Fossils reveal humans were greater threat than climate change to Caribbean wildlife

Climate change was still very destructive. Almost half of the extinct species in this study likely fell victim to changes in climate and rising sea levels around the end of the Ice Age.

http://www.eurekalert.org/pub_releases/2015-10/uof-frh101915.php

Public Release: 19-Oct-2015
Fossils reveal humans were greater threat than climate change to Caribbean wildlife
University of Florida

Nearly 100 fossil species pulled from a flooded cave in the Bahamas reveal a true story of persistence against all odds -- at least until the time humans stepped foot on the islands.

University of Florida researchers say the discovery, detailed in a study appearing in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, shows many human activities pose a threat to the future of island biodiversity, with modern human-driven climate change not necessarily the most alarming. [Bit still quite alarming. Almost half of the extinct species in the study were likely victims of Thirty-nine of the species discussed in the new study no longer exist on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. Of those, 17 species of birds likely fell victim to changes in climate and rising sea levels around the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. Twenty-two other species of reptiles, birds and mammals persisted through those dramatic environmental changes only to vanish when humans first arrived on the island 1,000 years ago.

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Thirty-nine of the species discussed in the new study no longer exist on Great Abaco Island in the Bahamas. Of those, 17 species of birds likely fell victim to changes in climate and rising sea levels around the end of the Ice Age, about 10,000 years ago. Twenty-two other species of reptiles, birds and mammals persisted through those dramatic environmental changes only to vanish when humans first arrived on the island 1,000 years ago.

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Hayley Singleton, UF master's student and study co-author, said the new research shows how quickly humans can drastically alter habitats. Unlike during the Ice Age, modern climate change and other human-driven changes often go hand in hand, she said.

"When humans change habitats at a rate that local species cannot keep up with, that can very quickly result in the losses," Singleton said. "Likewise, even small climate changes can affect migration and significantly impact habitats. So, you can have the perfect storm where climate and human-driven changes are occurring at the same time, like we're seeing in places around the world today."

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