Editing Holocene extinction (section)

== By region ==
[[Megafauna]] were once found on every continent of the world, but are now almost exclusively found on the continent of Africa. In some regions, megafauna experienced population crashes and [[trophic cascade]]s shortly after the earliest human settlers.<ref name="Perry-2014" /><ref name="Crowley-2010" /> Worldwide, 178 species of the world's largest mammals died out between 52,000 and 9,000 BC; it has been suggested that a higher proportion of African megafauna survived because they evolved alongside humans.<ref name="Ritchie-2021">{{Cite journal|last1=Ritchie|first1=Hannah|author1-link=Hannah Ritchie |last2=Roser|first2=Max|author2-link=Max Roser |date=2021-04-15|title=Habitat Loss|url=https://ourworldindata.org/habitat-loss|journal=[[Our World in Data]]|access-date=2022-03-10|archive-date=2022-03-10|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220310150342/https://ourworldindata.org/habitat-loss|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="Kolbert-2014" /> The timing of [[List of South American animals extinct in the Holocene|South American megafaunal extinction]] appears to precede human arrival, although the possibility that human activity at the time impacted the global climate enough to cause such an extinction has been suggested.<ref name="Kolbert-2014" />

=== Africa ===
{{See also|List of African animals extinct in the Holocene}}
Africa experienced the smallest decline in megafauna compared to the other continents. This is presumably due to the idea that African megafauna evolved alongside humans, and thus developed a healthy fear of them, unlike the comparatively tame animals of other continents.<ref name="Ritchie-2021" /><ref>{{cite book|last1=Elias|first1=S. A.|title=Vertebrate Records|last2=Schreve|first2=D. C.|publisher=Elsevier|year=2013|edition=2nd|series=Encyclopedia of Quaternary Science|location=Amsterdam|pages=700–711|chapter=Late Pleistocene Megafaunal Extinctions|chapter-url=https://pure.royalholloway.ac.uk/portal/files/17443890/late_pleistocene_megafaunal_extinctions.pdf}}{{dead link|date=July 2020|bot=medic}}{{cbignore|bot=medic}}</ref>

=== Eurasia ===
{{See also|List of Asian animals extinct in the Holocene|List of European animals extinct in the Holocene}}
[[File:Ice age fauna of northern Spain - Mauricio Antón.jpg|thumb|Many giant mammals such as [[woolly mammoth]]s, [[woolly rhinoceros]]es, and [[Panthera spelaea|cave lions]] inhabited the mammoth steppe during the Pleistocene.]]
Unlike other continents, the megafauna of Eurasia went extinct over a relatively long period of time, possibly due to climate fluctuations fragmenting and decreasing populations, leaving them vulnerable to over-exploitation, as with the [[steppe bison]] (''Bison priscus'').<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Pushkina|first1=D.|last2=Raia|first2=P.|year=2008|title=Human influence on distribution and extinctions of the late Pleistocene Eurasian megafauna|journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]]|volume=54|issue=6|pages=769–782|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2007.09.024|pmid=18199470|bibcode=2008JHumE..54..769P }}</ref> The warming of the arctic region caused the rapid decline of grasslands, which had a negative effect on the grazing megafauna of Eurasia. Most of what once was [[mammoth steppe]] was converted to [[mire]], rendering the environment incapable of supporting them, notably the [[woolly mammoth]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Mann|first1=Daniel H.|last2=Groves|first2=Pamela|last3=Reanier|first3=Richard E.|last4=Gaglioti|first4=Benjamin V.|last5=Kunz|first5=Michael L.|last6=Shapiro|first6=Beth|year=2015|title=Life and extinction of megafauna in the ice-age Arctic|journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]]|volume=112|issue=46|pages=14301–14306|bibcode=2015PNAS..11214301M|doi=10.1073/pnas.1516573112|pmc=4655518|pmid=26578776|doi-access=free}}</ref> However, all these megafauna had survived previous interglacials with the same or more intense warming, suggesting that even during warm periods, refugia may have existed and that human hunting may have been the critical factor for their extinction.

In the western Mediterranean region, anthropogenic forest degradation began around 4,000 BP, during the Chalcolithic, and became especially pronounced during the [[Ancient Rome|Roman]] era. The reasons for the decline of forest ecosystems stem from agriculture, grazing, and mining.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Gil-García |first1=María José |last2=Ruiz-Zapata |first2=Blanca |last3=Ortiz |first3=José E. |last4=Torres |first4=Trinidad |last5=Ros |first5=Milagros |last6=Ramallo |first6=Sebastián |last7=López-Cilla |first7=Ignacio |last8=Galán |first8=Luis A. |last9=Sánchez-Palencia |first9=Yolanda |last10=Manteca |first10=Ignacio |last11=Rodríguez-Estrella |first11=Tomás |last12=Blázquez |first12=Ana |last13=Gómez-Borrego |first13=Ángeles |date=1 March 2022 |title=Paleoenvironmental variability and anthropic influence during the last 7300 years in the western Mediterranean based on the pollen record of Cartagena Bay, SE Spain |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018222000098 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=589 |page=110839 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2022.110839 |bibcode=2022PPP...58910839G |access-date=15 January 2023 |hdl=20.500.12466/3874 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=16 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230116090113/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018222000098 |url-status=live }}</ref> During the twilight years of the [[Western Roman Empire]], forests in northwestern Europe rebounded from losses incurred throughout the Roman period, though deforestation on a large scale resumed once again around 800 BP, during the [[High Middle Ages]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Lambert |first1=C. |last2=Penaud |first2=A. |last3=Vidal |first3=M. |last4=Gandini |first4=C. |last5=Labeyrie |first5=L. |last6=Chavaud |first6=L. |last7=Ehrhold |first7=A. |date=15 December 2020 |title=Striking forest revival at the end of the Roman Period in north-western Europe |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=10 |issue=1 |page=21984 |doi=10.1038/s41598-020-77253-1 |pmid=33319781 |pmc=7738505 |bibcode=2020NatSR..1021984L }}</ref>

In southern China, human land use is believed to have permanently altered the trend of vegetation dynamics in the region, which was previously governed by temperature. This is evidenced by high fluxes of charcoal from that time interval.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Cheng |first1=Zhongjing |last2=Weng |first2=Chengyu |last3=Steinke |first3=Stephan |last4=Mohtadi |first4=Mahyar |date=29 October 2018 |title=Anthropogenic modification of vegetated landscapes in southern China from 6,000 years ago |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0250-1?error=cookies_not_supported&code=091f40e9-e7f1-452d-b2e7-b9df48a7062a |journal=[[Nature Geoscience]] |volume=11 |issue=12 |pages=939–943 |doi=10.1038/s41561-018-0250-1 |bibcode=2018NatGe..11..939C |s2cid=133729236 |access-date=11 April 2023 |archive-date=12 April 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230412055339/https://www.nature.com/articles/s41561-018-0250-1?error=cookies_not_supported&code=091f40e9-e7f1-452d-b2e7-b9df48a7062a |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Americas ===
{{Main|List of North American animals extinct in the Holocene|List of South American animals extinct in the Holocene}}
[[File:Mammoth House (Replica).JPG|thumb|left|Reconstructed [[woolly mammoth]] bone hut, based on finds in [[Mezhyrich, Cherkasy Oblast|Mezhyrich]].]]
[[File:Ectopistes migratorius (passenger pigeon).jpg|thumb|upright|The [[passenger pigeon]] was a species of pigeon endemic to North America. It experienced a rapid decline in the late 1800s due to habitat destruction and intense hunting by [[European colonization of the Americas|European settlers]]. The last wild bird is thought to have been shot in 1901.]]
There has been a debate as to the extent to which the disappearance of [[megafauna]] at the end of the last [[glacial period]] can be attributed to human activities by hunting, or even by slaughter{{efn|This may refer to groups of animals endangered by climate change. For example, during a catastrophic drought, remaining animals would be gathered around the few remaining watering holes, and thus become extremely vulnerable.}} of prey populations. Discoveries at Monte Verde in South America and at [[Meadowcroft Rock Shelter]] in Pennsylvania have caused a controversy<ref name="ReferenceA">{{Cite book |last=Haynes |first=Gary |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/49327000 |title=The early settlement of North America : the Clovis era |date=2002 |isbn=0-521-81900-8 |location=Cambridge |oclc=49327000 |pages=18–19}}</ref> regarding the [[Clovis culture]]. There likely would have been human settlements prior to the Clovis culture, and the history of [[Prehistoric migration and settlement of the Americas from Asia|humans in the Americas]] may extend back many thousands of years before the Clovis culture.<ref name="ReferenceA" /> The amount of correlation between human arrival and megafauna extinction is still being debated: for example, in [[Wrangel Island]] in Siberia the extinction of dwarf [[woolly mammoth]]s (approximately 2000 BC)<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Martin|first1=P.S.|year=1995|title=Mammoth Extinction: Two Continents and Wrangel Island|journal=Radiocarbon|volume=37|issue=1|pages=7–10|doi=10.1017/s0033822200014739|bibcode=1995Radcb..37....7M |doi-access=free}}</ref> did not coincide with the arrival of humans, nor did megafaunal mass extinction on the South American continent, although it has been suggested climate changes induced by anthropogenic effects elsewhere in the world may have contributed.<ref name="Kolbert-2014" />

[[File:Glyptodon old drawing.jpg|thumb|right|Illustration of [[Paleo-Indians]] hunting a [[glyptodon]]]]

