Bird Extinctions May Impact Environment

[villager]

Bird Extinctions May Impact Environment



WASHINGTON - About 10 percent of all bird species face extinction by the end of the century and 15 percent more are on the brink, according to researchers who say such extinctions would have a widespread impact on the environment, agriculture and human society.


"Important ecosystem processes, particularly decomposition, pollination and seed dispersal, will likely decline as a result" of the loss of bird species, said Cagan H. Sekercioglu of the Stanford University Center for Conservation Biology.

The forecast of Sekercioglu and colleagues, published online Monday by Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, comes a month after the World Conservation Union reported a continuing loss of species, including an estimate that 12 percent of birds are threatened with extinction. The Stanford estimate was based on a year of study and a computer calculation of three possible scenarios.

The result was a forecast that between 6 and 14 percent of all bird species will be extinct by 2100 and 700 to 2,500 species will be critically endangered or extinct in the wild.

"Given the momentum of climate change, widespread habitat loss and increasing numbers of invasive species, avian declines and extinctions are predicted to continue unabated in the near future," Sekercioglu said.

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http://news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20041213/ap_on_he_me/bird_extinction

[tk2kewl]

1. ya think?

how bout...
amphibian extinctions
insect extinctions
plant extinctions
fish extinctions
top predator extinctions
etc.

they make up what are know as ecosystems, morans.

then again, maybe Jesus will return for an encore of the loves and fishes trick

[villager]

2. especially the fishes...

given how we "made in God's image" are treating the oceans...

[StClone]

3. Fish were one of the first to go

Pollution, channelization, increased turbidity and associated increased temperatures. I think I enjoyed the last great numbers of freshwater fishes as a child in the 70's.

[villager]

4. what the freepy freaks don't realize...

...is that they're all gonna be vegetarians, basically, when rapture doesn't come, meat production is no longer viable, the oceans have been overfished, and it'll all be back to grains and nuts... if they're lucky...

[tk2kewl]

9. its all interdependent

there wont be enough grains and nuts to go around while ecosystems are collapsing around the globe

[StClone]

5. Insects

There have been studies that show that insects, once thought invincible, are decreasing in number and species. When you lose insects you lose pollinators and a major food for many high organisms. Hot and bleak comes the future.

[tk2kewl]

8. need 'em

for converting lots of stuff back to useable carbon an nitrogen too

[hatrack]

21. European honeybees are already on life support in the US

The varroa mite has really done a number on the wild bee populations in the US, and have substantially hurt the commercial apiaries.

For two or three years in a row now, orchards all around the US have been unable to get enough commercial hives on site for the critical pollination window. There aren't enough wild bees left (not original, of course, but introduced European bees) for natural pollination, and even the commercial apiarists can't keep up with the mite. They can get a temporary edge with pesticides, but it's a tough fight.

The news that wild honeybees were extinct in most of their American range came on the same day this past spring that NOAA announced the disappearance of an entire island - Whale Skate Island, a low atoll - in the western Hawaiians. The sea just rolled over it and it's now gone.

The only reason I found out about these two items was that I was cruising environment news web sites. Needless to say, the networks were all up in the primaries, or Scott Peterson, or whatever shit they peddle.

[kineneb]

23. more bee news

I was reading the Sacramento Bee online edition; they reported that the mites are becoming immune to the available treatments. Bye-bye buzzies.:cry:

[MadHound]

6. There is a way to counter act this, at least on a small scale

Set up a birdfeeder, and be committed to feeding those birds during the winter and springs months. You will attract a regular flock of birds, and the ones who are migratory will stay in the general area. Not only will you be helping your avian friends by providing sustenance in tough times, you will be helping yourself by having enough birds in the area to enable pest control, seed dispersal and pollenation.

Besides, it is great fun to watch the birds, and if you have cats, you'll keep them entertained for hours.

[TrogL]

7. Birds like to eat bugs

Some birds only like certain breeds of bugs. If the bird associated with that particular bug goes extinct, what's to stop it?

[BlueEyedSon]

10. "Be seeing you."

(signed) the new Number 2.

[villager]

25. But *who* is Number One?

[GoddessOfGuinness]

11. MAY?

Shitheads. I'm sick of shitheads.

[VegasWolf]

12. It's all good. bush says god will fix it. n/t

[villager]

13. no, God will leave it broken and rapture up the planet-killers

so they can spend eternity at the Wal-Mart in the sky!

[catzies]

15. No, Bush says, "Who cares about the future, we'll all be dead."

n/t

[villager]

16. hey, I wonder if the rapture-freaks know he's a nihilist?

Good hearin' from ya, Catzies... :hi:

[Anakin Skywalker]

17. They Know. They Know.

That's why they blindly support him and disregard all his incompetencies. They want him to bring about their rapture.

[xchrom]

14. may!?!?

may?!?! i'm more alarmed, right at the moment, by the choice of the word -- may -- in this case.
may?!?!

[Freebird12004]

18. ~ careful we're next !

Birds are more sensitive to toxins and changes in out environment than mammals are and so ... We have long used birds { like the Canary} to test the safety of our air supply. Pay attention - folks - or we are the next to die out!

[sphincter]

19. No worries

God and Dubya will provide for all.

[Thurston Howell IV]

20. Oops! The canary died!

Anyone want to hazard a guess on how long we got?

[Just Me]

22. Humans have evolved into a "disease" infecting the planet.

We not only rape natural resources, alter the atmosphere, and create items which can destroy the earth as we know it,...we MAKE UP REASONS to engage in mass murder of one another.

Are we the evolved species on this planet?

I cannot help but wonder,...

[villager]

24. you wonder what the cockroach scholars...

...will say about us in a million years or so...