1,400 bird species lost to human activity, study finds
570 bird species may have been lost when people arrived in the Eastern Pacific in the 14th century.
New research from the UK Centre for Ecology & Hydrology (UKCEH) has suggested that over 1,400 bird species across history have been lost due to human activity.
Researchers say that 1,430 bird species have died out since the Late Pleistoscene around 130,000 years ago, with most of these extinctions being a direct or indirect result of human activity. This is almost 12 per cent of all bird species in history.
This means that one in nine bird species have been lost to human interaction, which is double the previous estimate.
The study utilised statistical modelling to estimate the extent of previously undiscovered bird extinctions.
Large scale deaths of birds have been recorded since the 1500s, however deaths preceding this relies on the use of fossils. These records can be limited when studying birds, as their lightweight bones disintegrate over time.
The use of observations and fossils had found that 640 bird species have gone extinct since the Late Pleistocene period, with 90 per cent of these taking place on islands inhabited by people.
However statistical modelling has estimated a further 790 unknown extinctions, bringing the total of number to 1,430. Researchers say that only 50 of these were likely to be natural.
The study also suggests that the largest human-driven vertebrate extinction event in history may have taken place in the 14th century. Scientists believe that 570 bird species were lost when people first arrived in the Eastern Pacific, including Hawaii and the Cook Islands - nearly 100 times the natural extinction rate.
The researchers say that this could indicate that other animal and plant life, which will have depended on these bird species for survival, may have also gone extinct.
Dr Rob Cooke, an ecological modeller at UKCEH and lead author of the study, said: “Our study demonstrates there has been a far higher human impact on avian diversity than previously recognised. Humans have rapidly devastated bird populations via habitat loss, overexploitation and the introduction of rats, pigs and dogs that raided nests of birds and competed with them for food."
Dr Cooke added: “Whether or not further bird species will go extinct is up to us.
“Recent conservation has saved some species and we must now increase efforts to protect birds, with habitat restoration led by local communities.”
The full study can be found in the journal Nature Communications.
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