EEB386H1 Lecture Notes - Lecture 11: Passenger Pigeon, Honeyguide, Background Extinction Rate
17 Apr 2017
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Document Summary
Species diversity = snapshot: some are recent, some are perhaps declining, some extinction is natural process, have made some estimates on background rate of extinction, typical species have 1-2 million year window, = background extinction. Recently has been human-accelerated extinction for many vertebrates: about 20-30x background rate. Invasive species: largely other vertebrates that prey on birds, new viruses (west nile) Rank invasive/problem species as # 1 factor. Passenger pigeon extinction: overhunting, exploitation of oak forest. Hunting & trapping (extinction of 50+ species) Logging + wood harvesting + agriculture = habitat loss. Climate change + severe weather caused extinction of a few species. We harvest and use birds in varieties of ways. ~75 parrot species that have been used in the pet trade: pulled out of wild and sold for pets. Doves and pigeons under threat: mostly for food. Osprey, killers, hawks, eagles: hunted, farmers shoot birds of prey.