Comparisons are sometimes made between recent extinctions (approximately since the [[Industrial Revolution]]) and the Pleistocene extinction near the end of the last [[glacial period]]. The latter is exemplified by the extinction of large herbivores such as the [[woolly mammoth]] and the carnivores that preyed on them. Humans of this era actively hunted the [[mammoth]] and the [[mastodon]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pitulko |first1=V. V. |last2=Nikolsky |first2=P. A. |last3=Girya |first3=E. Y. |last4=Basilyan |first4=A. E. |last5=Tumskoy |first5=V. E. |last6=Koulakov |first6=S. A. |last7=Astakhov |first7=S. N. |last8=Pavlova |first8=E. Y. |last9=Anisimov |first9=M. A. |year=2004 |title=The Yana RHS site: Humans in the Arctic before the Last Glacial Maximum |url=https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1085219 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=303 |issue=5654 |pages=52–56 |bibcode=2004Sci...303...52P |doi=10.1126/science.1085219 |pmid=14704419 |s2cid=206507352 |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322035102/https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.1085219 |url-status=live }}</ref> but it is not known if this hunting was the cause of the subsequent massive ecological changes, widespread extinctions and climate changes.<ref name="Doughty, C. E. 2010" /><ref name="link.springer.com" />

The ecosystems encountered by the first Americans had not been exposed to human interaction, and may have been far less resilient to human made changes than the ecosystems encountered by industrial era humans. Therefore, the actions of the Clovis people, despite seeming insignificant by today's standards could indeed have had a profound effect on the ecosystems and wild life which was entirely unused to human influence.<ref name="Kolbert-2014" />

In the Yukon, the mammoth steppe ecosystem collapsed between 13,500 and 10,000 BP, though wild horses and woolly mammoths somehow persisted in the region for millennia after this collapse.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Murchie |first1=Tyler J. |last2=Monteath |first2=Alistair J. |last3=Mahony |first3=Matthew E. |last4=Long |first4=George S. |last5=Cocker |first5=Scott |last6=Sadoway |first6=Tara |last7=Karpinski |first7=Emil |last8=Zazula |first8=Grant |last9=MacPhee |first9=Ross D. E. |last10=Froese |first10=Duane |last11=Poinar |first11=Hendrik N. |date=8 December 2021 |title=Collapse of the mammoth-steppe in central Yukon as revealed by ancient environmental DNA |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=7120 |doi=10.1038/s41467-021-27439-6 |pmid=34880234 |pmc=8654998 |bibcode=2021NatCo..12.7120M }}</ref> In what is now Texas, a drop in local plant and animal biodiversity occurred during the Younger Dryas cooling, though while plant diversity recovered after the Younger Dryas, animal diversity did not.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Seersholm |first1=Frederik V. |last2=Werndly |first2=Daniel J. |last3=Grealy |first3=Alicia |last4=Johnson |first4=Taryn |last5=Keenan Early |first5=Erin M. |last6=Lundelius Jr. |first6=Ernest L. |last7=Winsborough |first7=Barbara |last8=Farr |first8=Grayal Earle |last9=Toomey |first9=Rickard |last10=Hansen |first10=Anders J. |last11=Shapiro |first11=Beth |last12=Waters |first12=Michael R. |last13=McDonald |first13=Gregory |last14=Linderholm |first14=Anna |last15=Stafford Jr. |first15=Thomas W. |last16=Bunce |first16=Michael |date=2 June 2020 |title=Rapid range shifts and megafaunal extinctions associated with late Pleistocene climate change |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |volume=11 |issue=1 |page=2770 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-16502-3 |pmid=32488006 |pmc=7265304 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.2770S }}</ref> In the [[Channel Islands (California)|Channel Islands]], multiple terrestrial species went extinct around the same time as human arrival, but direct evidence for an anthropogenic cause of their extinction remains lacking.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Louys |first1=Julien |last2=Braje |first2=Todd J. |last3=Chang |first3=Chun-Hsiang |last4=Cosgrove |first4=Richard |last5=Fitzpatrick |first5=Scott M. |last6=Fujita |first6=Masaki |last7=Hawkins |first7=Stuart |last8=Ingicco |first8=Stuart |last9=Kawamura |first9=Ai |last10=MacPhee |first10=Ross D. E. |last11=McDowell |first11=Matthew C. |last12=Meijer |first12=Hanneke J. M. |last13=Piper |first13=Philip J. |last14=Roberts |first14=Patrick |last15=Simmons |first15=Alan H. |last16=Van den Bergh |first16=Gerrit |last17=Van der Geer |first17=Alexandra |last18=Kealy |first18=Shimona |last19=O'Connor |first19=Sue |date=3 May 2021 |title=No evidence for widespread island extinctions after Pleistocene hominin arrival |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=118 |issue=20 |pages=1–8 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2023005118 |pmid=33941645 |pmc=8157961 |bibcode=2021PNAS..11823005L |doi-access=free }}</ref> In the montane forests of the Colombian Andes, spores of coprophilous fungi indicate megafaunal extinction occurred in two waves, the first occurring around 22,900 BP and the second around 10,990 BP.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pym |first1=Felix C. |last2=Franco-Gaviria |first2=Felipe |last3=Espinoza |first3=Ismael G. |last4=Urrego |first4=Dunia H. |date=26 April 2023 |title=The timing and ecological consequences of Pleistocene megafaunal decline in the eastern Andes of Colombia |url=https://www.cambridge.org/core/journals/quaternary-research/article/abs/timing-and-ecological-consequences-of-pleistocene-megafaunal-decline-in-the-eastern-andes-of-colombia/93E12371830647431A5BB3CA25CA6DFB |journal=[[Quaternary Research]] |volume=114 |pages=1–17 |doi=10.1017/qua.2022.66 |bibcode=2023QuRes.114....1P |s2cid=258362772 |access-date=29 April 2023|hdl=10871/133219 |hdl-access=free }}</ref> A 2023 study of megafaunal extinctions in the Junín Plateau of [[Peru]] found that the timing of the disappearance of megafauna was concurrent with a large uptick in fire activity attributed to human actions, implicating humans as the cause of their local extinction on the plateau.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Rozas-Davila |first1=Angela |last2=Rodbell |first2=Donald T. |last3=Bush |first3=Mark B. |date=24 January 2023 |title=Pleistocene megafaunal extinction in the grasslands of Junín-Peru |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14566 |journal=[[Journal of Biogeography]] |volume=50 |issue=4 |pages=755–766 |doi=10.1111/jbi.14566 |bibcode=2023JBiog..50..755R |s2cid=256255790 |access-date=21 March 2023 |archive-date=22 March 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230322035100/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14566 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== New Guinea ===
Humans in New Guinea used volcanically fertilised soil following major eruptions and interfered with vegetation succession patterns since the Late Pleistocene, with this process intensifying in the Holocene.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Torrence |first=Robin |date=6 February 2012 |title=Volcanic disasters and agricultural intensification: A case study from the Willaumez Peninsula, Papua New Guinea |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S104061821100187X |journal=[[Quaternary International]] |language=en |volume=249 |pages=151–161 |doi=10.1016/j.quaint.2011.03.041 |bibcode=2012QuInt.249..151T |access-date=4 June 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct |archive-date=17 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220817175037/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S104061821100187X |url-status=live }}</ref> 

=== Australia ===
{{Main|Australian megafauna|List of extinct animals of Australia|List of extinct flora of Australia}}
{{See also|Invasive species in Australia|Land clearing in Australia|Fire-stick farming}}
[[File:Diprotodon sculpture.jpg|thumb|Reconstruction of a hippopotamus-sized ''[[Diprotodon]]'']]

Australia was once home to a [[Australian megafauna|large assemblage of megafauna]], with many parallels to those found on the African continent today. Australia's fauna is characterized by primarily [[marsupial]] mammals, and many reptiles and birds, all existing as giant forms until recently. [[Indigenous Australians|Humans]] arrived on the continent very early, about 50,000 years ago.<ref name="Kolbert-2014" /> The extent human arrival contributed is controversial; climatic drying of Australia 40,000–60,000 years ago was an unlikely cause, as it was less severe in speed or magnitude than previous regional climate change which failed to kill off megafauna. Extinctions in Australia continued from original settlement until today in both [[List of extinct flora of Australia|plants]] and [[List of extinct animals of Australia|animals]], while [[Threatened fauna of Australia|many more animals]] and [[List of threatened flora of Australia|plants]] have declined or are endangered.<ref>{{Cite news|title=Australian endangered species list|work=Australian Geographic|url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2014/06/australian-endangered-species-list|access-date=2017-04-04|archive-date=2020-02-16|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200216215816/https://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/science-environment/2014/06/australian-endangered-species-list/|url-status=live}}</ref>

