A Dose of Diversity

Our good friend Dr Black (and esteemed Board Member of OMG ;-)) was kind enough to pass along this great report.  We hope you enjoy the article.

Scientists are discovering that species extinctions fuel the rise and spread of infectious diseases and hinder medical research…..

“Reduce plant diversity and you may reduce bird diversity as well.” And across North America, nonnative invasives like Japanese knotweed pose one of the greatest threats to plant diversity…

Sharks are among the most endangered of the world’s ocean fish. The main threat remains overharvesting, with some 75-100 million sharks caught each year. In the last 8 to 15 years, populations of virtually all the world’s 400-odd species have declined by more than 50 percent…

Frogs and other amphibians are in the midst of an extinction crisis worldwide. Nearly 1 in 3 amphibian species is threatened, and 122 appear to have gone extinct in the last few decades alone. Many more undiscovered amphibians are likely to have vanished as well…

Read the whole article here; http://bit.ly/dBZ5EJ

Article produced by National Wildlife Magazine 07-14-2010 // Jessica Snyder Sachs