Massive Species Extinctions Research Articles

Knowledge in the Anthropocene The Evolution of Knowledge: Rethinking Science for the Anthropocene Jürgen Renn Princeton University Press, 2020. 579 pp.

To save society, science should embrace ethical projects

Flooding Wall Street: Echoes from the Future of Resistance around Climate Change

ABSTRACTThe global capitalist system is ravaging ecosystems at a staggering and accelerating scale as it transgresses multiple ecological planetary boundaries, from massive species extinction to climate change, radically threatening life on this planet. Through analyzing power as a network of intersecting sets of relations, we can start to appreciate capitalism and the state not as entities, but as comprised by social relationships and local operations of power. This perspective reveals how effective resistance can be conceived in the form of destituent power – not as a direct clash with constituted power but instead as the withdrawal of our energies from and obedience to the political order. This destituent approach proceeds by deactivating the subjugating relationships constituting the system, thereby opening spaces to undertake constantly evolving experiments of developing new harmonious social and ecological relationships. Actions to disrupt and delegitimize the operations of capital, like Flood Wall Street, serve as tentative glimpses of ascendant destituent forces assembling against ecological collapse. The further challenge becomes how to connect the multiplicity of resistances, thought not in terms of a unity as a homogenous movement, but through actively cultivating their transversal relations across the rhizomatic network of experiments in practices of destituent power striving to realize new worlds.

The effects of ocean acidification on marine organisms and ecosystem

Ocean acidification is known as another global change problem caused by increasing atmospheric CO2. Since the industrial revolution, the oceans have absorbed more than one third of the anthropogenic CO2 released to the atmosphere, currently, at a rate of over 1 million tons per hour, totaling to about one quarter of all anthropogenic CO2 emissions annually. Uptake of CO2 by the ocean has played an important role in stabilizing climate by mitigating global warming. However, rising ocean carbon levels caused by the uptake of anthropogenic CO2 (acidic gas) leads to increased ocean acidity (reduced pH) and related changes in ocean carbonate chemistry, or “ocean acidification”. Recent research has shown that ocean acidification affects the physiology, growth, survival, and reproduction of many, if not most marine organisms. Ultimately, future ocean acidification may lead to significant changes in many marine ecosystems, with consequential impact on ecosystem services to societies. Several ocean acidification events are known to have occurred during Earths history, each coinciding with high rates of species extinctions. Although the mechanisms involved in past massive species extinction associated with ocean acidification events, they certainly hint potential disastrous impacts on ecosystem functions in short future.

The Race for Evolutionary Success

The Earth appears to be at the beginning of sixth massive species extinction. This paper balances a review of the forces threatening species survival with a comprehensive scan of factors that could act as counterweights. These factors could lead to four types of evolution—cultural, regulatory, ecological, and technological—that could individually or in combination avert massive species extinction if humans implement solutions faster than new problems arise. Implications and future research opportunities are also explored.

Climate change and human health

Climactic changes, especially global warming, are potentially the largest global threat to human health and the source of the greatest number of cases of disease. If current emissions and land use trends continue unchecked, future generations will face more serious conditions, including injury, disease, and death related to natural disasters and heat waves, higher rates of climate-related infections, widespread malnutrition, and more allergy and air pollutionrelated morbidity and mortality. This review highlights the relationship between global climate changes and human health and provides some suggestions for improvement. According to the Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in 2007, global warming is caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The most important GHG is carbon dioxide (CO2), which is released by the burning of fossil fuels and, to a lesser extent, by land use practices, followed by nitrous oxide and methane. IPCC predicts that global temperatures will rise 1.8°C-4.0°C by 2099. According to the report, we can expect a significant rise in sea levels, massive species extinctions, changes in storm and drought cycles, altered ocean circulation, and redistribution of vegetation after crossing the “tipping point” of global warming. Human health will be adversely affected by the accelerating climate change. This review stimulates health care providers to provide quality care to susceptible individuals confronting new threats from climactic changes, as well as to work toward a mitigation of the drivers of climate change at the individual, community, and policy levels as part of a long-term commitment to protecting public health.

OpenModeller: a generic approach to species’ potential distribution modelling

Species' potential distribution modelling is the process of building a representation of the fundamental ecological requirements for a species and extrapolating these requirements into a geographical region. The importance of being able to predict the distribution of species is currently highlighted by issues like global climate change, public health problems caused by disease vectors, anthropogenic impacts that can lead to massive species extinction, among other challenges. There are several computational approaches that can be used to generate potential distribution models, each achieving optimal results under different conditions. However, the existing software packages available for this purpose typically implement a single algorithm, and each software package presents a new learning curve to the user. Whenever new software is developed for species' potential distribution modelling, significant duplication of effort results because many feature requirements are shared between the different packages. Additionally, data preparation and comparison between algorithms becomes difficult when using separate software applications, since each application has different data input and output capabilities. This paper describes a generic approach for building a single computing framework capable of handling different data formats and multiple algorithms that can be used in potential distribution modelling. The ideas described in this paper have been implemented in a free and open source software package called openModeller. The main concepts of species' potential distribution modelling are also explained and an example use case illustrates potential distribution maps generated by the framework.

