Industrialisation behind rapid decline of vertebrates: study

Rapid population decline among vertebrate species began at the end of the 19th century when industrialisation was at its peak, according to new study that will help better inform conservation efforts.
Researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Centre (UTHealth) in the US and the Chinese Academy of Sciences reviewed thousands of scientific articles about the genetic diversity of vertebrate species.
Their efforts yielded genetic data from 2,764 vertebrate species, 600 of which are endangered.
"Industrialisation is the most natural explanation as to why we have rapid population decline in that period of time. It has to be somehow caused by human impact," said Yun-Xin Fu, professor at UTHealth School of Public Health.

The researchers used a population genetics approach to model when each threatened species began to rapidly decline in population size.
On average, the population size of endangered species declined by about 25 per cent every 10 years starting 123 years ago.

Rapid population decline is widespread among endangered species and when it occurs, genetic diversity suffers.
While conservation efforts have typically focused on maintaining genetic diversity within a species, Fu believes that preserving ecosystems and natural habitats should hold more weight.
"Genetic diversity is important to preserving a species from a long-term standpoint.
"However, preventing the rapid population decline by protecting the native habitats of species appears to be and should be more important because the overall difference of genetic diversity between threatened and non-threatened species is not at an alarming level," said Fu.

Fu hopes the study will better inform conservation efforts and encourage more of an emphasis on the effects of human impact on habitats and ecosystems.
The research was published in the journal PNAS.