North American freshwater fishes are going extinct at an alarming rate compared with other species, a U.S. government researcher says. Writing in the journal BioScience, Noel M. Burkhead of the U.S. Geological Survey reports the rate of extinctions increased noticeably after 1950, and although it has leveled off in the past decade the number of extinct species has grown by 25 percent since 1989. For his study he examined North American freshwater fish extinctions from the end of the 19th century to 2010, when there were 1,213 species in the continent. At least 57 North American species and subspecies have gone extinct since 1898, about 3.2 percent of the total species in the continent, Burkhead wrote. Extinctions in fishes are mostly caused by loss of habitat and the introduction of non-indigenous invasive species, researchers said. Despite the discovery of new species and the \"rediscovery\" of species once thought extinct, Burkhead predicts between 53 and 86 species of North American freshwater fishes will likely have gone extinct by 2050, and the rate of extinction is now at least 877 times the background extinction rate over geological time.
GMT 11:16 2018 Tuesday ,23 January
Oil slick off China coast trebles in sizeGMT 12:29 2018 Sunday ,21 January
Spotted hyena returns to Gabon park after 20 yearsGMT 11:18 2018 Friday ,19 January
China says air quality 'improved' in 2017GMT 23:57 2018 Thursday ,18 January
for Great Barrier Reef rescue ideasGMT 23:50 2018 Thursday ,18 January
1.5 C climate goal 'very unlikely' but doableGMT 12:18 2018 Thursday ,18 January
Worst-case global warming scenarios not credible: studyGMT 10:44 2018 Thursday ,18 January
Second giant panda cub born in MalaysiaGMT 08:06 2018 Tuesday ,16 January
Oil tanker's sinking off China raises environmental fears

Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Maintained and developed by Arabs Today Group SAL.
All rights reserved to Arab Today Media Group 2025 ©
Send your comments
Your comment as a visitor