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The past and future human impact on mammalian diversity.

ABSTRACT: To understand the current biodiversity crisis, it is crucial to determine how humans have affected biodiversity in the past. However, the extent of human involvement in species extinctions from the Late Pleistocene onward remains contentious. Here, we apply Bayesian models to the fossil record to estimate how mammalian extinction rates have changed over the past 126,000 years, inferring specific times of rate increases. We specifically test the hypothesis of human-caused extinctions by using posterior predictive methods. We find that human population size is able to predict past extinctions with 96% accuracy. Predictors based on past climate, in contrast, perform no better than expected by chance, suggesting that climate had a negligible impact on global mammal extinctions. Based on current trends, we predict for the near future a rate escalation of unprecedented magnitude. Our results provide a comprehensive assessment of the human impact on past and predicted future extinctions of mammals.

SUBMITTER: Andermann T

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7473673 | biostudies-literature | 2020 Sep

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The past and future human impact on mammalian diversity.

Andermann Tobias T Faurby Søren S Turvey Samuel T ST Antonelli Alexandre A Silvestro Daniele D

Science advances 20200904 36

To understand the current biodiversity crisis, it is crucial to determine how humans have affected biodiversity in the past. However, the extent of human involvement in species extinctions from the Late Pleistocene onward remains contentious. Here, we apply Bayesian models to the fossil record to estimate how mammalian extinction rates have changed over the past 126,000 years, inferring specific times of rate increases. We specifically test the hypothesis of human-caused extinctions by using pos ...[more]

PMID: 32917612

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Project description:Human natural antibodies to mammalian carbohydrate antigens (MCA) bind to carbohydrate-antigens synthesized in other mammalian species and protect against zoonotic virus infections. Three such anti-MCA antibodies are: (1) anti-Gal, also produced in Old-World monkeys and apes, binds to α-gal epitopes synthesized in non-primate mammals, lemurs, and New-World monkeys; (2) anti-Neu5Gc binds to Neu5Gc (N-glycolyl-neuraminic acid) synthesized in apes, Old-World monkeys, and many non-primate mammals; and (3) anti-Forssman binds to Forssman-antigen synthesized in various mammals. Anti-viral protection by anti-MCA antibodies is feasible because carbohydrate chains of virus envelopes are synthesized by host glycosylation machinery and thus are similar to those of their mammalian hosts. Analysis of MCA glycosyltransferase genes suggests that anti-Gal appeared in ancestral Old-World primates following catastrophic selection processes in which parental populations synthesizing α-gal epitopes were eliminated in enveloped virus epidemics. However, few mutated offspring in which the α1,3galactosyltransferase gene was accidentally inactivated produced natural anti-Gal that destroyed viruses presenting α-gal epitopes, thereby preventing extinction of mutated offspring. Similarly, few mutated hominin offspring that ceased to synthesize Neu5Gc produced anti-Neu5Gc, which destroyed viruses presenting Neu5Gc synthesized in parental hominin populations. A present-day example for few humans having mutations that prevent synthesis of a common carbohydrate antigen (produced in >99.99% of humans) is blood-group Bombay individuals with mutations inactivating H-transferase; thus, they cannot synthesize blood-group O (H-antigen) but produce anti-H antibody. Anti-MCA antibodies prevented past extinctions mediated by enveloped virus epidemics, presently protect against zoonotic-viruses, and may protect in future epidemics. Travelers to regions with endemic zoonotic viruses may benefit from vaccinations elevating protective anti-MCA antibody titers.

Project description:To reduce the accelerating rate of phylogenetic diversity loss, many studies have searched for mechanisms that could explain why certain species are at risk, whereas others are not. In particular, it has been demonstrated that species might be affected by both extrinsic threat factors as well as intrinsic biological traits that could render a species more sensitive to extinction; here, we focus on extrinsic factors. Recently, the International Union for Conservation of Nature developed a new classification of threat types, including climate change, urbanization, pollution, agriculture and aquaculture, and harvesting/hunting. We have used this new classification to analyze two main factors that could explain the expected future loss of mammalian phylogenetic diversity: 1. differences in the type of threats that affect mammals and 2. differences in the number of major threats that accumulate for a single species. Our results showed that Cetartiodactyla, Diprotodontia, Monotremata, Perissodactyla, Primates, and Proboscidea could lose a high proportion of their current phylogenetic diversity in the coming decades. In contrast, Chiroptera, Didelphimorphia, and Rodentia could lose less phylogenetic diversity than expected if extinctions were random. Some mammalian clades, including Marsupiala, Chiroptera, and a subclade of Primates, are affected by particular threat types, most likely due solely to their geographic locations and associations with particular habitats. However, regardless of the geography, habitat, and taxon considered, it is not the threat type, but the threat diversity that determines the extinction risk for species and clades. Thus, some mammals might be randomly located in areas subjected to a large diversity of threats; they might also accumulate detrimental traits that render them sensitive to different threats, which is a characteristic that could be associated with large body size. Any action reducing threat diversity is expected to have a significant impact on future mammalian phylogeny.

Project description:BackgroundDirofilariosis is a vector-borne parasitosis caused by filarial nematodes of the genus Dirofilaria. In humans, who represent accidental hosts, dirofilariosis is mostly caused by Dirofilaria repens and Dirofilaria immitis. In Austria, the first reported case occurred in 1978. Since then, several (case) reports have been published.MethodsA systematic and retrospective review of collected published cases and new, unpublished confirmed cases of human dirofilariosis occurring in Austria was performed. A nematode was extracted from the eyelid of a previously unreported case and subsequently characterized histologically and using molecular biology techniques.ResultsData on a total of 39 cases of human dirofilariosis in Austria occurring between 1978 and 2020 are summarized. Over the past four decades the incidence has markedly increased, in particular after 1998. Of the 39 patients, men and women were equally affected, and the mean age was 47.1 years. The area most frequently affected was the head (38.5% of cases). Confined ocular involvement was observed in 23.1% of cases, and nematodes were isolated from the neck/trunk, extremities and the genito-inguinal area in 25.6, 15.4 and 15.4% of patients, respectively. Microfilariae were detected in two cases. Of the 39 patients, only 73.9% tested positive for anti-filarial antibodies and 56.3% for eosinophilia, despite successful isolation of a nematode; consequently, these measures did not represent reliable markers for dirofilariosis. Most patients had a travel history to countries endemic for Dirofilaria species. One patient who had not traveled abroad represented the only autochthonous case recorded to date. Dirofilaria repens was the predominant species, identified in 89.7% of cases. In the newly reported case of subcutaneous dirofilariosis, a live non-gravid Dirofilaria repens adult female of 12 cm length was isolated from the eyelid of the patient, and a video of the extraction is provided.ConclusionsThe incidence of human dirofilariosis cases has increased strikingly over the last four decades in Austria. More cases can be expected in the foreseeable future due to changes in human behavior and (travel) activities as well as climate changes and the associated alterations in the availability of the natural reservoir, the vectors and the intrinsic characteristics of the parasite.

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The past and future human impact on mammalian diversity.

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The past and future human impact on mammalian diversity.

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