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Date: | Sun, 31 Jul 2005 18:26:02 -0500 |
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Authors
Burney DA. Flannery TF.
Title
Fifty millennia of catastrophic extinctions after human contact [Review]
Source
Trends in Ecology & Evolution. 20(7):395-401, 2005 Jul.
Abstract
Debate continues to rage between enthusiasts for climate change versus
humans as a cause of the catastrophic faunal extinctions that have
occurred in the wake of human arrival in previously uninhabited regions of
the world. A global pattern of human arrival to such landmasses, followed
by faunal collapse and other ecological changes, appears without known
exception. This strongly suggests to some investigators that a more
interesting extinction debate lies within the realm of potential
human-caused explanations and how climate might exacerbate human impacts.
New observations emerging from refined dating techniques, paleoecology and
modeling suggest that the mega-faunal collapses of the Americas and
Australia, as well as most prehistoric island biotic losses, trace to a
variety of human impacts, including rapid overharvesting, biological
invasions, habitat transformation and disease. [References: 67]
Institution
Reprint available from:
Burney DA
Natl Trop Bot Garden
3530 Papalina Rd
Kalaheo, HI 96741
USA
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