A new study finds that bird species with extreme or uncommon combinations of traits(特征) face the highest risk of extinction. The study led by researchers at Imperial College London finds that the most unique birds on the planet are also the most threatened. Losing these species and the unique roles they play in the environment, such as seed spread, pollination and predation, could have negative impacts on the functioning of ecosystems.
The study analyzed the extinction risk and physical traits, such as beak shape and wing length, of 99% of all living bird species, making it the most general study of its kind to date. The researchers found that in simulated scenarios(模拟场景) in which all threatened and near-threatened bird species became extinct, there would be a significantly greater reduction in the physical diversity among birds than in scenarios where extinctions were random(随机的).
Jarome Ali, a PhD candidate at Princeton University who completed the research at Imperial College London, said, "Our study shows that extinctions will most likely prune a large percentage of unique species from the bird family tree. Losing these unique species will mean a loss of the specialized roles that they play in ecosystems. If we do not take action to protect threatened species and prevent extinctions, the functioning of ecosystems will be thrown into disorder."
In the study, the authors used a dataset of measurements collected from living birds and museum specimens, totaling 9,943 bird species. Although the dataset used in the study was able to show that the most unique birds were also classified as threatened on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, it was unable to show what links uniqueness in birds to extinction risk.
Jarome Ali said, "One possibility is that highly specialized organisms are less able to adapt to a changing environment, in which case human impacts may directly threaten species with the most unusual ecological roles. More research is needed to div e deeper into the connect ion between unique traits and extinction risk."
