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Humans altering Adriatic ecosystems more than nature, UF study shows
http://news.ufl.edu/archive/2015/02/humans-altering-adriatic-ecosystems-more-than-nature-uf-study-shows.html[font face=Serif][font size=5]Humans altering Adriatic ecosystems more than nature, UF study shows[/font]
Published: February 13 2015
[font size=3]The ecosystems of the Adriatic Sea have weathered natural climate shifts for 125,000 years, but humans could be rapidly altering this historically stable biodiversity hot spot, a University of Florida study says.
The study details a major shift in bottom-dwelling species in Italy’s Po Basin, a region south of Venice known for its ecologically and commercially important shellfish as well as its tourism industry.
“The fossil record suggests that human activities can alter even those ecosystems that have been immune to major changes naturally occurring on our planet,” said the study’s lead author, Michal Kowalewski, the Thompson Chair of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus.
“We may be witnessing a permanent shift,” Kowalewski said. “This restructuring could have lasting consequences for regional biodiversity, including the overall health of the broader marine ecosystems of the Adriatic.”
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http://rspb.royalsocietypublishing.org/content/282/1803/20142990
Published: February 13 2015
[font size=3]The ecosystems of the Adriatic Sea have weathered natural climate shifts for 125,000 years, but humans could be rapidly altering this historically stable biodiversity hot spot, a University of Florida study says.
The study details a major shift in bottom-dwelling species in Italy’s Po Basin, a region south of Venice known for its ecologically and commercially important shellfish as well as its tourism industry.
“The fossil record suggests that human activities can alter even those ecosystems that have been immune to major changes naturally occurring on our planet,” said the study’s lead author, Michal Kowalewski, the Thompson Chair of Invertebrate Paleontology at the Florida Museum of Natural History on the UF campus.
“We may be witnessing a permanent shift,” Kowalewski said. “This restructuring could have lasting consequences for regional biodiversity, including the overall health of the broader marine ecosystems of the Adriatic.”
…[/font][/font]