Barn Owl at Coldwater Farm
“The numbers of known species with very small ranges are increasing quickly, even in well-known taxa. They are geographically concentrated and are disproportionately likely to be threatened or already extinct. We expect unknown species to share these characteristics. Current rates of extinction are about 1000 times the background rate of extinction. These are higher than previously estimated and likely still underestimated. Future rates will depend on many factors and are poised to increase. Finally, although there has been rapid progress in developing protected areas, such efforts are not ecologically representative, nor do they optimally protect biodiversity.”
GR: Another new study, this one appearing in Science, also concludes that current extinction rates are about 1,000 higher than anything Earth has experienced before the arrival of Homo Sapiens.See on www.sciencemag.org
