Global Biodiversity Losses May Need to be Stopped with More Drastic Measures

First Posted: Jul 25, 2014 07:53 AM EDT
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Global biodiversity losses are on the rise and now, scientists have taken a closer look at how to halt this continued decline. It turns out that reversing these losses may not be possible without embracing intensive, and sometimes controversial, forms of threatened species management.

The researchers examined the growing role that "conservation translocation," which is the movement and release of plants and animals to re-establish new population, is playing in efforts to combat biodiversity loss. Reintroduction of species previously indigenous to an area has been the most widely used type of translocation, but there have been low levels of success.

"Also, such reintroduction are often biased towards 'charismatic' animals, such as large mammals, regardless of how endangered they are compared to other species," said Philip Seddon, one of the researchers, in a news release.

Instead, researchers suggest that scientists may want to release exotic species in order to restore an ecological function that was lost with the extinction of a previous species. A good example is the release of exotic species of giant tortoise to restore the grazing functions and seed dispersal lost through tortoise extinctions in the Indian Ocean.

In addition, conservations may also want to employ assisted colonization, which is when species are moved outside their range to prevent extinction due to threats in their native habitat.

"Examples of this include moving native birds, such as kakapo to predator-free offshore islands to protect them from exotic predators in mainland habitat," said Seddon. "Other such efforts include establishing a facial cancer-free colony of Tasmanian devils on Maria Island off the coast of Tasmania."

The findings reveal that some drastic measures may need to be taken in order to preserve biodiversity. By becoming more involved in efforts, researchers can potentially help stem the loss of species across the globe.

The findings are published in the journal Science.

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