Biodiversity losses in terrestrial, freshwater, and marine systems are accelerating at a global scale and the most threatened vertebrate taxa are those associated with freshwater habitats. The causes of biodiversity losses are often complex and include synergistic effects of natural and human-induced stressors, such as habitat loss and fragmentation, urbanization,...
The current rate of global biodiversity loss and extinctions is unparalleled and a major concern. Freshwater organisms are facing particularly rapid rates of biodiversity loss. Amphibians, which require an aquatic environment for part of their life cycle, are one of the most vulnerable vertebrate groups. Amphibians are experiencing population declines,...
Rapid rates of biodiversity loss have supported the notion that Earth is experiencing a sixth major extinction event. The causes of worldwide biodiversity loss are multifaceted and context dependent. One of the most prominent groups experiencing population declines and extinctions are amphibians. Several pathogens and their associated diseases are especially...
The ongoing worldwide loss of biodiversity has been described as a "biodiversity crisis," "the Anthropocene defaunation," and alternatively "an extinction spasm." More recently, many scientists have come to the conclusion that we are witnesses to Earth's sixth major mass extinction event, which has the potential to fundamentally alter basic ecological...
The causes of the global biodiversity crisis are varied and complex. Anthropogenic threats may act in isolation, or interact additively or synergistically with each other or with natural stressors to affect sensitive taxa. The recent emergence of many infectious diseases in wildlife has brought attention to the role of disease...