Category Archives: Biodiversity Loss

If we lose enough species, we’ll drive ourselves extinct as well

Humans driving species to extinction 1,000 times the natural rate

Posted on July 11, 2016 by

[ According to a paper published in Science the current rates of extinction are 1000 times the background rate. This estimate is higher than previous estimates is due to a more sophisticated analysis. ] Pimm, S.L., et al, 30 May … Continue reading →

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Vines are taking over forests

Posted on July 3, 2016 by

Laurance, W. October 5, 2013. Planet of the vines: Climbing plants are taking over. NewScientist. Giant vines are beginning to strangle Earth’s tropical forests, and it’s not just due to climate change. Gaze out over a tropical rainforest and the … Continue reading →

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Large animals driven extinct by human hunters still affect ecosystems today

Posted on July 1, 2016 by

Below is an excerpt/paraphrased of Michael Marshall’s 14 August 2013 NewScientist Ecosystems still feel the pain of ancient extinctions, the abstract of the original Nature Geoscience article, and future losses of large animals will affect tropical forests in the future. … Continue reading →

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E. O. Wilson to save humanity from extinction, get rid of religion

Posted on March 27, 2016 by

[ Below is an excerpt, out of order, from New Scientist’s 21 Jan 2015 interview with E.O. Wilson “Religious faith is dragging us down“. The extinctions we cause will kill us too, says the sociobiology pioneer – the best thing … Continue reading →

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Nearly a third of cacti threatened with extinction

Posted on March 3, 2016 by

Illegal trade contributes to placing cacti among world’s most threatened species – IUCN Red List 05 October 2015 | International news release Gland, Switzerland, 5 October 2015 (IUCN) – Thirty-one percent of cactus species are threatened with extinction, according to … Continue reading →

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Arctic ice melt to release 1 trillion pieces of plastic into sea – a major threat to marine life

Posted on June 5, 2015 by

[Also see September 2015: Plastic for dinner: A quarter of fish sold at markets contain human-made debris. Original article here] Lewis, R. May 27, 2014. Arctic ice melt to release 1 trillion pieces of plastic into sea Increasing ice melt … Continue reading →

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Cost of Invasive Species in the United States

Posted on March 14, 2014 by

[ My note: It’s been 15 years since this paper was written, yet it is so thorough and well-written that it stands up well today and still cited by thousands of other papers as the best estimate of what invasive … Continue reading →

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Land invasive species

Posted on October 31, 2013 by

25% of U.S. agricultural gross national product is lost to foreign plant invaders and the costs of controlling them. Exotic species have contributed to the decline of 42 percent of U.S. endangered and threatened species. The chestnut blight fungus, which … Continue reading →

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Aquatic Invasive species

Posted on October 31, 2013 by

Allegra Cangelosi. 9 Jan 2003. Blocking Invasive Aquatic Species. Federal law must be updated to stop introductions of nonnative organisms, especially by ships. Issues in science and technology. National Academy of Sciences. Examples of invasive aquatic species Voracious snakehead fish … Continue reading →

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Invasive Species prevent new species from evolving: human induced mass extinction recovery will take longer than thought

Posted on July 13, 2013 by

Richard A. Kerr. February 10, 2012.More Than One Way for Invaders to Wreak Havoc.   Science: Vol. 335:646 Ravenous pythons and anacondas invading the Florida Everglades are ravaging the local ecology. But a study published last month suggests that invasive species … Continue reading →

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