Biodiversity is in danger and risk, among other things For a reality that is none other than the decreasing number of birds and mammals Sperms. As a result, the biological variety of the earth is modified, because these animals play a revealing role in regenerating ecosystems and Adjustment to the effects of climate change.
A conclusion that follows a report drawn up by experts from various research centers from the US, Switzerland, Brazil Portugal and Spain and have published in the Revista Nature Reviews Biodiversity About how the decline of seeds are produced.
Some changes in the opinion of these researchers, people, habitat loss, landscape fragmentation, invasive species and direct exploitation of animals are involved.
Fewer birds and seeds that guarantee biodiversity
The decrease in birds and mammals that spread seeds slowly changes the Biological variety of the earth. These animals are of fundamental importance for the regeneration of ecosystems and adaptation to climate change. His decrease has a negative and cumulative impact on a global scale, according to a new study.
Animals, mainly birds and mammals, spread the seeds of most plant species. In this way, sperm Disispers maintain the biodiversity of the plants, the recovery of ecosystems and their adaptation to climate change.
However, the functioning and resilience against the environmental changes of this ecological function is largely ignored in the strategies for the recovery and the reconnection.
Scientists from American research centers, Switzerland, Brazil Portugal and Spain have published a synthesis in the Revista Nature Reviews Biodiversity Over him Decline of seeds. The article emphasizes its consequences in biodiversity and functioning of ecosystems. For this, future maintenance, recovery and processes are aimed at multiple changes in the environment, such as deforestation or climate change.
“The Decline of Animal Biodiversity does not only be the loss of species, but about the erosion of ecological functions, such as the dispersion of seeds by birds and mammals that support plant biodiversity, the recovery of ecosystems and firstar, explains of work and of the climate of work and work” of work and work “of work and work” of work and work and work “of work and work” of work and work, “Explays of work and work,” Biodiversity of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
According to Fricke, “This synthesis recently connects evidence about the extent of these changes and the fundamental role of seed disasterers in achieving the global goals for biodiversity. “
Slow and silent effects on biodiversity by reducing dispersers
The reduction of seed discourseers leads to the decrease in their functions such as ‘gardeners’, which slowly translates into generalized negative consequences that vary from the fall in biodiversity to Carbon storage reduction.
That is why tackling the decrease in these animals is the key to protecting and restoring the biodiversity of animals, which in turn promotes recovery, connectivity and proper functioning of plant communities. In this way the loss of biodiversity and climate change is contributed, the researchers confirm.
“The urgency of the decline of pollinators is generally recognized, partly because their visible effects, such as the Reduction of the yield of the cropThey manifest themselves in one season, “says Fricke.
Instead, he adds: “The effects of reducing seed disasterers develop slower and re -modeling plant communities and regeneration dynamics.”
Less spread and less functional
The assessment not only emphasizes the loss of fauna diversity that seeds spread since people exist, but also the reduction in their average body size, their mobility, their distribution areas and their population sizes.
Juan P. González-Varo, researcher at the Biology department of the University of Cádiz and co-author of the work talks about the case of the Brown Bear (Ursus Arctos). This animal was spread over the Iberian peninsula in the past. However, the territory is currently limited to the Cantabrian mountain range and the Pyrenees.
The reduction of the domain assumes that almost the entire peninsula has lost the function of the dispersion of seeds as a result of this great mammal, including many types of wild fruit in its diets, ”says the Spanish researcher.
There are also “very recent and narrow examples of the decrease in seed disorders because of the introduction of invasive species on islands. The populations of Lagartija de Las Pitiusas (Podarcis Pityusensis) on the Balearian Islands and Gigante Hagedis of Gran Canaria (Gallotia Stehlini) in the Canary Islands have collapsed because of the Expansion of invasive snakes That they pretend to both types, “says González-Varo.
On the other hand: “There are cases where the dispersers (relatively) are so common that both their loss and their function go unnoticed. Lasing plates (Garrulus Klierarius) are generally absent in very decoupling cultivated plains, such as the Guadalquivir -Valley,” he adds.
As a result, the few forests that remain in these landscapes have lost the most important disperser of acorns from Holm Oaks, cork oak and oak and have therefore seen The ability to regeneration, expansion and resilience against environmental effects “reduced.”
“As seed sprinkling animals decrease, the vegetation capacity is also done to support important ecosystem services, from supplying means to mitigating climatic extremes. These effects accumulate gradually and worldwide, making them difficult to quantify, but it is essential that they recognize themselves,” Concludert Fricke.