login
Become a member
Quick Registration
Full Registration Benefits -
Free Homepages for Doctors
Free Homepages for Hospitals
Free Homepages for Medical Conference
Free Homepages for NGO's
Personal Health Record Creation
Access to all Medical Slides
Access to all Jobs & Products Sale
Math Glitch Means Extinction Risks for Endangered Species Underestimated
According to Assistant Professor Brett Melbourne of CU-Boulder's ecology and evolutionary biology department, who led the research, current mathematical models used to determine extinction threat, or "red-listed" status, of species worldwide overlook random differences between individuals in a given population.
Such differences, which include variations in male-to-female sex ratios as well as size or behavioral variations between individuals that can influence their survival rates and reproductive success, have an unexpectedly large effect on extinction risk calculations, according to the study.
"When we apply our new mathematical model to species extinction rates, it shows that things are worse than we thought," said Melbourne.
"By accounting for random differences between individuals, extinction rates for endangered species can be orders of magnitude higher than conservation biologists have believed," he added.
Currently, extinction risk models are based primarily on two factors, according to Melbourne.
One is the number of random events adversely affecting individuals within a population.
"While a sequence of such random events in a small population can have a big impact, such events are far less likely to affect larger populations," said Melbourne.
The second risk factor used widely in extinction risk models is the impact of external, random events like temperature and rainfall fluctuations that can influence birth and death rates of individuals in a population.
|
|
|
 Comment & Contribute
|
Medwonders Health Network
- Health News Index
- News Quick Links
| News Categories: |
| » | Cardio-Pulmonary Function can be a Strong Indicator for Survival Chances of Breast Cancer Patients |
| » | Post Surgery Will the Tumour Return? New Breast Cancer Test to Predict Exactly |
| » | Scientists Develop Compound That Triggers Cancer Cell Death |
| » | Iraqi National Hopes to Find Affordable Treatment for His Cancer in India |
| » | New Technique can Help Doctors Detect Pancreatic Cancer |
| More Cancer News | |
|