Due to the older timeframe and the soil chemistry on the continent, very little [[subfossil]] preservation evidence exists relative to elsewhere.<ref name="UniColoradoBoulder-2016">{{Cite web|title=Ancient extinction of giant Australian bird points to humans|author=University of Colorado at Boulder|date=January 29, 2016|website=ScienceDaily|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160129090057.htm|access-date=2016-02-01|archive-date=2020-02-18|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200218213414/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/01/160129090057.htm|url-status=live}}</ref> However, continent-wide extinction of all genera weighing over 100 kilograms, and six of seven genera weighing between 45 and 100 kilograms occurred around 46,400 years ago (4,000 years after human arrival)<ref>{{Cite web |author1=Richard G. Roberts |author4=Timothy F. Flannery |author5=Linda K. Ayliffe |author6=Hiroyuki Yoshida |author7=Jon M. Olley |author8=Gavin J. Prideaux |author9=Geoff M. Laslett |author10=Alexander Baynes |author11=M. A. Smith |author12=Rhys Jones |author13=Barton L. Smith |title=New Ages for the Last Australian Megafauna: Continent-Wide Extinction About 46,000 Years Ago |date=8 June 2001 |volume=292 |magazine=Science |url=http://www.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@sci/@eesc/documents/doc/uow014698.pdf |access-date=1 February 2016 |archive-date=10 February 2019 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190210051502/https://www.uow.edu.au/content/groups/public/@web/@sci/@eesc/documents/doc/uow014698.pdf |url-status=live }}</ref> and the fact that megafauna survived until a later date on the island of [[Tasmania]] following the establishment of a land bridge<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Turney|first1=Chris S. M.|last2=Flannery |first2=Timothy F.|last3=Roberts|first3=Richard G.|last4=Reid|first4=Craig|last5=Fifield|first5=L. Keith |last6=Higham|first6=Tom F. G.|last7=Jacobs |first7=Zenobia|last8=Kemp|first8=Noel|last9=Colhoun |first9=Eric A.|date=2008-08-21|title=Late-surviving megafauna in Tasmania, Australia, implicate human involvement in their extinction|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=105 |issue=34|pages=12150–12153|bibcode=2008PNAS..10512150T|doi=10.1073/pnas.0801360105|issn=0027-8424 |pmc=2527880|pmid=18719103|doi-access=free}}</ref> suggest direct hunting or anthropogenic ecosystem disruption such as [[fire-stick farming]] as likely causes. The first evidence of direct human predation leading to extinction in Australia was published in 2016.<ref name="Miller-2016">{{Cite journal |last1=Miller |first1=Gifford |last2=Magee |first2=John |last3=Smith |first3=Mike |last4=Spooner |first4=Nigel |last5=Baynes |first5=Alexander |last6=Lehman |first6=Scott |last7=Fogel |first7=Marilyn |last8=Johnston |first8=Harvey |last9=Williams |first9=Doug |date=2016-01-29 |title=Human predation contributed to the extinction of the Australian megafaunal bird Genyornis newtoni [sim]47 ka |journal=Nature Communications |volume=7 |pages=10496 |bibcode=2016NatCo...710496M |doi=10.1038/ncomms10496 |pmc=4740177 |pmid=26823193}}</ref>

A 2021 study found that the rate of extinction of Australia's megafauna is rather unusual, with some generalistic species having gone extinct earlier while highly specialized ones having become extinct later or even still surviving today. A mosaic cause of extinction with different anthropogenic and environmental pressures has been proposed.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Bradshaw|first1=Corey J. A. |last2=Johnson|first2=Christopher N. |last3=Llewelyn|first3=John|last4=Weisbecker|first4=Vera |last5=Strona|first5=Giovanni|last6=Saltré|first6=Frédérik|date=30 March 2021|title=Relative demographic susceptibility does not explain the extinction chronology of Sahul's megafauna |journal=eLife|location=Cambridge, UK|publisher=eLife Sciences Publications|volume=10 |doi=10.7554/eLife.63870|pmc=8043753|pmid=33783356|doi-access=free}}</ref>

The arrival of invasive species such as feral cats and cane toads has further devastated Australia's ecosystems.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Woinarski |first1=John C. Z. |last2=Burbidge |first2=Andrew A. |last3=Harrison |first3=Peter L. |date=14 April 2015 |title=Ongoing unraveling of a continental fauna: Decline and extinction of Australian mammals since European settlement |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=112 |issue=15 |pages=4531–4540 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1417301112 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=4403217 |pmid=25675493 |bibcode=2015PNAS..112.4531W }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Radford |first1=Ian J. |last2=Woolley |first2=Leigh-Ann |last3=Dickman |first3=Chris R. |last4=Corey |first4=Ben |last5=Trembath |first5=Dane |last6=Fairman |first6=Richard |date=23 February 2020 |title=Invasive anuran driven trophic cascade: An alternative hypothesis for recent critical weight range mammal collapses across northern Australia |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10530-020-02226-4 |journal=Biological Invasions |language=en |volume=22 |issue=6 |pages=1967–1982 |doi=10.1007/s10530-020-02226-4 |bibcode=2020BiInv..22.1967R |issn=1387-3547 |access-date=11 October 2024 |via=Springer Link}}</ref>

Since European colonisation Australia has lost over 100 plant and animal species, including 10% of its mammal species, the highest of any continent.<ref>Woinarski, J., Murphy, B., et al. (2019) Scientists re-counted Australia's extinct species, and the result is devastating, The Conversation. Available at: https://theconversation.com/scientists-re-counted-australias-extinct-species-and-the-result-is-devastating-127611 (Accessed: 09 September 2024). </ref>

=== Caribbean ===
[[File:Vogeleiland.jpg|thumb|Recently extinct flightless birds include Madagascar's [[elephant bird]] (left), Mauritius's [[dodo]] and the [[great auk]] of the Atlantic (bottom right).]]
[[History of the Caribbean|Human arrival]] in the [[Caribbean]] around 6,000 years ago is correlated with the extinction of many species.<ref>{{Cite web|title=North American Extinctions v. World|url=http://www.thegreatstory.org/charts/NA-extinctions.html|access-date=2016-01-31|website=www.thegreatstory.org|archive-date=2019-09-27|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190927060621/http://www.thegreatstory.org/charts/NA-extinctions.html|url-status=live}}</ref> These include many different genera of [[Pilosans of the Caribbean|ground and arboreal sloths]] across all islands. These sloths were generally smaller than those found on the South American continent. ''[[Megalocnus]]'' were the largest genus at up to {{convert|90|kg|lbs}}, ''[[Acratocnus]]'' were medium-sized relatives of modern [[two-toed sloth]]s endemic to [[Cuba]], ''[[Imagocnus]]'' also of Cuba, ''[[Neocnus]]'' and many others.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Steadman|first1=D.W.|author1-link=David Steadman|last2=Martin|first2=P.S.|author2-link=Paul Schultz Martin|author3=MacPhee, R.D.E.|author4=Jull, A.J.T.|author5=McDonald, H.G.|author6=Woods, C.A.|author7=Iturralde-Vinent, M.|author8=Hodgins, G.W.L.|date=2005|title=Asynchronous extinction of late Quaternary sloths on continents and islands|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|volume=102|issue=33|pages=11763–11768|bibcode=2005PNAS..10211763S|doi=10.1073/pnas.0502777102|pmc=1187974|pmid=16085711|doi-access=free}}</ref>

=== Macaronesia ===
The arrival of the first human settlers in the [[Azores]] saw the introduction of invasive plants and livestock to the archipelago, resulting in the extinction of at least two plant species on [[Pico Island]].<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Connor |first1=Simon E. |last2=Van Leeuwen |first2=Jacqueline F. N. |last3=Rittenour |first3=Tammy M. |last4=Van der Knaap |first4=Willem O. |last5=Ammann |first5=Brigitta |last6=Björck |first6=Svante |date=23 January 2012 |title=The ecological impact of oceanic island colonization – a palaeoecological perspective from the Azores |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02671.x |journal=[[Journal of Biogeography]] |volume=39 |issue=6 |pages=1007–1023 |doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02671.x |bibcode=2012JBiog..39.1007C |hdl=11343/55221 |s2cid=86191735 |access-date=3 December 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=3 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221203040117/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/j.1365-2699.2011.02671.x |url-status=live }}</ref> On [[Faial Island]], the decline of ''[[Prunus lusitanica]]'' has been hypothesized by some scholars to have been related to the tree species being endozoochoric, with the extirpation or extinction of various bird species drastically limiting its seed dispersal.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Góis-Marques |first1=C. A. |last2=Rubiales |first2=J. M. |last3=De Nascimento |first3=L. |last4=Menezes de Sequeira |first4=M. |last5=Fernández-Palacios |first5=J. M. |last6=Madeira |first6=J. |date=February 2020 |title=Oceanic Island forests buried by Holocene (Meghalayan) explosive eruptions: palaeobiodiversity in pre-anthropic volcanic charcoal from Faial Island (Azores, Portugal) and its palaeoecological implications |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034666719302386 |journal=[[Review of Palaeobotany and Palynology]] |volume=273 |page=104116 |doi=10.1016/j.revpalbo.2019.104116 |bibcode=2020RPaPa.27304116G |hdl=10400.13/4177 |s2cid=210280909 |access-date=31 December 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=1 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230101065857/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0034666719302386 |url-status=live }}</ref> Lacustrine ecosystems were ravaged by human colonization, as evidenced by hydrogen isotopes from C<sub>30</sub> fatty acids recording hypoxic bottom waters caused by eutrophication in Lake Funda on [[Flores Island (Azores)|Flores Island]] beginning between 1500 and 1600 AD.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Richter |first1=Nora |last2=Russell |first2=James M. |last3=Amaral-Zettler |first3=Linda |last4=DeGroff |first4=Wylie |last5=Raposeiro |first5=Pedro M. |last6=Gonçalves |first6=Vítor |last7=De Boer |first7=Erik J. |last8=Pla-Rabes |first8=Sergi |last9=Hernández |first9=Armand |last10=Benavente |first10=Mario |last11=Ritter |first11=Catarina |last12=Sáez |first12=Alberto |last13=Bao |first13=Roberto |last14=Trigo |first14=Ricardo M. |last15=Prego |first15=Ricardo |last16=Giralt |first16=Santiago |date=1 June 2022 |title=Long-term hydroclimate variability in the sub-tropical North Atlantic and anthropogenic impacts on lake ecosystems: A case study from Flores Island, the Azores |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379122001561 |journal=[[Quaternary Science Reviews]] |volume=285 |page=107525 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2022.107525 |bibcode=2022QSRv..28507525R |hdl=10261/269568 |access-date=30 November 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129204706/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379122001561 |url-status=live }}</ref>

