By: Inas Essa
Mother Nature is such a wholesome structure, in which everything is connected; whether in an apparent or hidden way. While some species are meant to be devoured by others, other species' existence at its core and the diversity they make helps others to survive and reduce their chances of extinction. This link has been highlighted by a new study from the University of Michigan, which found that higher levels of biodiversity, in general, seem to reduce extinction risk in birds.
Biodiversity and Extinction
It is well known that a good level of ecosystem functioning requires an increase in biodiversity, as these diverse systems are less prone to invasion and have more stable productivity, as well as being resistant to disease. However, whether species are less likely to go extinct in more diverse ecosystems or not was unclear until the new study draw the link.
Results of the new study, which was recently published in Ecology Letters and was led by evolutionary biologist and ornithologist Brian Weeks of the U-M School for Environment and Sustainability, have revealed how protecting this biodiversity has the potential of reduced extinction rates. The research team worked on measuring the global relationship between multiple dimensions of diversity and extinction risk in birds while focusing on contemporary threat status and latent extinction risk.
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More Diversity, Less Extinction
The team found that more diverse groups have lower threat status, despite having attributes that make them more vulnerable to extinction, like large body size or small range size, or poor dispersal ability. The researchers utilized a new dataset from natural history museum specimens that covers more than 99% of all species of birds in the world. They used the data to measure the diversity of birds around the world, including the species found in a community, their evolutionary relationships, and their functional traits.
After that, they used structural equation modeling to characterize the relationship between diversity and extinction risk. They concluded that the benefits afforded by living in a diverse community protect species from potential extinction risk and allow more of them to persist, revealing the importance of protecting diversity. This could be achieved by maintaining high levels of overall biodiversity in natural ecosystems.
Related: More Investment in Environmental Education Needed
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A Cost-Effective Approach for Extinction
"While we know that biodiversity impacts the functioning of ecosystems in predictable ways, it is less clear how these biodiversity-ecosystem functioning relationships impact extinction risk across longer timescales," says Weeks. He adds: "Our findings suggest that the conservation of biodiversity is not only a goal of conservation, but is also likely a necessary component to effective conservation interventions".
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