, 2014 [January 9th, 2014]
- How far can a Buddhist approach to biology take us? - January 14th, 2014 [January 14th, 2014]
- Biology revision song on protein synthesis by Andrew Perkins - Video - January 30th, 2014 [January 30th, 2014]
- Scientific Evidence for Creation CSE BIBLE FORUM Origins 1212 Dr Seuss Biology - Video - February 9th, 2014 [February 9th, 2014]
- Synthetic biology lab backed by 2 million award - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Vanguard High teacher wins 2014 Shell Science Lab Challenge - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Biohacking and the problem of bioterrorism - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Synthetic genetic clock keeps accurate time across a range of temperatures - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Math modeling integral to synthetic biology research - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Vacancies in biology dept. impact course options - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Dr. Joshua Reece Earns Best Presentation Award At Conference - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Life Science Reference - Biology Online - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- 9th Grade Biology: A Hectic Introduction to Mammals - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Theism vs Evolution, Biology, and History - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- AP Biology Ch.49 Circulatory System Livestream - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- AP Biology Review Cards - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- AP Biology - Chapter 49 Circulatory System Part 1 - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- MSc Biology and PhD Boreal Ecology - Video - April 9th, 2014 [April 9th, 2014]
- Whale tales: Students set sail for biology class research - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- Barnard biology professor honored with Emily Gregory award for teaching - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- biology: Definition from Answers.com - Answers - The Most ... - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- Biology - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- Bridging the Brain Disease Knowledge Gap through Computational Modeling and Systems Biology: An O... - Video - April 10th, 2014 [April 10th, 2014]
- Sharpening microscope images: New technique takes cues from astronomy, ophthalmology - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- COLLEGE NEWS: April 13 - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Eureka Once, Eureka Twice - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Biology - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- The Art of Nutrients - Biology Song - 'Counting Stars' Remake - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Biology - The Nervous System - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- OCR AS BIOLOGY: - Cell Structures - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Evolutionary Biology Research / F. Robin O'Keefe and Julie Meachen / Page Museum - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- What Is a Thyroid In Biology? : Let's Get Medical - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Red Ice Radio - Sofia Smallstorm - Hour 1 - Chemtrails to Pseudo-Life & Synthetic Biology - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- STARNES: Did professor advocate censorship of conservative student newspaper? - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- German Research Foundation approves new priority program in the life sciences - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Announcing BioCoder issue 3 - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Poetry by Linda Bierds, Buddhism and biology - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Digestion - Biology Music Video - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- AS Level Biology- Edexcel/SNAB- Unit 1 Revision Notes - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- The Anatomy Of The Heart - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- #OilerNation Biology Program Q & A Hangout - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Northwestern University researchers on synthetic biology - Video - April 15th, 2014 [April 15th, 2014]
- Gregor Mendel Institute of Molecular Plant Biology (Vienna) - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Biology 1B - 2014-04-14 - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- AP Biology Review 3/7: Cell Energy - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- MCB 410: Developmental Biology - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Dyslexic Advantage - UCSF Symposium - Dr Fumiko Hoeft - Biology of Stealth Dyslexia - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Life cycle of Silkworm- Insect Molecular Biology Lab, Dr.M.Krishnan, Bharathithasan University. - Video - April 16th, 2014 [April 16th, 2014]
- Tracking flu levels with Wikipedia - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Biology major Katharine Leigh '15 wins Udall scholarship - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- First in the nation: UW-Madison establishes post-doc in feminist biology - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Biology Project: Predation - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Report Focussing On Biology Underlining - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- edX | MITx: Quantitative Biology Workshop: 7QBWx About Video - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Cell Mediated Response (Erdmann's 2B-3 AP Biology) - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Biology Plantae part 13 (Mosses: structure, life cycle, mosses vs leafy liverwots) CBSE class 11 XI - Video - April 17th, 2014 [April 17th, 2014]
- Biology - Photosynthesis - Video - April 19th, 2014 [April 19th, 2014]
- The Genie in Your Genes: Epigenetics and Biology of Intention - Video - April 19th, 2014 [April 19th, 2014]
- Introduction to Synthetic Biology Andrew Hessel - Video - April 19th, 2014 [April 19th, 2014]
- Teacher of Biology - April 21st, 2014 [April 21st, 2014]
- Biology - Osmosis - Video - April 21st, 2014 [April 21st, 2014]
- UW to host first feminist biology post-doc program in nation - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- The Biology Project: Cell Biology - University of Arizona - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- The Biology Corner - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Rader's BIOLOGY 4 KIDS.COM - Biology basics for everyone! - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Stanford CF Education Day 2014 Understanding the Biology - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- 9th Grade Biology: Hectic Introduction to the Human Organ Systems pt.1 - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Honors Biology and Biology Mrs. Ellis - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- Biology professor researches parasites - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- TRANSCRIPTION-Biology - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- 2014 Interdisciplinary Innovation Forum: "Mathematical Biology" - Video - April 22nd, 2014 [April 22nd, 2014]
- This Week in Genome Biology - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Biology - Calvin Cycle - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Systems biology course 2014 Uri Alon - lecture 3: FFL and more - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Systems biology course 2014 Uri Alon - lecture 2: Auto regulation - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Systems biology course 2014 Uri Alon - lecture 1: Basic concepts - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- 9th Grade Biology: Hectic Introduction to the Human Organ Systems pt.2 - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]
- Have Atheists Hijacked Biology? - Video - April 24th, 2014 [April 24th, 2014]