100 bird species on edge of extinction due to global food trade
The European turtle dove, nearing UK extinction because of farming practices.
(Web Desk) - Scientists predict about 100 bird species at the risk of extinction due to the current unsustainable food and farming system, and inadequate forestry practices which has led to ecological crisis, according to a new global analysis.
Ecological crisis implies both in terms of driving the collapse of biodiversity and contributing to climate change.
The research has been published in the journal Nature Ecology and Evolution that determined that the rate of extinction has increased by 7 percent over the first ten years of this century alone.
Scientists suggest that the prime factor leading to their extinction is cattle farming, but the impact of oil seed crops like palm and soy is growing fast.
By contrast, an estimated 140 birds have been lost over the past 400 years.
International researchers used bird extinction as a measure of the loss of biodiversity - the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat - linked with international trade in food and timber.
The research further concluded that international trade can pose certain threats to animal species far from the countries where the goods are consumed.
The spix macaw, that is believed to have gone extinct in the wild due mainly to deforestation
In 2011, about a third of biodiversity impacts in Central and South America, and a quarter in Africa were driven by the consumption of goods in other parts of the world, says the team.
The researchers estimated the number of bird species at risk of extinction due to the conversion of natural habitat to land for agriculture and forestry between 2000 and 2011.
They found that as many as 121 bird species were at the risk of extinction in the near future if there is no proper modification to the current land use.
