97% of Earth's Land May No Longer Be Ecologically Intact [STUDY]

A study published in the journal Frontiers in Forests and Global Change, entitled "Where Might We Find Ecologically Intact Communities?" revealed that 97% of the Earth's land may no longer be ecologically intact and is already disturbed by human presence.

According to IFL Science, the term "ecologically intact" is used to describe the areas of land that remained undisturbed by humans and still abundant by animal life before the industrial revolution.

The study by the international team of scientists analyzed the natural ranges of mammal species today and compared them to the 1500 BCE before the beginning of industrialization.

Three Factors In Assessing Ecological Integrity

The study identified three factors in assessing the ecological integrity and the intactness of the ecosystem of the plant. These are the extent to which land is changed due to human activities, the number of animal species lost due to habitat loss, and the number of animals in a species that is still present.

According to a news release in Frontier, the researchers found that only about 2% to 3% of the planet's land surface can be considered ecologically intact. The rest 97% no longer can be considered as such. An equally concerning issue is that only 11% of these ecologically intact areas are within environmentally protected sites.

The numbers are notably lower than previous studies, which identified 20% to 40% because the recent study included the loss of the last of the three factors in assessing ecological integrity that was not included in previous studies.

These areas are found in the Amazon Basin, Congo Basin, eastern Russia, northern Canada, Alaska, and some Sahara parts, IFL Science reported. These areas also overlap with territories that are home to indigenous people who maintain and manage the ecological integrity of the areas.

"We know intact habitat is increasingly being lost, and the values of intact habitat have been demonstrated for both biodiversity and people," said biodiversity expert and lead study author Andrew Plumptre from the University of Cambridge's Conservation Research Institute.

"But this study found that much of what we consider as intact habitat is missing species that have been hunted by people or lost because of invasive species or disease," he said.

Hope For Planet Earth

Aside from identifying the land area that is left as ecologically intact, the study also showed that the terrestrial ecosystems of Earth could be restored.

According to Forbes, animal habitats are still intact but are missing the key species or biodiversity. Additionally, there is the problem of ecosystem fragmentation wherein habitats are present but lack connections that can support many species.

Researchers noted that the findings suggest a possibility of increasing the land area that could be ecologically intact for up to 20% through reintroductions of species that have been lost in areas where human presence is still not high as long as threats to animal survival are addressed.

Co-author Kimberly Komatsu added that conservation of the remaining intact ecosystems is crucial in maintaining the Earth's biodiversity because these ecosystems, in turn, provide for humans.

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