Lack of Animal Movement may Result in A Collapse in Biodiversity

Image result for animal roaming habitat
The last couple hundred Przewalski horses surviving off the Mongolian Grasslands.


Humans take up around 70% of the earth's land surface area. This causes animals that roam freely throughout their habitat to move significantly less than they would in an unaltered landscape. An article in ScienceDaily says that mammals living in areas inhabited by humans move tow to three times less than those who live in areas untouched by man.
When animals move they help important ecological processes such as transporting seeds and other nutrients throughout different areas which supports biodiversity. Additionally, mammalian movement reinforces the food chain by bringing different organisms to an area by way of hunting or being hunted. Thereof, if these animals are not moving as much as they should, biodiversity will plummet leading to the extinction of many plant and animal lives.

In order to prevent this we have to make a conscious effort to stop taking more land and begin using the space that we already have more efficiently.  Supporting wildlife refuges will promote the growth of these animal species that promote diversity and a healthy balance within the food chain. We need to recognize that we do not own the planet, we all share it and in order to keep it healthy and beautiful we must take action now to take care of its other inhabitants large and small.


Source: Field Museum. "Humans take up too much space -- and it's affecting how mammals move: Study found that human-modified landscapes shrink mammal movements by up to half." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 25 January 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/01/180125140916.htm>.

Picture: https://www.aboutanimals.com/mammal/przewalskis-horse/

Comments

  1. Aurea BiancaMay 5, 2018 at 10:31 AM

    "tow to three"

    I'm really interested to know like specific areas where this occurs and how urbanization is affecting this migration. I really enjoyed your blogpost!

    ReplyDelete
  2. UnknownMay 5, 2018 at 10:36 AM

    An interesting take on how animals that have limited movement throughout the landscape can be detrimental to an ecosystem by not being able to support biodiversity. How do you believe we can create more animal refugees.

    ReplyDelete

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