The extinction crisis in Hawai'i, which has even been labeled as the "extinction capital of the world" has been the research focus of the international team of scientists from the Pacific Biosciences Research Center (PBRC) of the University of Hawai'i at Manoa, the Bishop Museum in Honolulu, Howard University in Washington DC, and the French National Museum of Natural History in Paris.

Invertebrates (insects, snails, spiders etc.) form the majority of the species of Hawai'i's uniquely spectacular diverse and unique biota. The true level of the catastrophic extinction event was now assessed for the first time, by the research team of international scientist.

The research focused on the most diverse group of Hawaiian land snails, the Amastridae family, of which 325 species are found only on the island of Hawai'i. The scientists found that the rate of extinction could have been equal to 14% of the fauna per decade, as only 15 of these species could still be found alive.

Biologists have come to a conclusion that enhanced human activity since the 1980's has caused the Earth to face the massive biodiversity extinction crisis. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) "Red List" has labeled only 800 of the total of 1.9 million species on the planet, officially extinct, which prompted some people to ask whether the extinction crisis is actually real.

“We showed, based on extrapolation from a random sample of land snail species from all over the world, and via two independent approaches, that we may already have lost 7 percent (130,000 extinctions) of all the animal species on Earth,” said Robert Cowie, research professor at PBRC and co-author of the two studies.

However, the IUCN's numbers are based on assessments of birds and mammals and excludes invertebrates, although the species makes about 99% of known biodiversity. The estimated numbers when invertebrates were taken into the account have by far exceeded the reported number of extinct species on the IUCN Red List. 

The discovery has confirmed the biodiversity crisis is, indeed, real and has also showed the importance of taking into the account the invertebrates to obtain a realistic picture of the current situation, widely known by it's consequences as the "sixth mass extinction".

Source: University of Hawai'i, ManoaAbstract of the paper - Conservation Biology

Reference:

  • "Extinction in a hyperdiverse endemic Hawaiian land snail family and implications for the underestimation of invertebrate extinction" - Claire Regnier, Philippe Bouchet, Kenneth A. Hayes, Norine W. Yeung, Carl C. Christensen, Daniel J.D. Chung, Benoit Fontaine, Robert H. Cowie - Conservation Biology (2015) - doi: 10.1111/cobi.12565

Featured image: Native Hawaiian snail habitat on Pu'u Kukui, Maui. Image credit: Kenneth A. Hayes

Universal Service of Light's photo.

Follow the one who does sing of Love,

he brings messages on the wings of a dove.

Follow him my friends for the love he sends,

look inside yourself and then make amends.

Follow the minstrel who sings of peace,

darkness and sorrow you shall then release.

Follow the words of wisdom from the wise,

open your heart and mind,oh what a surprise.

Follow your guides, as below so above,

for they all talk of this thing called Love.

Follow the inner self when you go to the light,

for it will bring you joy in the long dark night.

Boldly go where no man has gone before,

Ascend in this life, death is then no more.

Follow the H.S. teacher who is inside of you,

there's another teacher whom you will follow soon.

They are everywhere singing there song for you,

listen to the message they bring ,have you a clue.

Awaken my friends, the nightmare is nearly over now,

Joy, peace and happiness will come through somehow.

Follow the signs in the words that they will bring,

the glorious Sound of "Love" that they do sing.

Then follow you higher self, for he/she knows best,

the words of Freedom rings loud, ignore the rest.

The mind has been in much confusion these days,

Follow the messengers who say,Forget the old 3d ways.

Look around you and then tell me what do you see,

the Message is clear, you are what you wont to be.

The Dark ones have controlled us  for far to long,

there almost gone now,in joy I now sing this song.

Awaken,rise up and brake the shack-els you wear,

for its time now to Forgive and Forget your despair.

The Creator has Freed us from those who would control,

reach out and be a part of him, that is our only true goal.

The Father Loves the son, thats why Freedom has begun,

Follow your Brother, for surely we are all in truth "one".

Its time now to awaken the sleeping child deep within,

we must go gently my Love for we must "all" Ascend.

As we learn to open our hearts and minds, then too,

God is within us as us, he's part of me and part of you.

BY REV.JOSHUA SKIRVIN, JULY2015

http://www.ashtarcommandcrew.net/profiles/blogs/follow-the-one-who-sings-of-love-july-2015#ixzz3ifSddkJs 
Follow us: AshtarCommandCrew on FacebookFollow @TheWatchers_