A new study, led by researchers at Imperial College London, concludes that the most unique birds on the planet are also the most endangered. The loss of these species and the unique roles they play in the environment, such as seed dispersal, pollination and predation, can have serious consequences for ecosystem functioning. The results are published in the journal functional ecology🇧🇷
“Our study shows that extinctions are likely to ‘prune’ a large proportion of unique species in the avian tree🇧🇷 If we do not take measures to protect endangered species and avoid extinctions, the functioning of ecosystems will be drastically altered”, he emphasizes. Jarome Alicurrently at Princeton University, who completed research at Imperial College London and is the lead author of the paper.
If we do not take measures to protect endangered species and prevent extinctions, the functioning of ecosystems will be drastically altered.
The study analyzed the extinction risk and physical attributes (such as beak shape and wing length) of 99% of all living bird species, making it the most comprehensive study of its kind to date.
Wormtail. / Francisco Castano Vazquez
The scientists found that in simulated scenarios where all threatened or near-threatened bird species went extinct, there was a significantly greater reduction in morphological diversity among birds than in scenarios where extinctions were random.
Among the bird species morphologically unique and endangered are the Natal frigate (vagata andrewsi), which only nests on Christmas Island, and the Eurasian Curlew (Numenius tahitiensis), which migrates every year from its breeding grounds in Alaska to the islands of the South Pacific.
An analysis of nearly 10,000 species
In the study, the authors used a dataset of measurements collected from live birds and museum specimens, with a total of 9,943 bird species. Measurements included physical characteristics such as beak size and shape and length of wings, tail and legs🇧🇷
One possibility is that highly specialized organisms are less able to adapt to a changing environment, in which case human impacts could directly threaten the species.
The authors combined morphological data with extinction risk, based on per-species data from the US Red List.International Union for Conservation of Nature🇧🇷 They then ran simulations of what would happen if the most endangered birds went extinct. The findings failed to show what links the birds’ uniqueness to the risk of extinction.
Bristle torch. /Joe Tobias
“One possibility is that the highly specialized organisms they are less able to adapt to a changing environment, in which case human impacts can directly threaten species with the most unusual ecological roles. More research is needed to delve deeper into the connection between unique traits and extinction risk,” concludes Ali.
Reference:
Jarome R. Ali. “Bird extinctions threaten to cause disproportionate reductions in functional diversity and uniqueness.” functional ecology
