Anthropogenic impact on animal life and its consequences for ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services

Abstract: Although anthropogenic impacts on biodiversity are recognized, human impacts on animal life are an under-appreciated form of global environmental change. For example, among terrestrial vertebrates, 322 species have
 become extinct since 1500, and populations of the remaining species show 25% average decline in abundance. Invertebrate patterns are equally dire: 
monitored populations show close to 50% mean abundance decline. Such animal declines
will cascade onto ecosystem functioning and human well-being, including risks to human health. I will discuss how defaunation is both a pervasive component of the current anthropogenic erosion of Earth’s biological diversity and also a major driver of global ecological change of significance for society.

About the Speaker: Rodolfo Dirzo earned his M.Sc. and his Ph.D. from the University of Wales, UK, and he is currently a professor of biology at Stanford, and Director of Stanford’s Center for Latin American Studies. His research on the ecology of plant and animals in tropical ecosystems examines the significance of biodiversity loss in terms of ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services to society. He is member of the US National Academy of Sciences. He is committed to education at all levels, including elementary and high schools from underserved communities in the Bay Area.