Humans: The World's Greatest Evolutionary Forces, Create, Destroy Species And Ecosystems

Scientists have analyzed the impact of humans on the planet. According to them, humans have become evolutionary driving forces that have led to new species, new traits and novel ecosystems and to the extinction of species.

The research was published in the proceedings of the Royal Society B. The researchers analyzed how human activities influence global species diversity. They discovered that humanity aggravates the extinction rates and the humans drive rapid evolution through domestication, relocation, hunting and novel ecosystem creation. The emergence of new technologies adds to their mechanisms.

The number of species domesticated, relocated and hunted in the Holocene is of comparable magnitude to the number of observed extinctions. The instances of human-mediated speciation are also known. They also explore the significance of the anthropogenic influence upon divergence in microorganisms. The team concluded that appraising speciation alongside extinction could result in a more nuanced understanding of biosphere trends, clarifying what humans actually value about biodiversity.

Analyzing the effects of humans on Earth's plant life, the Thomas Crowther and colleagues at Yale University found that before the industrial revolution there were six billion trees on Earth. Today, there are now only three billion.

Larger animals, both on land and at sea were driven to extinction. Half of all large-bodied mammals worldwide, which are equivalent to 4 percent of all mammal species, have been lost. There have been 784 documented extinctions. These include 79 mammals, 129 birds, 21 reptiles, 34 amphibians, 81 fish, 359 invertebrates and 86 plants, according to The Conversation.

On the other hand, humans have also domesticated, which led to the emergence of new species. They domesticated around 269 plants and 474 plants to meet their needs. There are eight new species of the world's 40 most common agricultural crops. Vaclav Smil of the University of Manitoba stated that the weight of all the planet's land mammals, domesticated animals make up 67 percent, wild mammals just 3 percent and human make up 30 percent.

In regards to ecosystems, the humans altered most of them. Erle Ellis at the University of Maryland considers it as Anthromes, which are ecosystems where most of the characteristics have been fashioned by human activity. Even though there was a significant loss of biodiversity, humans also create environments that allow opportunities for the emergence of new species.

The authors said that humans have become the world's greatest evolutionary forces, who are capable of fashioning the world by developing new species and destroying others. If humans will help preserve the millions of species on earth, they must consider the impact of human in terms of the creative and destructive forces.