Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 20, 2026
06:10
Using Generative Art to Convey Past and Future Climate Transitions
Published on: March 31, 2023
Human activity is altering the world's zoogeographical regions
Rubén Bernardo-Madrid1, Joaquín Calatayud2,3,4, Manuela González-Suárez5
1Department of Conservation Biology, Estación Biológica de Doñana (EBD-CSIC), Sevilla, Spain.
Ecology Letters
|June 14, 2019
Summary
Human activities like species introductions and extinctions are reshaping global zoogeographical regions (zooregions). These changes homogenize mammal distributions and alter bird and amphibian boundaries, challenging long-held assumptions about zooregion stability.
Area of Science:
- Ecology
- Biogeography
- Conservation Biology
Background:
- Zoogeographical regions (zooregions) are defined by species composition, reflecting long-term ecological, historical, and evolutionary processes.
- Traditionally, zooregions were considered stable on human timescales due to their deep evolutionary roots.
Discussion:
- Human-mediated species introductions and extinctions are actively altering established zooregions.
- Introductions are causing homogenization in mammal zooregions across Eurasia and Africa.
- These introductions also induce complex shifts in bird and amphibian zooregions, including the division of Old and New World boundaries.
Key Insights:
- Network-based algorithms reveal significant human impact on zooregion delineation.
- Amphibian zooregions, particularly those defining Old and New World distributions, disappear when considering the most threatened species extinctions and introductions.
- The stability of zooregions is being challenged by contemporary anthropogenic pressures.
Outlook:
- Urgent need to identify and protect unique biotic assemblages in the face of global change.
- Conservation strategies must account for dynamic shifts in biogeographical patterns driven by human activity.
- Future research should focus on quantifying the rate and extent of anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity patterns.
Related Concept Videos
01:50Global Climate Change
Throughout its ~4.5 billion year history, the Earth has experienced periods of warming and cooling. However, the current drastic increase in global temperatures is well outside of the Earth’s cyclic norms, and evidence for human-caused global climate change is compelling. Paleoclimatology, the study of ancient climate conditions, provides ample evidence for human-caused global climate change by comparing recent conditions with those in the past.
01:50Threats to Biodiversity
There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
01:24Biodiversity and Human Values
Human civilization relies on biodiversity in many ways. Sudden changes in species biodiversity result in environmental changes that can modify weather patterns and therefore human civilizations.
02:31Habitat Fragmentation
Habitat fragmentation describes the division of a more extensive, continuous habitat into smaller, discontinuous areas. Human activities such as land conversion, as well as slower geological processes leading to changes in the physical environment, are the two leading causes of habitat fragmentation. The fragmentation process typically follows the same steps: perforation, dissection, fragmentation, shrinkage, and attrition.
02:29Hybrid Zones
Hybrid zones are narrow regions where two closely related species interact, mate, and produce hybrids. Relative to either parent species, hybrids may possess distinct phenotypic or genetic differences that impact their survival and reproductive success. The genetic variances introduced by hybridization influence species diversity and speciation processes within the hybrid zone.Gene flow and natural selection are evolutionary mechanisms that shape the outcome of a hybrid zone. Gene flow...
01:27Microbes and Climate Change
Microorganisms are pivotal agents in Earth's biogeochemical cycles, significantly influencing climate dynamics through their metabolic activities. These microbes modulate the levels of key greenhouse gases by both contributing to and helping mitigate climate change.Microbial Contributions to Greenhouse Gas EmissionsRising global temperatures accelerate microbial metabolism, which, in turn, speeds up the decomposition of organic matter. This process releases carbon dioxide (CO₂) through...