“It’s not just mammals. Wild bird populations are also tumbling. Domestic poultry now constitute 70% of the world’s avian biomass. Average populations of thousands of monitored species of wild vertebrates, birds, fish, mammals, amphibians, have declined ~60% since 1970. Populations of #invertebrates, including essential #pollinators, are also in free-fall: Butterflies down 53%; beetles down 49%, bumblebees down 46%… All species monitored by WWF are down 68–70% in just 50 years.”"
Ryan wrote a blog post about our new paper in PNAS about historical #extinctions in Singapore.
Our extinction estimates are a factor of two lower than previous estimates. However, extinctions have been concentrated among charismatic species. We speculate that if deforestation continues across the region, Southeast Asia may come to resemble a “tropical Europe”, where the majority of species persist in a human-dominated landscape but many charismatic species are absent.
We estimated the proportion of species that have gone #extinct in #Singapore including those that went extinct before we had a chance to discover them (#DarkExtinctions).
These numbers correct previous #extinctions over-estimates, and two statistical methods are presented, including a quick one that comes with an #R package.
Logging practices:
"It's basically dead" AI reveals the legacy of decades of logging in Victoria
"An AI-based analysis of 20 years of VicForests’ logging, researchers say, shows the scale of failed regeneration in Victoria’s state forests.The data, which has been shared exclusively with the ABC, suggests that 20 per cent of Victoria’s state forests have not regenerated after logging.... That’s almost 13,000 hectares of state forest the analysis found to be standing in a state of ruin."
"Now the state is shutting its native logging industry in a matter of weeks, and the forests that were once given to Victoria’s state-run logging agency, VicForests, are being returned to the public."
"By law, the logging agency is required to regenerate the areas it has logged and hand them back to the public in a healthy state. But until now, how much that has actually happened has largely been a mystery."
What should happen to native forests when logging ends? Ask Victoria’s First Peoples
"Conservationists are celebrating a win sought for decades. The damage done by logging on biodiversity has been significant, with once common species now endangered and mature forests now fragmented and dotted with young fire-prone regrowth."
"Colonisation affected Country differently across Australia. But many effects are similar across the continent. European-style land management coincides with species extinctions across the continent. "
>> https://theconversation.com/what-should-happen-to-native-forests-when-logging-ends-ask-victorias-first-peoples-206412
Reading the black book: The number, timing, distribution and causes of listed extinctions in Australia
"We conclude that 100 Australian endemic species are validly recognised as extinct since 1788: a rate of loss of about 4.3 species per decade since European colonisation of the continent. This rate is not diminishing and we interpret this more-or-less constant but continuing rate of loss .."
"Australia’s abysmal rates of extinctions and land clearing since European colonisation are infamous globally. Our national environmental legislation has largely failed to protect biodiversity, including many threatened plants, animals and ecological communities. But change is afoot."
"Habitat means homes for wildlife
Protection of sufficient and connected habitat must be central to Australia’s national environmental law. If homes for swift parrots, koalas, greater gliders and other threatened species continue to be destroyed and fragmented, it is all but guaranteed Australia will fail in its stated quest to avoid further extinctions."
"The new laws must state policy objectives such as no new extinctions and no actions that accelerate climate change."
"A Voice for Country and culture
Our national environment laws must make room for genuine Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders participation in how matters of cultural and environmental significance are managed."