Researchers Complete Reptile Atlas of Life

in #science6 years ago

Uri Roll of Ben Gurion University of the Negev (Israel) has led a team of 39 scientists to complete the reptile atlas of life: the first definitive map that details the distribution and density of all described reptile species in the world. 

The "Atlas of Life" is a geographic model of the earth’s vertebrate species, and the newly completed reptile data has been added to that of more than 5,000 mammals, 10,000 bird species, and 600 amphibian species around the world. Though the information and maps of mammals, birds and amphibians were completed around 10 years ago, the researchers found that, at the time, the data on reptiles was just too scare to interpret accurately.

 “Lizards especially tend to have weird distributions and often like hot and dry places, so many of the newly identified conservation priority areas are in drylands and deserts. These don't tend to be priorities for birds or mammals, so we couldn't have guessed them in advance.” -Roll Source

The Atlas serves as more than just a map of animals. By displaying the distribution and population densities of so many animals, the Atlas allows researchers to more accurately identify and gauge the world's conservation hot spots. This data will be used to enact large-scale conservation measures that can be aimed to protect entire regions as opposed to a single species or group of animals. The newly completed reptile data shows the Arabian peninsula, inland southern Africa, central Australia, and the steppes of Asia as areas of concern.

“On the one hand, finding vital areas in arid regions is a good thing because the land is fairly cheap. But deserts and drylands are also home to lots of other modern activities, such as major irrigation projects, huge new solar power developments, and sometimes widespread land degradation, war and conflict. This makes them very challenging environment for conservationists to work.” -Richard Greyner, Oxford University Source

International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN is the organization that lists the conservation status of species around the world from threatened to extinct) is now studying the Atlas to classify each species based on its rarity or vulnerability. Quite soon, conservation groups will launch new efforts using the Atlas to protect reptiles and other critical vertebrates around the world far more efficiently that on a species to species basis.

Image Links: 1, 2, 3

Article Link: https://www.sciencedaily.com/

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The regions you named as areas of concern, are very hostile environments even for specialist species like some of the reptiles. There is propably just not enough food to sustain a dense population. In some of the places, its almost a miracle that anything can manage to live there at all.
And about conservation efforts... Most of those areas are controlled by very questionable governments. If there is a choice to be made between financial profit and protection of animals, I'm not optimistic about the outcome.

It's definitely a major hurdle that has to be considered. Widespread development and war are huge threats to conservation. IUCN tries to mitigate these threats by rewarding countries that participate in critical conservation efforts. A lot of countries don't participate in these efforts simply because they lack the funds and the means to do so, but with assistance are often very supportive of these initiatives.

I wish I could share your optimism. Only too often there is a huge gap between the official government policy and that what actually happens on the ground.
If the choice is between profit making and conservation, there is not much reason for hope.

Truth. But I feel as we move forward, we will see conservation become more profitable and worth the effort. Especially as we make the shift to renewable sources. We're really still only just beginning to understand our reliance on the species we live around; I am fairly optimistic that one day people will realize that there is a great deal of wealth to be had in conservation (new energy, medical breakthroughs, etc). I think being greedy could be a good thing if we harness that greed (example: if we save snakes, we can use their venom for medical research; it's a greedy reason, but is beneficial)>

These scientists messed up big time. Something is very wrong with that map.

Newport News, VA should be the capital of the reptile atlas of life. Please ask Uri Roll to provide us with an updated version with the correction shown in the legend.

Lol I wish!

thanks for sharing keep it up

@herpetologyguy, very useful writing, I can only comment on your post. hopefully the right animal can be guarded and preserved. my friends continued success. warm greetings from Indonesia

nice post
good job

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