兩棲動物大量喪失後引起熱帶蛇類多樣性崩潰
作者:
小柯機器人發布時間:2020/2/17 13:33:31
美國密西根州立大學Elise F. Zipkin等研究人員發現,兩棲動物大量喪失後引起熱帶蛇類多樣性崩潰。2020年2月14日,國際知名學術期刊《科學》發表了這一成果。
研究人員記錄到,侵入性真菌病原體Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis引起的壺菌病流行導致了兩棲動物的災難性損失,從而引起新熱帶蛇群落的崩潰(這些兩棲動物是這些蛇的食物)。在兩棲動物大量死亡後,儘管環境沒有其他系統性變化,但在整個研究地點,蛇類群落中的物種數量變少,並且更為均一,此外數個物種的身體狀況較差。兩棲動物喪失後,蛇群落的滅亡表明了生物多樣性危機的嚴重後果,而這些後果往往被忽略了。研究人員提醒人們應該注意稀有且認知有限物種的無形衰退。
據介紹,全球生物多樣性正在以前所未有的速度下降。然而,生物多樣性喪失對其他類群的連鎖影響在很大程度上尚不清楚,因為通常沒有基準數據。
附:英文原文
Title: Tropical snake diversity collapses after widespread amphibian loss
Author: Elise F. Zipkin, Graziella V. DiRenzo, Julie M. Ray, Sam Rossman, Karen R. Lips
Issue&Volume: 2020/02/14
Abstract: Biodiversity is declining at unprecedented rates worldwide. Yet cascading effects of biodiversity loss on other taxa are largely unknown because baseline data are often unavailable. We document the collapse of a Neotropical snake community after the invasive fungal pathogen Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis caused a chytridiomycosis epizootic leading to the catastrophic loss of amphibians, a food source for snakes. After mass mortality of amphibians, the snake community contained fewer species and was more homogeneous across the study site, with several species in poorer body condition, despite no other systematic changes in the environment. The demise of the snake community after amphibian loss demonstrates the repercussive and often unnoticed consequences of the biodiversity crisis and calls attention to the invisible declines of rare and data-deficient species.
DOI: 10.1126/science.aay5733
Source: https://science.sciencemag.org/content/367/6479/814
Science:《科學》,創刊於1880年。隸屬於美國科學促進會,最新IF:41.037