Humans are responsible for the extinction of about 1,430 bird species, twice as many as previously thought, according to a study that used mathematical models to estimate the true scale of global extinction caused by humanity.
The study, published Tuesday in the journal Nature Communication and based on mathematical models, sought to discover the true scale of human-caused global extinction and the consequences it has for the current biodiversity crisis, the center explained in a statement. Research in Ecology and Forestry (Creaf) in Barcelona.
A research team led by the UK Center for Ecology and Hydrology (UKCEH), with participation from Creef, used statistical models to estimate how many undiscovered bird extinctions may have occurred over the course of modern human history, dating back to 130,000 years ago.
To date, observations and fossils have shown that about 600 bird species have gone extinct since the end of the Pleistocene, when humans began to spread around the world, 90% of them on islands inhabited by people.
The missing species range from the iconic Mauritian dodo to the North Atlantic giant gavotte.
The research team used data from known extinctions and extrapolated them to determine how many more species might have gone extinct if documentation efforts had been as great in the rest of the world as they were in New Zealand.
New Zealand is the only country in the world where the pre-human avifauna is considered to be fully documented, with well-preserved remains of all the birds that lived there.
The investigation provided information on three mass extinction processes, the most important of which corresponds to the one that occurred in the 14th century in the eastern Pacific, including Hawaii, where the loss of 570 bird species is estimated.
The second corresponds to what happened in the 9th century BC in connection with the arrival of people in the western part of the Pacific Ocean, which includes the Fiji Islands, and the third is what humanity is experiencing today, starting in the mid-18th century.
Since then, in addition to increased deforestation and the spread of invasive species, birds have had to face additional human threats such as climate change, intensive agriculture and pollution.
This ongoing crisis is predicted to exceed the scale of the extinction event that occurred in the 14th century, with the risk of losing up to 700 additional bird species in the coming years.
Author: Lusa
Source: CM Jornal
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