<
https://www.sciencealert.com/a-shocking-number-of-amphibian-species-are-vanishing-scientists-warn>
'Amid the sixth mass extinction, frogs, salamanders, and caecilians remain the
most threatened group of vertebrates on Earth. Over 40 percent of amphibian
species are now threatened, the latest global assessment has found.
"Amphibians are disappearing faster than we can study them, but the list of
reasons to protect them is long, including their role in medicine, pest
control, alerting us to environmental conditions, and making the planet more
beautiful," explains Re:wild ecologist Kelsey Neam.
While disease and habitat loss drove more than 90 percent of amphibian declines
before 2004, there's a new main culprit in town: climate change.
The effects of our changing weather systems and resulting impacts on
environmental conditions are now driving 39 percent of the decline in this
ancient group of animals. Not far behind, at 37 percent, habitat loss remains
stubbornly high despite decades of pleas from environmental scientists to
protect these often striking and unusual animals.
"These species are the 'canaries in the coal mine' – they are highly sensitive
to factors such as climate change and pollution, which lead to extinction, and
are a stark warning of things to come," explained University of Oxford
zoologist Jonathan Baillie, who was not part of the new study, back in 2018.
"If we lose them, other species will inevitably follow."
So Re:wild environmentalist Jennifer Luedtke and colleagues assessed 8,011
species of amphibians to update their status for the International Union for
Conservation's Nature (IUCN) Red List of Threatened Species. The previous
assessment was back in 2004.
Sadly, the situation has only deteriorated since then.'
Via Rixty Dixet.
Cheers,
*** Xanni ***
--
mailto:xanni@xanadu.net Andrew Pam
http://xanadu.com.au/ Chief Scientist, Xanadu
https://glasswings.com.au/ Partner, Glass Wings
https://sericyb.com.au/ Manager, Serious Cybernetics
