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20 Years after Rio Earth Summit: Ecologists Call for Preservation of Planet’s Remaining Biological Diversity

By Guest PostJune 9, 2012Natureaichi targets, andrew gonzalez, balance of evidence, biodiversity loss, biological diversity, bradley cardinale, columbia university, david hooper, earth summit, ecologists, ecosystem services, exotic plants, fungal, george gilchrist, impact on humanity, j emmett duffy, natural ecosystems, nutrient remineralization, pests, planet, plant pathogens, preservation, rio de janeiro, rio earth summit, shahid naeem, soil organic matter, sustainability, university of michigan, viral infections

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Twenty years after the Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro, 17 prominent ecologists are calling for renewed international efforts to curb the loss of biological diversity, which is compromising nature’s ability to provide goods and services essential for human well-being.

Over the past two decades, strong scientific evidence has emerged showing that loss of the world’s biological diversity reduces the productivity and sustainability of natural ecosystems and decreases their ability to provide society with goods and services like food, wood, fodder, fertile soils, and protection from pests and disease, according to an international team of ecologists led by the University of Michigan’s Bradley Cardinale. (more…)

Ecosystem Effects of Biodiversity Loss Could Rival Impacts of Climate Change, Pollution

By Guest PostMay 10, 2012Environment, Natureacid deposition, air pollution, algae, bacteria, biodiversity loss, biological diversity, bradley cardinale, california, canada, climate change, david hooper, ecosystem, environmental change, environmental stress, environmental stressors, extinction, forests, fungi, global warming, henry gholz, impact, leslie gonzalez, nutrient pollution, oxygen, ozone pollution, pollution, san josé, serpentine grasslands, Sweden, united states, university of michigan

ANN ARBOR, Mich.— Loss of biodiversity appears to impact ecosystems as much as climate change, pollution and other major forms of environmental stress, according to a new study from an international research team.

The study is the first comprehensive effort to directly compare the impacts of biological diversity loss to the anticipated effects of a host of other human-caused environmental changes.

The results highlight the need for stronger local, national and international efforts to protect biodiversity and the benefits it provides, according to the researchers, who are based at nine institutions in the United States, Canada and Sweden. (more…)

What Triggers Mass Extinctions? Study Shows How Invasive Species Stop New Life

By Guest PostJanuary 3, 2011Sciencealycia stigall, amphibians, archaeostraca, biodiversity loss, bivalve, brachiopods, collapse of earth marine life, crinoids, dunkleosteus, ecosystems, environmental crash, floweria, formation of a mountain range, history of life, invasive species, late devonian, late devonian oceans, leiopteria, leptodesma, lisa boush, mass extinction, new river channel, phylogenetic analysis, predatory crustacean, predatory fish, schizophoria, sea levels, sea lilies, trilobites, vicariance

*Collapse of Earth’s marine life 378 to 375 million years ago holds key*

An influx of invasive species can stop the dominant natural process of new species formation and trigger mass extinction events, according to research results published in the journal PLoS ONE.

The study of the collapse of Earth’s marine life 378 to 375 million years ago suggests that the planet’s current ecosystems, which are struggling with biodiversity loss, could meet a similar fate. (more…)

Tag Archives: biodiversity loss

20 Years after Rio Earth Summit: Ecologists Call for Preservation of Planet’s Remaining Biological Diversity

Ecosystem Effects of Biodiversity Loss Could Rival Impacts of Climate Change, Pollution

What Triggers Mass Extinctions? Study Shows How Invasive Species Stop New Life