Two Mexican scientists win the Frontiers award for their research on the mass extinction of species

Mexican scientists Gerardo Ceballos and Rodolfo Dirzo have been recognized with the Frontiers of Knowledge award for their contribution to documenting and quantifying the magnitude of the Sixth Great Extinction of species on the planet.

This is the 16th edition of these awards held by the BBVA Foundation, in which the contributions of various academics in the field of scientific studies, technology, humanities and artistic creation are recognized.

Ceballos, from the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM) and Dirzo, from Stanford University, have been awarded the prize in the category of Ecology and Conservation Biology, the first time it has been awarded to two Latin American scientists.

The jury highlighted that their research establishes that current rates of species extinction in many groups of organisms "are much higher than in the previous two million years."

In this way, it has been proven that the massive loss of animals and plants in some of the most biodiverse habitats on the planet is directly related to the impact of humans.

Scientists highlight that this Sixth Great Extinction is between 100 and 1,000 times higher than that which has prevailed in the last million years.

“This means that the vertebrate species that became extinct in the last century should have become extinct in 10,000 years,” says Ceballos in an interview with EL PAÍS.

“Dirzo and Ceballos' work contributes significantly to the understanding of how these losses affect the resilience and sustainability of our ecosystems, shedding light on the urgent need for conservation actions to preserve the integrity of these systems vital to our survival. ”, highlights the jury in its ruling.

The two ecologists are leaders in the study of the so-called “defaunation”, a term coined by Dirzo to refer to the alterations that cause the disappearance of animals in the structure and functioning of ecosystems.

“We are losing the evolutionary history of the planet, biological heritage, we are losing the species that shaped our evolution and were part of why we are here now,” adds Ceballos.

Ceballos points out the importance of the conservation of species since it depends on them to maintain living conditions on Earth, what both specialists call “environmental services” and highlights the importance of putting the great mass extinction of species at the level of the problem. of climate change.

“It is one of the most serious problems that humanity is facing,” he says.

“We must conserve species if we understand that they are necessary to maintain conditions of climatic stability in the atmosphere.

Or for example, 75% of the active compound in current medicines comes from wild plants, animals and microorganisms and 70% of crops are pollinated thanks to bats, butterflies, hummingbirds and bees,” says Ceballos and summarizes it this way. : “Every time a species becomes extinct we are removing bricks from the wall and, soon, the wall is going to collapse.”

The specialist warns that there is still an opportunity to reverse the effects of the great extinction, although time is running out.

“What happens in the next 20 years will define the future of civilization and biodiversity on the planet.”

Subscribe here