Assessing shifts in fish assemblages of German large lakes by literature data and commercial catch statistics

To assess the ecological integrity of lakes according to the European Water Framework Directive, the present status of fish assemblages has to be compared to a type-specific reference status. Monitoring fish assemblages by standardized fish sampling surveys as recommended for smaller lakes can be performed in large lakes only by an extraordinarily high effort and with severe doubts in terms of representative sampling. As an alternative, we present the evaluation of fisheries data from historic and present catch statistics and literature for the 26 lakes > 10 km 2 surface area in Germany. Documented species-specific fish catches were classified into four abundance classes for both the historic and the present situations. Cluster analyses of the historic and the present fish abundance matrices revealed that fish assemblages mainly differed between ecoregions and watersheds. Local species extinctions and abundance declines were frequent in some lakes and most often occurred in the fish families Core-gonidae and Salmonidae. However, in almost 60 % of all species present, no changes in abundance classes were found. Lake-specific changes in fish assemblage composition were correlated to present trophic situation, natural shore structure and human use intensity, but the correlations differed between ecoregions and watersheds. Shifts in relative species abundances were only partially correlated to species turnover rates, based on presence/absence lists. Accordingly, human impacts on lakes predominantly modified the relative species abundances rather than resulted in massive species extinctions or a dominant establishment of invaders. Extensive literature data may be a valuable source of information to fulfil the demands of the WFD for a fish-based assessment of the ecological state of large lakes for which comprehensive data sets exist and thereby offer a cost-effective alternative to effort-intensive test fishing.

Climate Change and Human Health

Climactic changes, especially global warming, are potentially the largest global threat to human health and the source of the greatest number of cases of disease. If current emissions and land use trends continue unchecked, future generations will face more serious conditions, including injury, disease, and death related to natural disasters and heat waves, higher rates of climate-related infections, widespread malnutrition, and more allergy and air pollutionrelated morbidity and mortality. This review highlights the relationship between global climate changes and human health and provides some suggestions for improvement. According to the Fourth Assessment Report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) published in 2007, global warming is caused by greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. The most important GHG is carbon dioxide (CO2), which is released by the burning of fossil fuels and, to a lesser extent, by land use practices, followed by nitrous oxide and methane. IPCC predicts that global temperatures will rise 1.8°C-4.0°C by 2099. According to the report, we can expect a significant rise in sea levels, massive species extinctions, changes in storm and drought cycles, altered ocean circulation, and redistribution of vegetation after crossing the “tipping point” of global warming. Human health will be adversely affected by the accelerating climate change. This review stimulates health care providers to provide quality care to susceptible individuals confronting new threats from climactic changes, as well as to work toward a mitigation of the drivers of climate change at the individual, community, and policy levels as part of a long-term commitment to protecting public health.

Some aspects of perturbation in the structure and biodiversity of the ecosystem of Lake Victoria (East Africa)

Gophen M.,. P. B. O. Ochumba, L. S. Kaufman. Aquat. Living Resour., 1995, 8, 27-41. Dramatic changes in the Lake Victoria (East Africa) environment were observed after the introduction of the Nile perch (uites niloticus) in the 1950s. An extraordinary spectrum of endemic haplochromine fishes, a result of intralacustrine adaptive radiation was reduced by massive species extinctions (ca. 65%) due in part to predation by Nile Perch. Such an abrupt destruction of natural diversity has never before been documented by scientists. Lake Victoria's haplochromine species flock comprised upwards of 400 species (5% of the world's known freshwater fishes), encompassing a remarkably wide trophic spectrum and constituting 83% of the lake's total fish biomass. The lot evolved in an isolated part of the Nile system since the formation of the lake basin about 750 x 10ears ago, but quite possibly as recently as 14 x 103 years ago, when most of the lake dried up. More than 50% of the haplochromine species (by number) were phytoplankton-zooplankton-detritus consumers; 55% of their biomass were detritivores and 27% zooplanktivores. The piscivore Nile perch (iutes niloticus) was first introduced into Lake Victoria in 1954. It underwent rapid population expansion in the 1980s. accompanied by haplochromine decline. Consequently, phytoplankton and detritus consumption by fishes was reduced. The biomass of the endemic Cyprinidae Rastrineobola argentea increased, as did its fishery, and predation pressure on zooplankton was therefore intensified. The population of the prawn Caridina niloticus became very dense, mostly in deep waters. The fishery and fish industry were altered fundamentally. Limnological changes suggesting eutrophication have been observed since 1960: hypolirnnetic anoxia increased and the period of extensive vertical mixing was restricted to about one month per year; phytoplankton produotivity increased and shifts from diatom to blue-green dominance occurred. Increased inputs of N (from the 1920s) and P (from the 1950s), induced through precipitation and human activity in the catchment area (agricultural and urban developments, deforestation, etc.) and high water levels accompanied by decline of available silicon, have persisted. Both top-down (Nile perch piscivory) and bottom-up (nutrient changes) influences enhanced eutrophication. The concurrent system changes in nutrient dynamics may have contributed an additional impact to the extinctions of haplochromine fishes.

