Research Press Release
Nature Communications
December 20, 2023
A paper estimates that approximately 1,500 bird species have become extinct due to humans since the Late Pleistocene.Nature CommunicationsPublished in This number is double the estimate from previous studies. The authors emphasize the urgent need to protect existing native bird species to avoid further extinction.
There are a number of possible causes of bird extinction that are related to modern human activities. Examples include habitat loss, overfishing, and the introduction of invasive species. Previous analyzes of bird extinction rates have focused on observed cases of extinction for which detailed human records have been left, and are therefore limited to observations from around 500 years ago to the present. However, because it assumes that some bird species have become extinct by the time formal extinction records are created, this method may underestimate the scale of biodiversity loss due to human activities. There is.
In this study, Rob Cooke and colleagues use the fossil record to explore evidence from islands such as Fiji, Hawaii, New Zealand, and other parts of the western Pacific Ocean, as the majority of known bird extinctions are thought to have occurred on islands. We estimated the number of bird species that have gone extinct in the world (including islands) and have no documented records. As a result, approximately 12% of the world’s bird species have become extinct since the Late Pleistocene (126,000 to 12,000 years ago), with the majority of extinctions occurring during the Holocene (11,700 years ago to the present). I found out that 55% of these extinctions are now discovered for the first time. Also, when comparing this finding with the time of human dispersal, the largest wave of bird extinction was associated with the human dispersal into the Pacific Ocean (around 1300 AD), with an extinction rate 80 times higher than expected. I found out that It was estimated that 61% of bird extinctions occurred in the Pacific region. Cooke and colleagues suggest that the extinctions of nine species, including the high-billed crow, the white-throated lorikeet, and the giant flightless moa, were linked to this wave of dispersal.
This study shows that more than one in nine bird species have already been driven to extinction by humans, and the impact this has had on ecosystems and evolution is likely to have been severe. suggests that it may not be possible to reverse it. Cooke and colleagues acknowledge that the numbers obtained in their study are only estimates, and are likely to be an underestimate given the methods used in the study.
doi:10.1038/s41467-023-43445-2
“Highlights from Nature Magazines” is a translation of a release prepared for the press by the Nature Public Relations Department. If you require more accurate and detailed information, please be sure to refer to the original paper.
Return to “Notable Highlights” article list
