Date:October 3, 2024
Source:University of Birmingham
Summary:The extinction of hundreds of bird species caused by humans over the last 130,000 years has led to substantial reductions in avian functional diversity — a measure of the range of different roles and functions that birds undertake within the environment — and resulted in the loss of approximately 3 billion years of unique evolutionary history, according to a new study.
The extinction of hundreds of bird species caused by humans over the last 130,000 years has has led to substantial reductions in avian functional diversity — a measure of the range of different roles and functions that birds undertake within the environment- and resulted in the loss of approximately 3 billion years of unique evolutionary history, according to a new study published today in Science.
Whilst humans have been driving a global erosion of species richness for millennia, the consequences of past extinctions for other dimensions of biodiversity are poorly known. New research lead by the University of Birmingham highlights the severe consequences of the ongoing biodiversity crisis and the urgent need to identify the ecological functions being lost through extinction.