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  National Geographic 12 Dec 05
Extinction "Hotspots" Revealed in New Study

EurekAlert 12 Dec 05
New study pinpoints epicenters of Earth's imminent extinctions
Groups rally to safeguard hundreds of imperiled species

PlanetArk 13 Dec 05
Study Pinpoints Species Facing Extinction Threat
Story by Ed Stoddard

JOHANNESBURG - Mexico's volcano rabbit and monkey-faced bats in Fiji are among hundreds of species facing imminent extinction but protecting the remaining scraps of their habitat could save them, according to a new study.

Conducted by scientists working with the 52-member Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE), the study identifies 794 species on the brink of oblivion.

"Safeguarding 595 sites around the world would help stave off an imminent global extinction crisis," AZE said in a statement. "The study found that just one-third of the sites are known to have legal protection, and most are surrounded by human population densities that are approximately three times the global average," it said.

The report focuses on highly threatened species which are for the most part now confined to a single piece of habitat.

It said large concentrations of such sites were to be found in the Andes of South America, in Brazil's Atlantic Forests, throughout the Caribbean, and in Madagascar.

The United States is also home to many of the pinpointed sites. Mexico's rare volcano rabbit - restricted to the slopes of four volcanoes in the country's remote interior - is one of the species at greatest risk.

The "imminent extinction" list includes the Bloody Bay poison frog of Trinidad and Tobago, the monkey-faced bat of Fiji, the ivory-billed woodpecker in the United States, the cloud rat of the Philippines, and the marvelous spatuletail, a hummingbird limited to one Peruvian valley.

"This is a one-shot deal for the human race. We have a moral obligation to act. The science is in, and we are almost out of time," said Mike Parr, Secretary of AZE.

The study, published in the US-based Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (www.pnas.org), is the latest to suggest that human activities are causing a new wave of extinctions which the authors say is 100 to 1,000 times greater than natural rates.

"In recent history, most species extinctions have occurred on isolated islands following the introduction of invasive predators such as cats and rats," AZE said. "This study shows that the extinction crisis has now expanded to become a full-blown assault on Earth's major land masses, with the majority of at-risk sites and species now found on continental mountains and in lowland areas," it said.

According to the World Conservation Union, almost 800 species have become extinct since 1500, when accurate historical and scientific records began.

Scientists say that extinctions are creeping onshore because continental habitats are being diced up by human activities - a process that is creating what some biologists term "virtual islands", isolated fragments that are cut off from each other by fences, asphalt, farms and cities.

Habitat destruction, over-hunting, climate change and pollution are other major factors behind extinctions.

EurekAlert 12 Dec 05
New study pinpoints epicenters of Earth's imminent extinctions
Groups rally to safeguard hundreds of imperiled species

Safeguarding 595 sites around the world would help stave off an imminent global extinction crisis, according to new research published today in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (www.pnas.org).

Conducted by scientists working with the 52 member organizations of the Alliance for Zero Extinction (AZE –– www.zeroextinction.org), the study identifies 794 species threatened with imminent extinction, each of which is in need of urgent conservation action at a single remaining site on Earth.

The study found that just one-third of the sites are known to have legal protection, and most are surrounded by human population densities that are approximately three times the global average.

Conserving these 595 sites should be an urgent global priority involving everyone from national governments to local communities, the study's authors state.

The United States ranks among the ten countries with the most sites. These include Torrey Pines in California, a cave in West Virginia, a pond in Mississippi, and six sites in Hawaii. The whooping crane and the recently rediscovered ivory-billed woodpecker are two spectacular American species that qualify for inclusion.

Particular concentrations of sites are also found in the Andes of South America, in Brazil's Atlantic Forests, throughout the Caribbean, and in Madagascar.

"Although saving sites and species is vitally important in itself, this is about much more," said Mike Parr, Secretary of AZE. "At stake are the future genetic diversity of Earth's ecosystems, the global ecotourism economy worth billions of dollars per year, and the incalculable benefit of clean water from hundreds of key watersheds. This is a one-shot deal for the human race," he added.

"We have a moral obligation to act. The science is in, and we are almost out of time."

"We now know where the emergencies are: the species that will be tomorrow's dodos unless we act quickly," said Taylor Ricketts, lead author of the study. "The good news is we still have time to protect them."

Among the 794 imperiled mammals, birds, amphibians, reptiles, and conifers are monkey-faced bats, cloud rats, golden moles, poison frogs, exotic parrots and hummingbirds, a hamster and a dormouse, a penguin, crocodiles, iguanas, monkeys, and a rhinoceros.

Among the most intriguingly-named are: the Bloody Bay poison frog, the volcano rabbit, the Ruo River screeching frog, the Bramble Cay mosaic-tailed rat, the marvelous spatuletail (a hummingbird), and the Sulu bleeding-heart (a dove).

