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Large Mammals and Biodiversity

HUMANS HAVE TAKEN A DRAMATIC TOLL ON BIODIVERSITY BY DESTROYING AND FRAGMENTING WILDLIFE HABITATS.  WE’LL SEE HOW MUCH HAS BEEN LOST ON TODAY’S ENVIRONMINUTE.  

TO MEASURE THE IMPACT THAT HUMANS HAVE HAD ON BIODIVERSITY, JOHN MORRISON OF THE WORLD WILDLIFE FUND STUDIES THE CHANGING DISTRIBUTION OF LARGE MAMMALS.

MORRISON: THOSE ANIMALS, THOSE LARGE MAMMALS, ARE OFTEN A PROXY FOR OTHER ECOLOGICAL PROCESSES BEING INTACT OR NOT.

HE RECENTLY COMPARED THE PRESENT-DAY RANGES OF LARGE MAMMALS TO THEIR DISTRIBUTION IN THE YEAR FIFTEEN HUNDRED – THE TIME HUMAN COLONIZATION BEGAN EXPLODING.  WHAT HE FOUND WAS THAT ONLY TWENTY-ONE PERCENT OF THE WORLD STILL HAS ALL OF ITS LARGE MAMMALS. 

IT’S A SAD CONCLUSION, BUT IT COULD SERVE AS A CLARION CALL FOR THE NEED FOR BETTER HABITAT PROTECTION AND THE REINTRODUCTION OF ENDANGERED ANIMAL AND PLANT SPECIES.

THE ENVIRONMINUTE IS MADE POSSIBLE BY THE HEINZ FAMILY PHILANTHROPIES AND THE HEINZ ENDOWMENTS.  LEARN MORE BY VISITING ENVIRONMINUTE-DOT-COM. 

Download the study from the ASM Journal of Mammalogy.

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