"the extinction waiting room"
I feel compelled to share this article about the timeframe for species extinction events:
http://science.sciencemag.org/content/353/6298/446.full
And/or if you prefer, the full report by Kew Garden:
http://stateoftheworldsplants.com/report/sotwp_2016.pdf
This figure shocked me: 50,000 vascular plant species, of 390,000, at risk of extinction. MORE THAN ONE IN EIGHT.
Time to consider:
Should i work on my lists and try to log one of each kind, like Noah?
Should i consider changing my habits to make my work more applicable? Should i add relevant information to my observations such as habitat descriptors, counts of individuals, pressure by predation, invasives, or human activities?
Should I venture further to observe the under-observed, or in different seasons?
Should i work on mapping populations over time? Ranges?
Am i doing all i can do?
Comments
Travel! :)
In all sincerity, I've found that going out places 'unexplored' on iNat is such a rewarding experience for me -- it challenges my taxonomic knowledge too. I frequently quote @gcwarbler -- "travel is taxonomically broadening!"
As I take the tool of iNat with me when I explore, I recognize that the data from these 'unexplored areas' are highly valuable -- or at least, I think so.
And hey, one way to get people to care about nature and extinction is to get more people involved and participating! So, tell your friends about iNat! Tell strangers about iNat too!
Thanks for the links. I used to subscribe to Science magazine back in the 1980's. I didn't try to download that PDF since there was a login. I did download the Kew report and took a quick glance. Very interesting. They put the endangered species at 1 in 5, so it looks like there is a fair amount of uncertainty there. They attribute agriculture, biological resource use, residential and commercial development, and natural system modifications as the cause for about 3/4 of the endangerment. Invasives only accounted for a bit less than 8% and weather/climate issues at only 4%. They show a map of "designated important plant areas" but there were none in the US, Canada, or Australia, which seems odd. I guess we don't have any "important plants"????
Thanks fellows. Share the link to this post, if you like
Add a Comment