Gen X, Global Citizen, leftist, INFJ, social cripple. Whimsical and cynical. What you'll find here: anything I find pretty, witty, odd, or amusing, and oh-so-many cats.
Protecting large swaths of Earth’s land can help stem the tide of biodiversity loss—including for vertebrates like amphibians, reptiles, mammals and birds, according to a study published in Nature Sept. 27.
The study, led by the Smithsonian Environmental Research Center (SERC) and Conservation International, emphasizes the importance of proper governance for the success of protected lands, and offers much-needed support for the United Nations’ “30 by 30” initiative to conserve the world's biodiversity.
Human activity has accelerated the natural extinction rate of vertebrates by 22 times. Such biodiversity loss can destabilize food webs and jeopardize the many benefits biodiversity provides to people, including crop pollination, healthy diets and disease control.
“Humans are inextricably dependent on biodiversity for survival,” said Justin Nowakowski, SERC conservation biologist and lead author of the study. “It provides food, fuel, fiber and other ecosystem services that we depend on for life.”
