Mass Extinction underway but fungi can help ! You can help fungi help save the Earth's rich biospheres

ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCES: Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction

Gerardo Ceballos,1 * Paul R. Ehrlich,2 Anthony D. Barnosky,3 Andrés García,4 Robert M. Pringle,5 Todd M. Palmer6

The oft-repeated claim that Earth’s biota is entering a sixth “mass extinction” depends on clearly demonstrating that current extinction rates are far above the “background” rates prevailing in the five previous mass extinctions. Earlier estimates of extinction rates have been criticized for using assumptions that might overestimate the severity of the extinction crisis. We assess, using extremely conservative assumptions, whether human activities are causing a mass extinction. First, we use a recent estimate of a background rate of 2 mammal extinctions per 10,000 species per 100 years (that is, 2 E/MSY), which is twice as high as widely used previous estimates. We then compare this rate with the current rate of mammal and vertebrate extinctions. The latter is conservatively low because listing a species as extinct requires meeting stringent criteria. Even under our assumptions, which would tend to minimize evidence of an incipient mass extinction, the average rate of vertebrate species loss over the last century is up to 114 times higher than the background rate. Under the 2 E/MSY background rate, the number of species that have gone extinct in the last century would have taken, depending on the vertebrate taxon, between 800 and 10,000 years to disappear. These estimates reveal an exceptionally rapid loss of biodiversity over the last few centuries, indicating that a sixth mass extinction is already under way. Averting a dramatic decay of biodiversity and the subsequent loss of ecosystem services is still possible through intensified conservation efforts, but that window of opportunity is rapidly closing.

Source: http://advances.sciencemag.org/content/1/5/e1400253

 

A Few Ways Fungi Can Help Lessen Impact of 6x Extinction

  • fungi decompose dead material and return nutrients to the food web
  • through decompositionfungi create and thicken soils 
  • fungal networks multidirectionally distribute nutrients to diverse communities
  • fungi select microbiomes leading to flora growth and fauna support
  • fungi increase moisture carrying capacity
  • fungi prevent erosion
  • fungi breakdown toxins
  • mushrooms are good, healthy substitutes for meat 
  • biodiversity increases
  • zoonotic diseases are kept at bay
  • microclimates are created

 

fungi hold the key !   we need a mycorevolution on a grand scale. 

 

What can you do ? Foremost: Celebrate decomposition ! As a first step, get logs rotting on your property.

For more info: See Mycelium Running: How Mushrooms Can Help Save the World 

 

Paul Stamets. Earthling. 

Chloe Palka