Species going extinct faster than in past

WASHINGTON — Species of plants and animals are becoming extinct at least 1,000 times faster than they did before humans arrived on the scene, and the world is on the brink of a sixth great extinction, a new study says.

The study looks at past and present rates of extinction and finds a lower rate in the past than scientists had thought. Species are disappearing from Earth about 10 times faster than biologists had thought, said biologist Stuart Pimm of Duke University, the study’s lead author.

“We are on the verge of the sixth extinction,” Pimm said from research in the Dry Tortugas. “Whether we avoid it or not will depend on our actions.”

The work, published by the journal Science on Thursday, was hailed as a landmark study by outside experts.

Numerous factors are combining to make species disappear much faster than before, said Pimm and co-author Clinton Jenkins of the Institute of Ecological Research in Brazil. But the No. 1 issue is habitat loss. Species are finding no place to live as humans alter more places.

In addition, invasive

The No. 1 issue is habitat loss, a study says. Species have no place to live as more places are altered by humans.

species are crowding out native species, climate change is affecting where species can survive, and overfishing is a problem, Pimm said.

The buffy-tufted-ear marmoset is a good example, Jenkins said. Its habitat has shrunk because of development in Brazil, and a competing marmoset has taken over where it lives. Now, it’s on the international vulnerable list.

The oceanic white-tip shark used to be one of the most-abundant predators, but the species has been hunted so much it is rarely seen, said Dalhousie University marine biologist Boris Worm, who wasn’t part of the study. “If we don’t do anything, this will go the way of the dinosaurs.”

Pimm and Jenkins said the use of smartphones and applications such as iNaturalist will help locate species in trouble. Then, biologists can try to preserve habitats and use captive breeding and other techniques to save the species, they said.