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A collapse of global biodiversity is imminent unless we take concerted and urgent action to reverse the loss of species in the tropics, according to a major scientific study in the journal Nature . Hyperdiverse tropical ecosystems – an international team warned that a failure to act quickly and decisively would greatly increase the risk of unprecedented and irrevocable loss of species in the most diverse parts of the planet.
The study is the first high-level report on the state of the world's four most diverse tropical ecosystems – tropical forests, savannahs, lakes and rivers, and coral reefs.
The authors found that although the tropics cover only 40% of the planet, they are more than three quarters of all species, including almost all shallow water corals and more than 90% of bird species of the planet. Most of these species are found nowhere else and millions of others are still unknown to science.
"At the current rate of species description – about 20,000 new species per year – it can be estimated that at least 300" It is necessary to catalog biodiversity, "said Dr. Benoit Guénard, Assistant Professor at the University of Hong Kong and author of the study.
And across tropical ecosystems, many species are facing the double danger human pressures – such as overfishing or exploitation Selective – and climate change-related droughts or heatwaves
Alexander Lees of Manchester Metropolitan University explains that overexploitation of wildlife is responsible for the annual loss of millions of people. Even many small songbirds are threatened with imminent global extinction due to their capture for the pet trade in Southeast Asia.The tropical forests where they live are more and more silent. "
The declining health of tropical ecosystems also threatens the well-being of millions of people around the world."
Professor Jos Barlow of Lancaster University said: only cover 0.1% of the ocean surface, coral reefs provide fish resources and coastal protection for 200 million people, and between them, tropical rainforests and savannas store 40% of the carbon in the terrestrial biosphere and support rainfall in some of the most important agricultural regions of the world.
Although the conclusions are gloomy, the study also described the necessary actions
The researchers called for a radical change in efforts to support development sustainable and effective conservation interventions to preserve and restore the tropical habitats that have been home and the last refuge of the Professor Barlow said: "The fate of the tropics will largely depend on what happens elsewhere on the planet, while most of us know the impact of climate change on the polar regions. It also has devastating consequences in the tropics – and without urgent action could undermine local conservation interventions. [19659003] Dr. Christina Hicks of Lancaster University stated that the role of developed countries as a powerful economic driver of change was also felt deep in the tropics.
She said: "The strategies conservation needs to tackle the root causes of environmental change exacerbate deep-rooted inequalities Environmental badistance has remained static in recent years and remains a drop from the income generated by Resource extraction. "
Toby Gardner, principal investigator at the Stockholm Institute for the Environment, emphasized the importance of innovation. He said: "The last decades have seen a boom in proposals, innovations and ideas on the science, governance and management of tropical ecosystems from remote sensing and big data to new legal frameworks for businesses. for these proposals to be properly tested. "
Dr. Joice Ferreira, a researcher in the team of the Brazilian Agricultural Research Institute Embrapa, pointed out that much of the solution needs to be Being in It said: "With some notable exceptions, the vast majority of biodiversity-related data and research is concentrated in rich, non-tropical countries."
"An International Approach to Science Is Vital to Prevent the Loss of Tropical Biodiversity."
Professor Barlow said, "Fifty years ago, biologists were waiting to be the first to to find a species, now they hope not to be the last. "
is part of a special set of articles in an overview on the tropics in nature this week .
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