The study identifies more than 3700 species at risk of extinction due to natural disasters, and urgent measures are needed to preserve ecosystem functions and prevent species loss. Many people understand that climate change is changing our world. However, it can also increase the likelihood of natural disasters such as hurricanes in areas where vulnerable species live.
Until recently, we had limited knowledge about which species are at particular risk from natural hazards. Now researchers from the Globus Institute at the University of Copenhagen have identified them, and the researchers behind the study stress the urgent need to act on their findings.
"We identified which species are most at risk of extinction due to natural hazards, which is a new aspect of our findings. We also highlight strategies to prevent these extinctions, such as captive breeding programs to increase the population size and translocation of these species," explains postdoc Fernando Gonçalves, one of the two first authors of the study. His colleague and first author of the study, postdoc Harith Farooq, adds:
"In our study, by comparing the occurrence of four types of natural hazards with species that have a limited distribution or occur in small numbers, we were able to determine which species may be more susceptible to these threats," he says.
The researchers found that a total of 3722 reptiles, amphibians, birds and mammals are threatened with extinction because they live in areas most likely to experience hurricanes, earthquakes, tsunamis and volcanoes.
"Half of these species are what we qualify as 'high risk' of extinction due to natural hazards, and most of them are found in the tropics and especially on tropical islands that have already experienced many extinctions following human colonization," say Jonas Geldman and Bo Dalsgaard, who are senior authors of the study.
Efforts to increase populations of threatened species
To help species withstand natural disasters, some may be relocated to safer areas and conservation measures such as captive breeding programs may be implemented. One example is the endemic parrot found only on the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico.
“The Puerto Rican parakeet, once widespread but now threatened with extinction due to human activity and hurricanes, is being protected through captive breeding and reintroduction to Puerto Rico. This is one of the steps that we highlight in the paper that should be taken to increase the number of individuals in nature," says Fernando Gonçalves.
The authors hope that the research will lead to other efforts to prevent species from becoming extinct in the future. They also seek to go beyond simply listing species at risk due to natural hazards and encourage research that examines and understands the broader ecological consequences, such as the loss of interactions between these species and their environments.
"Given that many vital aspects of ecosystems, such as pollination and seed dispersal, depend heavily on interactions between living organisms, the loss of these interactions can have significant consequences. This can lead to a faster decline in the number of species and a decline in ecosystem functions," says Fernando Gonçalves and adds:
“We're not just losing one species; we are losing many of the ecosystem functions that these species provide," says Fernando Gonçalves.