The arrival of humans on the archipelago of [[Madeira]] caused the extinction of approximately two-thirds of its endemic bird species, with two non-endemic birds also being locally extirpated from the archipelago.<ref name="MadeiranMice">{{cite journal |last1=Rando |first1=Juan Carlos |last2=Pieper |first2=Harald |last3=Alcover |first3=Josep Antoni |date=7 April 2014 |title=Radiocarbon evidence for the presence of mice on Madeira Island (North Atlantic) one millennium ago |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=281 |issue=1780 |pages=1–5 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2013.3126 |pmid=24523273 |pmc=4027395 }}</ref> Of thirty-four land snail species collected in a subfossil sample from eastern [[Madeira Island]], nine became extinct following the arrival of humans.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Goodfriend |first1=Glenn A. |last2=Cameron |first2=Robert A. D. |last3=Cook |first3=L. M. |date=May 1994 |title=Fossil Evidence of Recent Human Impact on the Land Snail Fauna of Madeira |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/2845532 |journal=[[Journal of Biogeography]] |volume=21 |issue=3 |pages=309–320 |doi=10.2307/2845532 |jstor=2845532 |bibcode=1994JBiog..21..309G |access-date=30 December 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230163406/https://www.jstor.org/stable/2845532 |url-status=live }}</ref> On the [[Desertas Islands]], of forty-five land snail species known to exist before human colonization, eighteen are extinct and five are no longer present on the islands.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Teixeira |first1=Dinarte |last2=Groh |first2=Klaus |last3=Yanes |first3=Yurena |last4=Pokryszko |first4=Beata M. |last5=Silva |first5=Isamberto |last6=Cameron |first6=Robert A. D. |date=7 May 2022 |title=Late Quaternary land snail faunas of the Desertas Islands (Madeira): high diversity and endemism followed by recent impoverishment and extinction |url=https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article-abstract/88/2/eyac010/6581786?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false |journal=[[Journal of Molluscan Studies]] |volume=88 |issue=2 |pages= |doi=10.1093/mollus/eyac010 |access-date=30 December 2022 |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230163359/https://academic.oup.com/mollus/article-abstract/88/2/eyac010/6581786?redirectedFrom=fulltext&login=false |url-status=live }}</ref> ''[[Eurya|Eurya stigmosa]]'', whose extinction is typically attributed to climate change following the end of the Pleistocene rather than humans, may have survived until the colonization of the archipelago by the Portuguese and gone extinct as a result of human activity.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Góis-Marques |first1=Carlos A. |last2=Mitchell |first2=Ria L. |last3=de Nascimento |first3=Lea |last4=Fernández-Palacios |first4=José María |last5=Madeira |first5=José |last6=Menezes de Sequeira |first6=Miguel |title=Eurya stigmosa (Theaceae), a new and extinct record for the Calabrian stage of Madeira Island (Portugal): 40Ar/39Ar dating, palaeoecological and oceanic island palaeobiogeographical implications |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379118309284 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |date=February 2019 |volume=206 |pages=129–140 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.01.008 |bibcode=2019QSRv..206..129G |hdl=10400.13/4182 |s2cid=134725615 |access-date=30 December 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=30 December 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221230163406/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0277379118309284 |url-status=live }}</ref> Introduced mice have been implicated as a leading driver of extinction on Madeira following its discovery and settlement by humans.<ref name="MadeiranMice" />

In the [[Canary Islands]], native thermophilous woodlands were decimated and two tree taxa were driven extinct following the arrival of its first humans, primarily as a result of increased fire clearance and soil erosion and the introduction of invasive pigs, goats, and rats. Invasive species introductions accelerated during the [[Age of Discovery]] when Europeans first settled the [[Macaronesia]]n archipelago. The archipelago's laurel forests, though still negatively impacted, fared better due to being less suitable for human economic use.<ref name="Castilla-Beltrán2021PNAS">{{cite journal |last1=Castilla-Beltrán |first1=Alvaro |last2=De Nascimento |first2=Lea |last3=Fernández-Palacios |first3=José-María |last4=Whittaker |first4=Robert J. |last5=Willis |first5=Kathy J. |last6=Edwards |first6=Mary |last7=Nogué |first7=Sandra |date=27 September 2021 |title=Anthropogenic transitions from forested to human-dominated landscapes in southern Macaronesia |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |volume=118 |issue=40 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2022215118 |pmid=34580208 |pmc=8501805 |bibcode=2021PNAS..11822215C |doi-access=free }}</ref>

[[Cabo Verde]], like the Canary Islands, witnessed precipitous deforestation upon the arrival of European settlers and various invasive species brought by them in the archipelago,<ref name="Castilla-Beltrán2021Biogeography">{{cite journal |last1=Castilla-Beltrán |first1=Alvaro |last2=De Nascimento |first2=Lea |last3=Fernández-Palacios |first3=José-María |last4=Whittaker |first4=Robert J. |last5=Romeiras |first5=Maria M. |last6=Cundy |first6=Andrew B. |last7=Edwards |first7=Mary |last8=Nogué |first8=Sandra |date=22 March 2021 |title=Effects of Holocene climate change, volcanism and mass migration on the ecosystem of a small, dry island (Brava, Cabo Verde) |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14084 |journal=[[Journal of Biogeography]] |volume=48 |issue=6 |pages=1392–1405 |doi=10.1111/jbi.14084 |bibcode=2021JBiog..48.1392C |hdl=10400.5/21368 |s2cid=233708086 |access-date=30 November 2022 |hdl-access=free |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129204440/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jbi.14084 |url-status=live }}</ref> with the archipelago's thermophilous woodlands suffering the greatest destruction.<ref name="Castilla-Beltrán2021PNAS" /> Introduced species, overgrazing, increased fire incidence, and soil degradation have been attributed as the chief causes of Cabo Verde's ecological devastation.<ref name="Castilla-Beltrán2021Biogeography" /><ref name="Castilla-Beltrán2019PPP">{{cite journal |last1=Castilla-Beltrán |first1=Alvaro |last2=De Nascimento |first2=Lea |last3=Fernández-Palacios |first3=José-María |last4=Fonville |first4=Thierry |last5=Whittaker |first5=Robert J. |last6=Edwards |first6=Mary |last7=Nogué |first7=Sandra |date=15 June 2019 |title=Late Holocene environmental change and the anthropization of the highlands of Santo Antão Island, Cabo Verde |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018218310605 |journal=[[Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology]] |volume=524 |pages=101–117 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2019.03.033 |bibcode=2019PPP...524..101C |s2cid=120143295 |access-date=30 November 2022 |archive-date=29 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221129204444/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0031018218310605 |url-status=live }}</ref>

=== Pacific ===
Archaeological and paleontological digs on 70 different [[Pacific islands]] suggested that numerous species became extinct as people moved across the Pacific, starting 30,000 years ago in the [[Bismarck Archipelago]] and [[Solomon Islands]].<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Steadman|first1=D. W.|last2=Martin |first2=P. S.|year=2003|title=The late Quaternary extinction and future resurrection of birds on Pacific islands|journal=[[Earth-Science Reviews]]|volume=61|issue=1–2|pages=133–147|doi=10.1016/S0012-8252(02)00116-2|bibcode=2003ESRv...61..133S}}</ref> It is currently estimated that among the bird species of the Pacific, some 2000 species have gone extinct since the arrival of humans, representing a 20% drop in the biodiversity of birds worldwide.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Steadman|first=D. W.|author-link=David Steadman|year=1995|title=Prehistoric extinctions of Pacific island birds: biodiversity meets zooarchaeology|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=267|issue=5201|pages=1123–1131 |doi=10.1126/science.267.5201.1123|bibcode=1995Sci...267.1123S|pmid=17789194|s2cid=9137843 }}</ref> In Polynesia, the Late Holocene declines in avifaunas only abated after they were heavily depleted and there were increasingly fewer bird species able to be driven to extinction.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Steadman |first=David W. |date=1 March 1989 |title=Extinction of birds in Eastern polynesia: A review of the record, and comparisons with other Pacific Island groups |url=https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/0305-4403%2889%2990065-4 |journal=[[Journal of Archaeological Science]] |volume=16 |issue=2 |pages=177–205 |doi=10.1016/0305-4403(89)90065-4 |bibcode=1989JArSc..16..177S |issn=0305-4403 |access-date=20 January 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct}}</ref> Iguanas were likewise decimated by the spread of humans.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Steadman |first1=David W. |last2=Pregill |first2=Gregory K. |last3=Burley |first3=David V. |date=19 March 2002 |title=Rapid prehistoric extinction of iguanas and birds in Polynesia |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=99 |issue=6 |pages=3673–3677 |doi=10.1073/pnas.072079299 |doi-access=free |pmid=11904427 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=122582 |bibcode=2002PNAS...99.3673S }}</ref> Additionally, the endemic faunas of Pacific archipelagos are exceptionally at risk in the coming decades due to rising sea levels caused by global warming.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Kumar |first1=Lalit |last2=Tehrany |first2=Mahyat Shafapour |date=13 July 2017 |title=Climate change impacts on the threatened terrestrial vertebrates of the Pacific Islands |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |language=en |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=5030 |doi=10.1038/s41598-017-05034-4 |pmid=28706225 |issn=2045-2322 |pmc=5509733 |bibcode=2017NatSR...7.5030K }}</ref>