While extinction is a natural process, the authors note that current human-caused rates of species loss are 100-1,000 times greater than natural rates. In recent history, most species extinctions have occurred on isolated islands following the introduction of invasive predators such as cats and rats.

This study shows that the extinction crisis has now expanded to become a full-blown assault on Earth's major land masses, with the majority of at-risk sites and species now found on continental mountains and in lowland areas.

Also published today are a site map and a report that details the actions required to save these sites and species. These items, along with a searchable database of sites, web links and media contacts for the Alliance's 52 member organizations, and photos of AZE sites and species for media use, can be found at: http://www.zeroextinction.org/press.htm.

National Geographic 12 Dec 05
Extinction "Hotspots" Revealed in New Study
John Roach for National Geographic News

Extinct. This moniker of doom is destined for 794 species of animals and trees currently eking out an existence in 595 sites around the world, conservationists warned today.

Creatures in impending danger include whooping cranes on a Texas tidal flat, a type of rabbit on a Mexican volcano, penguins in the Galápagos Islands, and a species of pine tree in Australia.

"All these are spots where extinction is likely to strike next if we don't do anything," said Taylor Ricketts, director of science for the World Wildlife Fund in Washington, D.C.

"That 'if we dont do anything' is the big part of this idea," he added. "These places present the most clear opportunity to slow down and stem the extinction episode we are in now."

Ricketts and colleagues with the recently formed conservation group Alliance for Zero Extinction will publish their findings in the December 20 issue of the research journal Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

The paper pinpoints centers of imminent extinction, detailing which species are in peril and where they live.

According to Ricketts, the work suggests an immediate "no-brainer" strategy for preventing the looming extinctions at these sites: Protect the habitat that remains.

Stuart Pimm is a conservation ecologist at Duke University in Durham, North Carolina. He said the paper "does an outstanding job of identifying" tangible priority areas for conservation. "This is a hugely important contribution," he added.

Known Species and Sites

Sites included in the study have definable boundaries and contain within those bounds at least one internationally recognized endangered or critically endangered species. The sites also represent habitats that are essential for the species' survival.

Most of the sites are the only areas where a certain species is known to live or where a lone population of a migratory species, such as the whooping crane, spends part of the year.

More than a hundred sites contain more than one at-risk species. The Massif de la Hotte region of Haiti, for example, is home to 13 species of endangered or critically endangered amphibian. The researchers limited their study to mammals, birds, selected reptiles, amphibians, and conifer trees, because these were the creatures for which sufficient information was available.

"Known species in these groups form less than one percent of all species we are pretty sure exist in the world," Ricketts said. "The vast majority [of species] we've not named, and of ones we have names for, for most we have no good information on where they live."

Pimm, who is a member of the National Geographic Society's Committee for Research and Exploration, said the creatures identified in the study represent only about 1/1000 of all species on the planet.

Steps taken to protect these 794 known species in imminent danger of extinction will therefore protect a thousand times more species of fungi, plants, and insects that likely live in the same places.

"That adds bang for the buck," Ricketts said.

He added that the research is intended to "put a face on the extinction crisis. These are the places where extinction will most likely strike next for the [groups of life-forms] we know."

Extended Threat

The research also highlights a shift from historic extinction trends, Ricketts said.

A majority of recently recorded extinctions were birds that went kaput on islands. For example, the dodo, a large, flightless bird, famously went extinct in the late 17th century on the island of Mauritius in the Indian Ocean.

Modern day Mauritius shows up in the study as home to two endangered bird species: the Rodrigues warbler and the Pink pigeon--and a critically endangered mammal--the Rodrigues flying fox.

Today the so-called extinction crisis has expanded to mainland areas rich in biodiversity, where a host of amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and plants are now threatened. Only 39 percent of the species identified in the study are island dwellers, down from 80 percent of recent extinctions. And only a third of the identified sites have legal protection. Most are surrounded by intense human development: chopped forests, drained wetlands, crisscrossing roads, introduced diseases, and suburban sprawl.

According to Pimm, the extinction shift reflects the European pattern of colonization: Islands were settled first and thus first faced the ravages of humankind. Now that the mainland interiors are becoming settled, species there are feeling the impact.

Ensuring the long-term survival of these species will often take more than protecting their habitats. But Ricketts says doing so complements broader efforts to combat global warming and loss of species diversity.

And steps taken to protect species "dangling on the edge" will also protect untold others and conserve habitats, such as mountain forests, that capture and supply water to lowland farms and cities.

Beyond the bonus benefits, Ricketts said, "There are many people who think--I'm one of them--that preventing extinctions is simply the right thing to do."
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