Ecology, economics, ethics: the broken circle

this highly readable book a distinguished group of environmental experts argues that in order to solve global environmental problems, we must view them in a broad interdisciplinary perspective that recognizes the relationships-the interconnected circle-among ecology, economics, and ethics. contributors-William A. Butler, Paul H. Connett, David Ehrenfeld, Thomas Eisner, Malcolm Gillis, William Goldfarb, Wes Jackson, Gene E. Likens, Norman Myers, David Pimentel, Holmes Rolston III, and Edward O. Wilson-address a wide range of concerns from global atmospheric degradation and spreading toxification of the environment to loss of forests and massive species extinctions. The problem is how to foster economic development that does not ruin the environment...Accomplishing such a task will not be easy, but it may be assisted by collections of expert essays like Bormann and Kellert's Ecology, Economics, Ethics.-Daniel J. Kevles, New York Review of Books In this volume some of the best minds in the business focus their attention on key environmental problems. I recommend it highly.-Paul R. Ehrlich, Bing Professor of Population Studies, Stanford University

A commentary on: Tropical deforestation and atmospheric carbon dioxide

Richard Houghton’s contribution confirms what many had suspected: that the rate of CO2 emission to the atmosphere from tropical deforestation is substantially larger than what it was in 1980, the year on which previous analyses of the role of tropical deforestation in the global carbon cycle have been based. Houghton estimates a likely 1989 emission of 1.5−3.0 × 1012 kg C, compared to a 1980 emission of 1.0−2.0 × 1012 kg C using the same methodology and assumptions. This increase is a direct consequence of a dramatic increase in rates of deforestation for a variety of social, political, and economic reasons. The most serious consequence of this deforestation in my opinion is not its effect on climate or atmospheric carbon dioxide, but the massive species extinctions — a biological holocaust — which it implies. Absorption of atmospheric CO2 by the oceans will remove about 85% of the emitted CO2 within a few hundred years, dissolution of marine carbonate sediments will remove another 10% or so within a few thousand years, and silicate weathering will take care of the rest within about 100 000 years, which is a very short period of time from an evolutionary perspective. Species extinction, in contrast, is irreversible.

Social and Perceptual Factors in Endangered Species Management

This paper describes the importance of socioeconomic and perceptual factors in the management of endangered species. Most endangered species programs tend to emphasize biological assessments and technological solutions. Additionally, attempts to consider the societal context of endangerment are typically narrow in perspective and inclined to stress economic and monetary problems. Despite the mandate of the Endangered Species Act to consider aesthetic, ecological, educational, historical, recreational, and scientific values of wildlife, most endangered species efforts omit consideration of these values. The problem of assessing societal factors in endangered species programs is increasingly complicated when the imperiled species are invertebrates and the location of the problem is primarily in developing countries of the tropics. Unfortunately, the possibility of massive species extinctions will primarily involve invertebrate species in the tropics. This paper reviews some of these difficulties, particularly the differential perception of endangered species and the protection of endangered wildlife in developing countries. J. WILDL. MANAGE. 49(2):528-536 A compelling rationale and an effective strategy for protecting endangered species will require an increasing recognition that most contemporary extinction problems are the result of socioeconomic and political forces. This socioeconomic basis of the problem is evident when assessing the causes of most species declines and should constitute an important consideration in the formulation of recovery efforts. The extinction and endangerment of most of Hawaii's endemic avifauna is a classic example of the importance of these social forces (Banko 1979, Berger 1981). In the majority of cases, human-related factors were the primary causes for the decline of these bird species. Principal factors included agriculture, grazing and forestry-related habitat destruction, the impact of feral herbivores and carnivores, competition with introduced birds, and overharvesting for meat, sport, and feathers. Although Hawaii's endemic birdlife was biologically vulnerable to these impacts, socioeconomic forces, for the most part, created the contextual basis for this de-