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Microbial Communities in Nature and Laboratory - Interview
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Ecological science and tomorrow's world.

Robert M May1

  • 1Zoology Department, Oxford University, Oxford, UK. robert.may@zoo.ox.ac.uk

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences
|December 17, 2009
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Earth faces accelerating extinction rates due to human impacts like habitat destruction and climate change. Addressing this requires equitable policy actions, despite significant challenges in implementation.

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Conservation Biology
  • Environmental Science

Background:

  • Significant uncertainties exist regarding the total number of species on Earth.
  • Extinction rates have demonstrably accelerated over the past few centuries.
  • Human population growth and per capita consumption are underlying drivers of environmental change.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To outline uncertainties in global species counts.
  • To identify the primary causes of accelerated extinction rates.
  • To discuss the consequences and policy implications of biodiversity loss.

Main Methods:

  • Review of scientific literature on species diversity and extinction.
  • Analysis of ultimate causes including habitat destruction, alien species, overexploitation, and climate change.
  • Examination of human population and per capita impacts as root causes.

Main Results:

  • Habitat destruction, alien introductions, overexploitation, and climate change are identified as ultimate causes of accelerated extinctions.
  • Human numbers and per capita impacts are fundamental drivers behind these ultimate causes.
  • The study highlights the profound consequences of these accelerating extinction events.

Conclusions:

  • Policy implications for achieving equitably proportionate actions are discussed.
  • Significant difficulties in implementing effective conservation policies are acknowledged.
  • Urgent and equitable action is needed to mitigate biodiversity loss and its consequences.