Alien plants and animals drive native species to extinction
Monday, 22 February 2016
Accidentally or deliberately introduced species are the second most common threat associated with recent global extinctions of animals and plants, a new study from the University of ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ and UCL, in the UK, has found.
These ‘alien species’ have spread beyond their natural distributions by both deliberate and accidental human intervention since transnational shipping started in 1500AD─and many have significant negative environmental impacts.
The study published in the journal Biology Letters assessed how common alien species were listed as drivers of recent extinctions in plants, amphibians, reptiles, birds, mammals, using data from the IUCN Red List.
“Our results show that alien species are the second most common threat associated with species that have gone completely extinct from these groups since 1500AD,” says study leader Professor Tim Blackburn, Professor of Invasion Biology at UCL and Visiting Professorial Fellow at the University of ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ.
Alien species are just behind the most common threat averaged over all five groups ─ the most common being overexploitation of biological resources. They are, however, the most common threat associated with extinctions in each of three of the five groups analysed (amphibians, reptiles and mammals), and the most common threat when averaged over all the vertebrates (birds, amphibians, reptiles and mammals).
Across the globe, Australia has the highest rate of recent mammalian extinctions in the wi