The ghosts of Ice Age mammals can teach valuable, real-world lessons about what happens to an ecosystem when its most distinct species go extinct, according to a Yale University study.
On the plus side, Davis said, the Ice Age wasn't as hard on functional diversity -- the role that an animal plays within an ecosystem -- as previously thought. The planet lost about 38% of its larges-mammal, functional diversity.
One aim of the study was to examine the relationship between functional diversity and extinction risk: Were the most distinct species the ones most at risk? Davis found that for large Ice Age mammals in North America, distinct species with unique traits were not more likely to go extinct.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170112131054.htm
On the plus side, Davis said, the Ice Age wasn't as hard on functional diversity -- the role that an animal plays within an ecosystem -- as previously thought. The planet lost about 38% of its larges-mammal, functional diversity.
One aim of the study was to examine the relationship between functional diversity and extinction risk: Were the most distinct species the ones most at risk? Davis found that for large Ice Age mammals in North America, distinct species with unique traits were not more likely to go extinct.
https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2017/01/170112131054.htm