What people do not realize is that there are several other factors that can affect our wildlife and our species. Hunting, fire, and invasive species in new territories can ruin wildlife for many, causing them to migrate into a new environment that may not fit their needs. From research found by William F. Laurance and Diana C. Useche, it is said that due to the rise of climate change it can sometimes conflict with other threats. What has always been hard for researchers to predict with all of these threats is how big of an impact they can make on the environment and the species that lie within them. William F. Laurance and Diana C. Useche, part of the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute, research the many threats that could be used against extinct species and species that could become extinct. Through this, they came up with five synergisms that could affect large tropical ecosystems and their species.
What really is a synergism and how does it affect the environment?
Synergisms have become a very popular topic in the science area especially dealing with the extinction of species. Synergisms are like a disease, something that almost can’t be stopped to save these species and their wildlife. Through research, it is believed that synergisms could be linked with chemical pollutants that could ultimately affect human and wildlife health. Myers, is a researcher, who believed that environmental synergisms could lead to the extinction of many wildlife species. He added that fire, drought, pollution, and fragmentation could also make an impact on the lives of these species. To give you an idea of how many synergisms there are out there and how it can affect the environment, the International Union for Conversation of Nature researchers narrowed some information they gathered and made it into a chart to give a clearer view on how it can affect our wildlife and species. The number one threat that would affect amphibians, birds and mammals would be agriculture. According to the chart, 17.0 mammals would be extinct, 10.0 birds, and 26.6 amphibians. There is no time period given in which these animals would become extinct, but it is just an estimation of how many species would become extinct. The threat is livestock, wood, and pulp plantations would eventually ruin these plants and species. However, it was interesting to see that roads, energy, and disturbance could cause a huge threat to these species. Some of the main threats that we would think of that were on the chart were hunting, climate, pollution, invaders, and agriculture. All of these have dangerous affects that could potentially have very harmful effects to these species.
(Photo by W.F.I)
Above is a picture that was taken in logged forest in central Africa.
What is the biggest threat to species?
The largest threat to species by far is hunting and agriculture. This may not be surprising to many, however, other threats popped to my mind first such as climate change. It is said that there is a connection between forest loss, fragmentation, and hunting. For example, species that live in small forests that are fragmented are more likely to be susceptible to hunters. Think back to any friends or family members you have that go out in the small country woods hunting for deer, peasants, or even quail. The woods and forests they go into are fragmented with species inclined to being caught by their hunters. One land use that is used everywhere is the combination of hunting and logging. Logging and hunting has become a problem in many forests today. It is growing especially across the tropics and what is even worse about the whole situation is that these hunters are going into the only last surviving forests in the tropics that contain many wonderful species that exist in our world today. Some of the forests in which these hunters are going may sound familiar to you such as the Amazon, which we have all heard about of some sort, the Congo Basin, New Guinea, and Borneo.
It is not the largest threat to species, but logging and fire can pose a dangerous threat to the land of the species. Natural fires have been affected by logging which can cause debris in the forest’s understory. The understory can be affected majorly by logging. Logging lets in sunlight and wind, which can damage the understory of the forest. This can be very dangerous not only for the environment of the forest but also for the species that live within the forest. Some animals are very sensitive by smoke of the fire which can cause a decline in the species or even a disappearance.
Figure 4. Incidence of surface fires (as revealed by 14years of satellite imagery) near forest edges in eastern Amazonia (adapted from Cochrane & Laurance 2002).
Above is a chart which shows the fire frequency and how much forest land it burns.
It is sad to think that we have people in our world today that are still going through some of last surviving forests and are destroying them by logging, hunting, or even starting forest fires. What can we do to stop this? Will there ever be an ending to this? Or when will it get to the point where so many species are extinct there is nothing we can do about it? Logging, hunting, agriculture, pathogens, climate change, and habitat change are all synergisms that are harmful to our environment. What I want to know is when will people come to their senses and let the species live their lives? S.O.S: Save our Species!
Works Cited
1). Laurance, William F., and Diana C. Useche. “Environmental Synergisms and Extinctions of Tropical Species”. Conservation Biology 23.6 (2009): 1427-1437. Academic Search Premier. EBSCO Web. 16 Mar. 2011.
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