TECHNOLOGY  
Mammals, Fish, Birds, Amphibians, Reptiles Suffering Decline 
 		 
 
Roads, Land Clearings, Excessive Hunting Reduce Populations  






















Compiled by Badpuppy’s GayToday

From World Watch Institute Reports


Mammals, fish, birds, amphibians,

and reptiles-the higher animals known collectively as vertebrates-are suffering

high rates of decline, reports a new study from the Worldwatch Institute.

About one in four vertebrate species surveyed so far is in serious trouble-either

declining sharply in numbers, limited to dangerously small populations,

or facing pressure from land clearance, road building, excessive hunting

and fishing, and other human activities.		







"We are in the midst of a mass

extinction, an event not seen since the disappearance of the dinosaurs

65 million years ago," says John Tuxill, a Research Fellow at the Worldwatch

Institute and author of Losing Strands in the Web of Life: Vertebrate Declines

and the Conservation of Biological Diversity.  "But unlike the dinosaurs,

we are not just contemporaries of a mass extinction-we are the reason for

it."  




In 1996, the World Conservation

Union (IUCN), in collaboration with over 600 scientists, published a groundbreaking

survey of the status of animal life on Earth. According to their estimates,

25 % of mammal and amphibian species, 11 % of birds, 20 % of reptiles,

and 34 % of fish species surveyed so far are threatened with extinction.

Another 5 to 14 % of species in these groups are "nearing threatened status."  




Scientists estimate that

extinction rates are now 100 to 1,000 times greater than normal-and rising

sharply. Since most species are unknown and unmonitored, the relatively

well-studied vertebrates offer one of the best windows on why and how species

are declining. "We have barely begun to decipher the ecological relationships

that keep natural systems running smoothly," says Tuxill. "If the IUCN's

findings are updated regularly, and become as widely discussed as 

inflation or unemployment rates, we will have a powerful gauge for measuring

the damage we are doing to natural systems."  




The leading causes of vertebrate

declines are human destruction of old growth forests, wetlands, chaparral,

and other rich habitats, including aquatic ecosystems; over-hunting and

over-fishing-propelled largely by commercial markets for wildlife meat,

hides, and other products; and the intentional and unintentional help that

humanity gives to invasive species that can decimate native fauna.  




Tuxill examines a number

of possible routes for reversing these mounting species declines and calls

for expanded steps at every level to manage the environment in more ecologically

sound and socially equitable ways. These steps include: strengthening existing

national institutions like endangered species programs; strengthening international

laws and agreements for protecting biodiversity-like the Convention on

Biological Diversity (which the United States has yet to ratify); stabilizing

the world's population and reducing over-consumption.  




World Watch Institute:  


E-Mail: worldwatch@worldwatch.org 


Website: http://www.worldwatch.org 


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