Lord Howe Island, which remained uninhabited until the arrival of Europeans in the South Pacific in the 18th century, lost much of its endemic avifauna when it became a whaling station in the early 19th century. Another wave of bird extinctions occurred following the introduction of black rats in 1918.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Hume |first1=Julian P. |last2=Hutton |first2=Ian |last3=Middleton |first3=Greg |last4=Nguyen |first4=Jacqueline M.T. |last5=Wylie |first5=John |date=3 May 2021 |title=A Terrestrial Vertebrate Palaeontological Reconnaissance of Lord Howe Island, Australia |url=https://bioone.org/journals/pacific-science/volume-75/issue-1/75.1.2/A-Terrestrial-Vertebrate-Palaeontological-Reconnaissance-of-Lord-Howe-Island-Australia/10.2984/75.1.2.full |journal=[[Pacific Science]] |volume=75 |issue=1 |doi=10.2984/75.1.2 |issn=0030-8870 |access-date=3 July 2024 |via=BioOne Digital Library}}</ref>

The endemic megafaunal meiolaniid turtles of Vanuatu - representing the final members of a group that had existed for over 100 million years - became extinct immediately following the first human arrivals and remains of them containing evidence of butchery by humans have been found.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=White |first1=Arthur W. |last2=Worthy |first2=Trevor H. |last3=Hawkins |first3=Stuart |last4=Bedford |first4=Stuart |last5=Spriggs |first5=Matthew |date=16 August 2010 |title=Megafaunal meiolaniid horned turtles survived until early human settlement in Vanuatu, Southwest Pacific |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=107 |issue=35 |pages=15512–15516 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1005780107 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=2932593 |pmid=20713711 |bibcode=2010PNAS..10715512W }}</ref>

The arrival of humans in [[New Caledonia]] marked the commencement of coastal forest and mangrove decline on the island.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Stevenson |first=Janelle |date=September 2004 |title=A late-Holocene record of human impact from the southwest coast of New Caledonia |url=https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1191/0959-683604hl755rp |journal=[[The Holocene]] |volume=14 |issue=6 |pages=888–898 |doi=10.1191/0959-683604hl755rp |bibcode=2004Holoc..14..888S |s2cid=44797352 |access-date=20 January 2024 |via=Sage Journals}}</ref> The archipelago's megafauna - such as the large, flightless [[Galliformes|galliform]] ''[[Sylviornis]]'' - was still extant when humans arrived, but indisputable evidence for the anthropogenicity of their extinction remains elusive.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Anderson |first1=Atholl |last2=Sand |first2=Christophe |last3=Petchey |first3=Fiona |last4=Worthy |first4=Trevor H. |title=Faunal extinction and human habitation in New Caledonia: Initial results and implications of new research at the Pindai Caves |url=https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/5404 |journal=Journal of Pacific Archaeology |date=2009 |volume=1 |issue=1 |pages=89–109 |doi=10.70460/jpa.v1i1.12 |hdl=10289/5404 |access-date=20 January 2024 |archive-date=23 February 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240223090800/https://researchcommons.waikato.ac.nz/handle/10289/5404 |url-status=live |hdl-access=free }}</ref>

In Fiji, the giant iguanas ''[[Brachylophus gibbonsi]]'' and ''[[Lapitiguana|Lapitiguana impensa]]'' both succumbed to human-induced extinction shortly after encountering the first humans on the island.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Pregill |first1=Gregory K. |last2=Steadman |first2=David W. |date=1 March 2004 |title=South Pacific Iguanas: Human Impacts and a New Species |url=http://www.bioone.org/doi/abs/10.1670/73-03A |journal=[[Journal of Herpetology]] |language=en |volume=38 |issue=1 |pages=15–21 |doi=10.1670/73-03A |s2cid=85627049 |issn=0022-1511 |access-date=20 January 2024}}</ref>

In [[American Samoa]], deposits dating back to the period of initial human colonisation contain elevated quantities of bird, turtle, and fish remains caused by increased predation pressure.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Weisler |first1=Marshall I. |last2=Lambrides |first2=Ariana B. J. |last3=Quintus |first3=Seth |last4=Clark |first4=Jeffrey |last5=Worthy |first5=Trevor H. |date=2016 |title=Colonisation and late period faunal assemblages from Ofu Island, American Samoa |url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/59061/ |journal=Journal of Pacific Archaeology |volume=7 |issue=2 |pages=1–19 |doi=10.70460/jpa.v7i2.200 |access-date=20 January 2024 |archive-date=7 June 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230607130640/https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/59061/ |url-status=live }}</ref>

On [[Mangaia]] in the [[Cook Islands]], human colonisation was associated with a major extinction of endemic avifauna,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Steadman |first1=David W. |last2=Kirch |first2=P. V. |date=1 December 1990 |title=Prehistoric extinction of birds on Mangaia, Cook Islands, Polynesia. |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=87 |issue=24 |pages=9605–9609 |doi=10.1073/pnas.87.24.9605 |doi-access=free |pmid=11607131 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=55221 |bibcode=1990PNAS...87.9605S }}</ref> along with deforestation, erosion of volcanic hillsides, and increased charcoal influx, causing additional environmental damage.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Kirch |first=P V |date=28 May 1996 |title=Late Holocene human-induced modifications to a central Polynesian island ecosystem. |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=93 |issue=11 |pages=5296–5300 |doi=10.1073/pnas.93.11.5296 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=39239 |pmid=8643569 |bibcode=1996PNAS...93.5296K }}</ref>

On Rapa in the Austral Archipelago, human arrival, marked by the increase in charcoal and in [[taro]] pollen in the palynological record, is associated with the extinction of an endemic palm.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Prebble |first1=Matthew |last2=Anderson |first2=Atholl |last3=Kennett |first3=Douglas J |date=18 September 2012 |title=Forest clearance and agricultural expansion on Rapa, Austral Archipelago, French Polynesia |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959683612455551 |journal=[[The Holocene (journal)|The Holocene]] |language=en |volume=23 |issue=2 |pages=179–196 |doi=10.1177/0959683612455551 |issn=0959-6836 |access-date=4 June 2024 |via=Sage Journals |archive-date=5 June 2024 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240605034447/https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0959683612455551 |url-status=live }}</ref>

Henderson Island, once thought to be untouched by humans, was colonised and later abandoned by Polynesians. The ecological collapse on the island caused by the anthropogenic extinctions is believed to have caused the island's abandonment.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Steadman |first1=David W. |last2=Olson |first2=Storrs L. |date=1 September 1985 |title=Bird remains from an archaeological site on Henderson Island, South Pacific: Man-caused extinctions on an "uninhabited" island |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=82 |issue=18 |pages=6191–6195 |doi=10.1073/pnas.82.18.6191 |doi-access=free |pmid=16593606 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=391018 |bibcode=1985PNAS...82.6191S }}</ref>

The [[Ancient Hawaii|first human settlers]] of the [[Hawaiian Islands]] are thought to have arrived between 300 and 800 AD, with European arrival in the 16th century. Hawaii is notable for its [[Endemism in the Hawaiian Islands|endemism]] of plants, [[Endemic birds of Hawaii|birds]], insects, mollusks and [[List of fish of Hawaii|fish]]; 30% of its organisms are endemic. Many of its species are endangered or have gone extinct, primarily due to accidentally introduced species and livestock grazing. Over 40% of its bird species have gone extinct, and it is the location of 75% of extinctions in the United States.<ref>{{Cite journal|date=22 November 2005|title=Controlling Ungulate Populations in native ecosystems in Hawaii|url=http://www.hawaiiconservation.org/images/uploads/resources/ungulates.pdf|url-status=dead|journal=Hawaii Conservation Alliance|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160508222953/http://www.hawaiiconservation.org/images/uploads/resources/ungulates.pdf|archive-date=2016-05-08}}</ref> Evidence suggests that the introduction of the Polynesian rat, above all other factors, drove the ecocide of the endemic forests of the archipelago.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Athens |first1=J. Stephen |last2=Toggle |first2=H. David |last3=Ward |first3=Jerome V. |last4=Welch |first4=David J. |date=14 November 2014 |title=Avifaunal extinctions, vegetation change, and Polynesian impacts in prehistoric Hawai'i |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1834-4453.2002.tb00507.x |journal=[[Archaeology in Oceania]] |language=en |volume=37 |issue=2 |pages=57–78 |doi=10.1002/j.1834-4453.2002.tb00507.x |issn=0728-4896 |access-date=20 January 2024 |via=Wiley Online Library |archive-date=30 November 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231130054600/https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/j.1834-4453.2002.tb00507.x |url-status=live }}</ref> Extinction has increased in Hawaii over the last 200 years and is relatively well documented, with extinctions among native snails used as estimates for global extinction rates.<ref name="Phys.org-2015" /> High rates of habitat fragmentation on the archipelago have further reduced biodiversity.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Flaspohler |first1=David J. |last2=Giardina |first2=Christian P. |last3=Asner |first3=Gregory P. |last4=Hart |first4=Patrick |last5=Price |first5=Jonathan |last6=Lyons |first6=Cassie Ka’apu |last7=Castaneda |first7=Xeronimo |date=February 2010 |title=Long-term effects of fragmentation and fragment properties on bird species richness in Hawaiian forests |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006320709004509 |journal=[[Biological Conservation (journal)|Biological Conservation]] |language=en |volume=143 |issue=2 |pages=280–288 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2009.10.009 |bibcode=2010BCons.143..280F |access-date=4 June 2024 |via=Elsevier Science Direct |archive-date=14 October 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20231014121438/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0006320709004509 |url-status=live }}</ref> The extinction of endemic Hawaiian avifauna is likely to accelerate even further as anthropogenic global warming adds additional pressure on top of land-use changes and invasive species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Benning |first1=Tracy L. |last2=LaPointe |first2=Dennis |last3=Atkinson |first3=Carter T. |last4=Vitousek |first4=Peter M. |date=29 October 2002 |title=Interactions of climate change with biological invasions and land use in the Hawaiian Islands: Modeling the fate of endemic birds using a geographic information system |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=99 |issue=22 |pages=14246–14249 |doi=10.1073/pnas.162372399 |doi-access=free |pmid=12374870 |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=137869 |bibcode=2002PNAS...9914246B }}</ref>

