CLAS DIRECTOR, DIRZO, AUTHORS STUDY ON LOSS OF SPECIES

Director, Center for Latin American Studies
Bing Professor in Environmental Science

The number of invertebrate animals – beetles, butterflies, spiders and worms – has decreased by 45%

Big, photogenic species, such as tigers, rhinos and pandas, get the bulk of our attention, but researchers say that even the disappearance of the tiniest beetle changes the various ecosystems on which humans depend.

"We tend to think about extinction as loss of a species from the face of the Earth, and that's very important," says Rodolfo Dirzo, director, Center for Latin American Studies and Bing Professor in Environmental Science and Senior Fellow at the Woods Institute for the Environment.  "But there's a loss of critical ecosystem functioning in which animals play a central role that we need to pay attention to as well."