Climate change and land conversion for agricultural use put the life of many species at risk, this is what has been unveiled by the most recent study conducted by the Stanford University researchers.

The result published by Ecology Letters, researchers reveals that changing the uses of land puts the life of many species at risk.

Population explosion now becomes one of the biggest concern that mankind is facing. The situation is expected to grow worse in the years to come for it is predicted to grow at nine billion by the year 2020.

That is why man is forced to expand his land not only for habitation but even for agricultural use. That is when land use shift comes to the scene.

However, changing the land use is creating a very serious threat to the species if not putting them at the level of extinction.

Deforestation, one of the most common and easiest ways to expand man's agricultural territory put the rainforest species at the point of vulnerability, Web MD reported.

As forests are being converted to agricultural lands, the forecasted extinction of half of the species in the near future is beginning to have its way.

This is primarily because deforestation although giving dry-climate species a wider habitation makes forests less conducive for rainforest species to live on.

This reality is proven by a 12-year study conducted by the Stanford University researchers over 300 bird species in Costa Rica.

Results show that as biodiversity strengthens and as forests were transformed, the areas become more like a savannah. These agricultural lands now become a very conducive place for dry climate bird species to live but wet climate bird species tend to die.

Luke Frishkof, Stanford biology doctoral student leading the research appealed to people to consider the present and future climate of a region and its impact on species when thinking about habitat transformation, Stanford News reported.

Topics Climate change, Species, Extinction