=== Madagascar ===
{{Further|Wildlife of Madagascar|Subfossil lemur}}
[[File:Subfossil lemur C14 ranges.svg|thumb|upright=1.15|Radiocarbon dating of multiple subfossil specimens shows that now extinct [[Subfossil lemur|giant lemurs]] were present in Madagascar until after human arrival.]]
Within centuries of the arrival of [[Malagasy people|humans]] around the 1st millennium AD, nearly all of Madagascar's distinct, [[Endemism|endemic]], and [[Allopatric speciation|geographically isolated]] megafauna became extinct.<ref name="Hansford-2021">{{Cite journal |last1=Hansford |first1=James P. |last2=Lister |first2=Adrian M. |last3=Weston |first3=Eleanor M. |last4=Turvey |first4=Samuel T. |date=July 2021 |title=Simultaneous extinction of Madagascar's megaherbivores correlates with late Holocene human-caused landscape transformation |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379121002031 |journal=Quaternary Science Reviews |language=en |volume=263 |pages=106996 |doi=10.1016/j.quascirev.2021.106996 |bibcode=2021QSRv..26306996H |s2cid=236313083 |access-date=2023-05-31 |archive-date=2023-05-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230531235823/https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0277379121002031 |url-status=live }}</ref> The largest animals, of more than {{convert|150|kg|lbs}}, were extinct very shortly after the first human arrival, with large and medium-sized species dying out after prolonged hunting pressure from an expanding human population moving into more remote regions of the island around 1000 years ago. as well as 17 species of [[Subfossil lemur|"giant" lemurs]]. Some of these lemurs typically weighed over {{convert|150|kg|lbs}}, and their fossils have provided evidence of human butchery on many species.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Perez|first1=Ventura R.|last2=Godfrey|first2=Laurie R.|last3=Nowak-Kemp|first3=Malgosia|last4=Burney|first4=David A.|last5=Ratsimbazafy|first5=Jonah|last6=Vasey|first6=Natalia|date=2005-12-01|title=Evidence of early butchery of giant lemurs in Madagascar|journal=Journal of Human Evolution|volume=49|issue=6|pages=722–742|doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2005.08.004|pmid=16225904|bibcode=2005JHumE..49..722P }}</ref> Other megafauna present on the island included the [[Malagasy hippopotamus]]es as well as the large flightless [[elephant bird]]s, both groups are thought to have gone extinct in the interval 750–1050 AD.<ref name="Hansford-2021" /> Smaller fauna experienced initial increases due to decreased competition, and then subsequent declines over the last 500 years.<ref name="Crowley-2010" /> All fauna weighing over {{convert|10|kg|lbs}} died out. The primary reasons for the decline of Madagascar's biota, which at the time was already stressed by natural [[aridification]],<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Li |first1=Hanying |last2=Sinha |first2=Ashish |last3=André |first3=Aurèle Anquetil |last4=Spötl |first4=Christoph |last5=Vonhof |first5=Hubert B. |last6=Meunier |first6=Arnaud |last7=Kathayat |first7=Gayatri |last8=Duan |first8=Pengzhen |last9=Voarintsoa |first9=Ny Riavo G. |last10=Ning |first10=Youfeng |last11=Biswas |first11=Jayant |last12=Hu |first12=Peng |last13=Li |first13=Xianglei |last14=Sha |first14=Lijuan |last15=Zhao |first15=Jingyao |last16=Edwards |first16=R. Lawrence |last17=Cheng |first17=Hai |date=16 October 2020 |title=A multimillennial climatic context for the megafaunal extinctions in Madagascar and Mascarene Islands |journal=[[Science Advances]] |volume=6 |issue=42 |pages=1–13 |doi=10.1126/sciadv.abb2459 |pmid=33067226 |pmc=7567594 |bibcode=2020SciA....6.2459L |s2cid=222811671 }}</ref> were human hunting,<ref name="GodfreyEtAl2019" /><ref name="HixonEtAl2021">{{cite journal |last1=Hixon |first1=Sean W. |last2=Douglass |first2=Kristina G. |last3=Crowley |first3=Brooke E. |last4=Rakotozafy |first4=Lucien Marie Aimé |last5=Clark |first5=Geoffrey |last6=Anderson |first6=Atholl |last7=Haberle |first7=Simon |last8=Ranaivoarisoa |first8=Jean Freddy |last9=Buckley |first9=Michael |last10=Fidiarisoa |first10=Salomon |last11=Mbola |first11=Balzac |last12=Kennett |first12=Douglas J. |date=21 July 2021 |title=Late Holocene spread of pastoralism coincides with endemic megafaunal extinction on Madagascar |journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B |volume=288 |issue=1955 |pages=1–10 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2021.1204 |pmid=34284627 |pmc=8292765 }}</ref> herding,<ref name="HixonEtAl2022">{{cite journal |last1=Hixon |first1=Sean W. |last2=Domic |first2=Alejandra I. |last3=Douglass |first3=Kristina G. |last4=Roberts |first4=Patrick |last5=Eccles |first5=Laurie |last6=Buckley |first6=Michael |last7=Ivory |first7=Sarah |last8=Noe |first8=Sarah |last9=Kennett |first9=Douglas J. |date=22 November 2022 |title=Cutmarked bone of drought-tolerant extinct megafauna deposited with traces of fire, human foraging, and introduced animals in SW Madagascar |journal=[[Scientific Reports]] |volume=12 |issue=1 |page=18504 |doi=10.1038/s41598-022-22980-w |pmid=36414654 |pmc=9681754 |bibcode=2022NatSR..1218504H }}</ref><ref name="HixonEtAl2021" /> farming,<ref name="GodfreyEtAl2019">{{cite journal |last1=Godfrey |first1=Laurie R. |last2=Scroxton |first2=Nick |last3=Crowley |first3=Brooke E. |last4=Burns |first4=Stephen J. |last5=Sutherland |first5=Michael R. |last6=Pérez |first6=Ventura R. |last7=Faina |first7=Peterson |last8=McGee |first8=David |last9=Ranivoharimanana |first9=Lovasoa |date=May 2019 |title=A new interpretation of Madagascar's megafaunal decline: The "Subsistence Shift Hypothesis" |journal=[[Journal of Human Evolution]] |volume=130 |pages=126–140 |doi=10.1016/j.jhevol.2019.03.002 |pmid=31010539 |s2cid=128362254 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2019JHumE.130..126G }}</ref> and [[Deforestation in Madagascar|forest clearing]],<ref name="HixonEtAl2022" /> all of which persist and threaten Madagascar's remaining taxa today. The natural ecosystems of Madagascar as a whole were further impacted by the much greater incidence of fire as a result of anthropogenic fire production; evidence from Lake Amparihibe on the island of [[Nosy Be]] indicates a shift in local vegetation from intact rainforest to a fire-disturbed patchwork of grassland and woodland between 1300 and 1000 BP.<ref name="ReinhardtEtAl2022">{{cite journal |last1=Reinhardt |first1=Antonia L. |last2=Kasper |first2=Thomas |last3=Lochner |first3=Maximilian |last4=Bliedtner |first4=Marcel |last5=Krahn |first5=Kim J. |last6=Haberzettl |first6=Torsten |last7=Shumilovskikh |first7=Lyudmila |last8=Rahobisoa |first8=Jean-Jacques |last9=Zech |first9=Roland |last10=Favier |first10=Charly |last11=Behling |first11=Hermann |last12=Bremond |first12=Laurent |last13=Daut |first13=Gerhard |last14=Montade |first14=Vincent |date=4 February 2022 |title=Rain Forest Fragmentation and Environmental Dynamics on Nosy Be Island (NW Madagascar) at 1300 cal BP Is Attributable to Intensified Human Impact |journal=Frontiers in Ecology and Evolution |volume=9 |pages=1–21 |issn=2296-701X |doi=10.3389/fevo.2021.783770 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2022FrEEv...983770R }}</ref>

=== New Zealand ===
{{Main|List of New Zealand animals extinct in the Holocene}}
{{See also|Biodiversity of New Zealand|Timeline of the New Zealand environment|Invasive species in New Zealand}}

New Zealand is characterized by its [[geographic isolation]] and [[Insular biogeography|island biogeography]], and had been isolated from mainland Australia for 80 million years. It was the last large land mass to be colonized by humans. Upon the arrival of [[Polynesia]]n settlers in the late 13th century, the native biota suffered a catastrophic decline due to deforestation, hunting, and the introduction of invasive species.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Holdaway |first1=Simon J. |last2=Emmitt |first2=Joshua |last3=Furey |first3=Louise |last4=Jorgensen |first4=Alex |last5=O'Regan |first5=Gerard |last6=Phillipps |first6=Rebecca |last7=Prebble |first7=Matthew |last8=Wallace |first8=Roderick |last9=Ladefoged |first9=Thegn N. |date=18 November 2018 |title=Māori settlement of New Zealand: The Anthropocene as a process |url=https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1002/arco.5173 |journal=[[Archaeology in Oceania]] |language=en |volume=54 |issue=1 |pages=17–34 |doi=10.1002/arco.5173 |issn=0728-4896 |access-date=3 July 2024 |via=Wiley Online Library}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last=Mcglone |first=M.S. |date=1989 |title=The Polynesian Settlement of New Zealand in Relation to Environmental and Biotic Changes |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/24053254 |journal=[[New Zealand Journal of Ecology]] |volume=12 |pages=115–129 |jstor=24053254 |issn=0110-6465 |access-date=3 July 2024 }}</ref> The extinction of all of the islands' megafaunal birds occurred within several hundred years of human arrival.<ref name="kolbert">{{Cite news|last=Kolbert|first=Elizabeth|date=2014-12-22|title=The Big Kill|newspaper=The New Yorker|url=https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/big-kill|access-date=2016-02-25|issn=0028-792X|archive-date=2016-03-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304001044/http://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2014/12/22/big-kill|url-status=live}}</ref> The [[moa]], large flightless [[ratite]]s, were thriving during the Late Holocene,<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Allentoft |first1=Morten Erik |last2=Heller |first2=Rasmus |last3=Oskam |first3=Charlotte L. |last4=Lorenzen |first4=Eline D. |last5=Hale |first5=Marie L. |last6=Gilbert |first6=M. Thomas P. |last7=Jacomb |first7=Christopher |last8=Holdaway |first8=Richard N. |last9=Bunce |first9=Michael |date=17 March 2014 |title=Extinct New Zealand megafauna were not in decline before human colonization |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=111 |issue=13 |pages=4922–4927 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1314972111 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=3977255 |pmid=24639531 |bibcode=2014PNAS..111.4922A }}</ref> but became extinct within 200 years of the arrival of human settlers,<ref name="Perry-2014" /> as did the enormous [[Haast's eagle]] - their primary predator - the omnivorous [[adzebill| adzebills]] and at least two species of [[New Zealand goose|large, flightless geese]]. The Polynesians also introduced the [[Polynesian rat]], which may have consumed avian eggs and chicks. This may have put some pressure on other birds, but at the time of early European contact (18th century) and colonization (19th century), the bird life was nonetheless prolific.<ref name="kolbert" /> The megafaunal extinction happened extremely rapidly despite a very small population density, which never exceeded 0.01 people per km<sup>2</sup>.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Holdaway |first1=Richard N. |last2=Allentoft |first2=Morten E. |last3=Jacomb |first3=Christopher |last4=Oskam |first4=Charlotte L. |last5=Beavan |first5=Nancy R. |last6=Bunce |first6=Michael |date=7 November 2014 |title=An extremely low-density human population exterminated New Zealand moa |url=https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6436 |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |language=en |volume=5 |issue=1 |page=5436 |doi=10.1038/ncomms6436 |pmid=25378020 |bibcode=2014NatCo...5.5436H |issn=2041-1723 |access-date=4 June 2024 |archive-date=3 September 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210903070309/https://www.nature.com/articles/ncomms6436 |url-status=live }}</ref> Extinctions of parasites followed the extinction of New Zealand's megafauna.<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Lafferty |first1=Kevin D. |last2=Hopkins |first2=Skylar R. |date=13 February 2018 |title=Unique parasite aDNA in moa coprolites from New Zealand suggests mass parasite extinctions followed human-induced megafauna extinctions |journal=[[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America]] |language=en |volume=115 |issue=7 |pages=1411–1413 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1722598115 |doi-access=free |issn=0027-8424 |pmc=5816219 |pmid=29440435 |bibcode=2018PNAS..115.1411L }}</ref> With them, the Europeans brought various [[Invasive species in New Zealand|invasive species]] including [[Black rat|ship rat]]s, possums, cats and mustelids which devastated native bird life, some of which had adapted [[Flightless bird|flightlessness]] and ground nesting habits, and had no defensive behavior as a result of having no native mammalian predators. The [[kākāpō]], the world's biggest parrot, which is flightless, now only exists in managed breeding sanctuaries. New Zealand's national emblem, the [[Kiwi (bird)|kiwi]], is on the endangered bird list.<ref name="kolbert" />

<!--  -->==Mitigation==
{{Further|Nature conservation|Climate change mitigation}}{{multiple image
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|caption1=[[People's Climate March (2017)|Climate March 2017]]
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Stabilizing [[World Population|human populations]];<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Crist|first1=Eileen|last2=Ripple|first2=William J.|last3=Ehrlich|first3=Paul R.|last4=Rees|first4=William E.|last5=Wolf|first5=Christopher|date=2022|title=Scientists' warning on population|journal=Science of the Total Environment|volume=845|issue=|page=157166|doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2022.157166|s2cid=250387801|pmid=35803428|bibcode=2022ScTEn.84557166C |url=https://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Crist2022.pdf|access-date=2022-11-08|archive-date=2022-11-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221112170021/https://scientistswarning.forestry.oregonstate.edu/sites/default/files/Crist2022.pdf|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |last=Beebee |first=Trevor |title=Impacts of Human Population on Wildlife: A British Perspective |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=2022 |isbn=978-1108833554}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Brashares |first1=Justin S. |last2=Arcese |first2=Peter |last3=Sam |first3=Moses K. |date=2001 |title=Human demography and reserve size predict wildlife extinction in West Africa |jstor=3067753 |journal=Proceedings: Biological Sciences |volume=268 |issue=1484 |pages=2473–2478|doi=10.1098/rspb.2001.1815 |pmid=11747566 |pmc=1088902 }}</ref> reining in [[capitalism]],<ref name="Hickel"/><ref name="Dawson"/><ref>{{Cite news |date=8 October 2020 |title=Attenborough: 'Curb excess capitalism' to save nature |work=BBC News |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54268038 |access-date=8 November 2022 |archive-date=8 October 2020 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201008143757/https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54268038 |url-status=live }}</ref> decreasing economic demands,<ref name="Crist2021"/><ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Büscher B, Fletcher R, Brockington D, Sandbrook C, Adams W, Campbell L, Corson C, Dressler W, Duffy R, Gray N, Holmes G, Kelly A, Lunstrum E, Ramutsindela M, Shanker K |date=2017 |title=Half-Earth or Whole Earth? Radical ideas for conservation, and their implications |journal=Oryx |volume=51 |issue=3 |pages=407–410 |doi=10.1017/S0030605316001228|s2cid=56573294 |doi-access=free }}</ref> and shifting them to economic activities with low impacts on biodiversity;<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Marques |first1=Alexandra |last2=Martins |first2=Inês S. |last3=Kastner |first3=Thomas |last4=Plutzar |first4=Christoph |last5=Theurl |first5=Michaela C. |last6=Eisenmenger |first6=Nina |last7=Huijbregts |first7=Mark A. J. |last8=Wood |first8=Richard |last9=Stadler |first9=Konstanin |last10=Bruckner |first10=Martin |last11=Canelas |first11=Joana |last12=Hilbers |first12=Jelle P. |last13=Tukker |first13=Arnold |last14=Erb |first14=Karlheinz |last15=Pereira |first15=Henrique M. |date=4 March 2019 |title=Increasing impacts of land use on biodiversity and carbon sequestration driven by population and economic growth |journal=[[Nature Ecology & Evolution]] |volume=3 |issue=4 |pages=628–637 |doi=10.1038/s41559-019-0824-3 |pmid=30833755 |pmc=6443044 |bibcode=2019NatEE...3..628M }}</ref> transitioning to [[plant-based diets]];<ref name="Plant-based"/><ref name="Machovina"/> and increasing the number and size of terrestrial and marine protected areas<ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Kopina H, Washington H, Gray J, Taylor B |date=2018 |title=The "future of conservation" debate: defending ecocentrism and the Nature Needs Half movement |journal=Biological Conservation |volume=217 |pages=140–148 |issn=0006-3207 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2017.10.016|s2cid=89930104 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal |vauthors=Noss R, Dobson A, Baldwin R, Beier P, Davis C, Dellasala D, Francis J, Locke H, Nowak K, Lopez R, Reining C, Trombulak S, Tabor G |date=2012 |title=Bolder thinking for conservation |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=26 |issue=1 |pages=1–4 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01738.x|pmid=22280321 |s2cid=44550790 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2012ConBi..26....1N }}</ref> have been suggested to avoid or limit [[biodiversity loss]] and a possible sixth mass extinction. [[Rodolfo Dirzo]] and [[Paul R. Ehrlich]] suggest that "the one fundamental, necessary, 'simple' cure, ... is reducing the scale of the human enterprise."<ref name="Dirzo2022"/> According to a 2021 paper published in ''[[Frontiers Media|Frontiers in Conservation Science]]'', humanity almost certainly faces a "ghastly future" of mass extinction, biodiversity collapse, climate change, and their impacts unless major efforts to change human industry and activity are rapidly undertaken.<ref name="Bradshaw2021"/><ref>{{cite news|last=Weston|first=Phoebe|date=January 13, 2021|title=Top scientists warn of 'ghastly future of mass extinction' and climate disruption|work=The Guardian|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/top-scientists-warn-of-ghastly-future-of-mass-extinction-and-climate-disruption-aoe|access-date=February 13, 2021|archive-date=January 13, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113050606/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/top-scientists-warn-of-ghastly-future-of-mass-extinction-and-climate-disruption-aoe|url-status=live}}</ref>

Reducing human population growth has been suggested as a means of mitigating climate change and the biodiversity crisis,<ref>{{cite journal |last1=O'Sullivan |first1=Jane N. |date=June 2020 |title=The social and environmental influences of population growth rate and demographic pressure deserve greater attention in ecological economics |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800919310201 |journal=[[Ecological Economics (journal)|Ecological Economics]] |volume=172 |page=106648 |doi=10.1016/j.ecolecon.2020.106648 |bibcode=2020EcoEc.17206648O |s2cid=216368140 |access-date=5 January 2023 |archive-date=6 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106003641/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0921800919310201 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=McKee |first1=Jeffrey K. |last2=Sciulli |first2=Paul W. |last3=Fooce |first3=C. David |last4=Waite |first4=Thomas A. |date=January 2004 |title=Forecasting global biodiversity threats associated with human population growth |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320703000995 |journal=[[Biological Conservation (journal)|Biological Conservation]] |volume=115 |issue=1 |pages=161–164 |doi=10.1016/S0006-3207(03)00099-5 |bibcode=2004BCons.115..161M |access-date=3 January 2023 |archive-date=2 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230102165922/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0006320703000995 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="CristEtAl2017">{{cite journal |last1=Crist |first1=Eileen |last2=Mora |first2=Camilo |last3=Engelman |first3=Robert |date=21 April 2017 |title=The interaction of human population, food production, and biodiversity protection |url=https://www.researchgate.net/publication/316286860 |journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume=356 |issue=6335 |pages=260–264 |doi=10.1126/science.aal2011 |pmid=28428391 |bibcode=2017Sci...356..260C |s2cid=12770178 |access-date=1 January 2023}}</ref> although many scholars believe it has been largely ignored in mainstream policy discourse.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dodson |first1=Jenna C. |last2=Dérer |first2=Patrícia |last3=Cafaro |first3=Philip |last4=Götmark |first4=Frank |date=15 December 2020 |title=Population growth and climate change: Addressing the overlooked threat multiplier |url=https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720348750 |journal=[[Science of the Total Environment]] |volume=748 |page=141346 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2020.141346 |pmid=33113687 |bibcode=2020ScTEn.74841346D |s2cid=225035992 |access-date=5 January 2023 |archive-date=6 January 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230106041958/https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0048969720348750 |url-status=live }}</ref><ref name="KopninaWashington2016">{{cite journal |last1=Kopnina |first1=Helen |last2=Washington |first2=Haydn |date=6 April 2016 |title=Discussing why population growth is still ignored or denied |journal=Chinese Journal of Population Resources and Environment |volume=14 |issue=2 |pages=133–143 |doi=10.1080/10042857.2016.1149296 |s2cid=155499197 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2016CJPRE..14..133K |hdl=1887/44662 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>{{Explain|date=November 2024}} An alternative proposal is greater agricultural efficiency & sustainability. Lots of non-arable land can be made into [[arable land]] good for growing food crops. Mushrooms have also been known to repair damaged soil.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Elsakhawy |first1=Tamer |last2=Omara |first2=Alaa El-Dein |last3=Abowaly |first3=Mohamed |last4=El-Ramady |first4=Hassan |last5=Badgar |first5=Khandsuren |last6=Llanaj |first6=Xhensila |last7=Törős |first7=Gréta |last8=Hajdú |first8=Peter |last9=Prokisch |first9=József |title=Green Synthesis of Nanoparticles by Mushrooms: A Crucial Dimension for Sustainable Soil Management |journal=Sustainability |date=6 April 2022 |volume=14 |issue=7 |pages=12–13 |doi=10.3390/su14074328|doi-access=free |bibcode=2022Sust...14.4328E }}</ref>

A 2018 article in ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' advocated for the global community to designate [[30 by 30|30% of the planet by 2030]], and 50% by 2050, as [[protected area]]s to mitigate the contemporary extinction crisis. It highlighted that the human population is projected to grow to [[Projections of population growth#Up to 2050|10&nbsp;billion by the middle of the century]], and consumption of food and water resources is projected to double by this time.<ref>{{cite journal|last1= Baillie|first1=Jonathan|last2=Ya-Ping |first2=Zhang|date=September 14, 2018|title=Space for nature|journal=Science|volume=361|issue=6407 |pages=1051|doi=10.1126/science.aau1397|pmid=30213888 |bibcode=2018Sci...361.1051B|doi-access=free}}</ref> A 2022 report published in ''[[Science (journal)|Science]]'' warned that 44% of Earth's terrestrial surface, or {{convert|24.7|e6sqmi|e6km2|abbr=off|order=flip}}, must be conserved and made "ecologically sound" to prevent further biodiversity loss.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Allan |first1=James R. |last2=Possingham |first2=Hugh P. |last3=Atkinson |first3=Scott C. |last4=Waldron |first4=Anthony |display-authors=etal. |title=The minimum land area requiring conservation attention to safeguard biodiversity |journal=Science |date=2 June 2022 |volume=376 |issue=6597 |pages=1094–1101 |doi=10.1126/science.abl9127 |pmid=35653463 |bibcode=2022Sci...376.1094A |hdl=11573/1640006 |s2cid=233423065|hdl-access=free }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last=Magramo |first=Kathleen |date=June 3, 2022 |title=More than 40% of Earth's land surface must be conserved to stop the biodiversity crisis, report warns |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/world/earth-conservation-report-intl-hnk-scn/index.html |access-date=June 8, 2022 |archive-date=June 8, 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220608045732/https://www.cnn.com/2022/06/03/world/earth-conservation-report-intl-hnk-scn/index.html |url-status=live }}</ref>

In November 2018, the UN's biodiversity chief [[Cristiana Pașca Palmer]] urged people worldwide to pressure governments to implement significant protections for wildlife by 2020. She called biodiversity loss a "silent killer" as dangerous as [[global warming]] but said it had received little attention by comparison. "It's different from climate change, where people feel the impact in everyday life. With biodiversity, it is not so clear but by the time you feel what is happening, it may be too late."<ref>{{cite news|last=Watts|first=Jonathan|date=November 3, 2018|title=Stop biodiversity loss or we could face our own extinction, warns UN|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/03/stop-biodiversity-loss-or-we-could-face-our-own-extinction-warns-un|work=The Guardian|access-date=November 3, 2018|archive-date=January 27, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210127033608/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/nov/03/stop-biodiversity-loss-or-we-could-face-our-own-extinction-warns-un|url-status=live}}</ref> In January 2020, the UN [[Convention on Biological Diversity]] drafted a [[Paris Agreement|Paris-style]] plan to stop biodiversity and [[ecosystem collapse]] by setting the deadline of [[30 by 30|2030 to protect 30% of the Earth's land and oceans]] and to reduce pollution by 50%, to allow for the [[Ecosystem restoration|restoration of ecosystems]] by 2050. The world failed to meet the [[Aichi Biodiversity Targets]] for 2020 set by the convention during a summit in Japan in 2010.<ref>{{cite news|last=Greenfield|first=Patrick|date=January 13, 2020|title=UN draft plan sets 2030 target to avert Earth's sixth mass extinction|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/un-draft-plan-sets-2030-target-to-avert-earths-sixth-mass-extinction-aoe|work=The Guardian|access-date=January 14, 2020|archive-date=February 24, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210224095816/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jan/13/un-draft-plan-sets-2030-target-to-avert-earths-sixth-mass-extinction-aoe|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Yeung|first=Jessie|date=January 14, 2020|title=We have 10 years to save Earth's biodiversity as mass extinction caused by humans takes hold, UN warns|url=https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/14/world/un-biodiversity-draft-plan-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|work=CNN|access-date=January 14, 2020|archive-date=February 15, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210215051020/https://www.cnn.com/2020/01/14/world/un-biodiversity-draft-plan-intl-hnk-scli-scn/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Of the 20 biodiversity targets proposed, only six were "partially achieved" by the deadline.<ref>{{cite news|last=Dickie|first=Gloria|author-link=Gloria Dickie|date=September 15, 2020|title=Global Biodiversity Is in Free Fall|url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-biodiversity-is-in-free-fall/|work=[[Scientific American]]|access-date=September 15, 2020|archive-date=March 7, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210307040317/https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/global-biodiversity-is-in-free-fall/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was called a global failure by [[Inger Andersen (environmentalist)|Inger Andersen]], head of the [[United Nations Environment Programme]]:

{{blockquote|text="From [[COVID-19 pandemic|COVID-19]] to massive wildfires, floods, melting glaciers and unprecedented heat, our failure to meet the [[Convention on Biological Diversity|Aichi (biodiversity) targets]]—to protect our home—has very real consequences. We can no longer afford to cast nature to the side."<ref>{{cite news|last1=Larson|first1=Christina|last2=Borenstein|first2=Seth|date=September 15, 2020|title=World isn't meeting biodiversity goals, UN report finds|work=[[Associated Press]]|url=https://apnews.com/f2702a401da3b4c7617e4af7d7a6f2a3|access-date=September 15, 2020|archive-date=January 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111061746/https://apnews.com/f2702a401da3b4c7617e4af7d7a6f2a3|url-status=live}}</ref>}}

Some scientists have proposed keeping extinctions below 20 per year for the next century as a global target to reduce species loss, which is the biodiversity equivalent of the 2&nbsp;°C climate target, although it is still much higher than the normal background rate of two per year prior to anthropogenic impacts on the natural world.<ref>{{cite journal|vauthors=Rounsevell M, Harfoot M, Harrison P, Newbold T, Gregory R, Mace G|date=June 12, 2020|title=A biodiversity target based on species extinctions|url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10099553/|journal=Science|volume=368|issue=6496|pages=1193–1195|doi=10.1126/science.aba6592|pmid=32527821|bibcode=2020Sci...368.1193R|s2cid=219585428|via=UCL Discovery|access-date=August 26, 2020|archive-date=October 30, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201030202538/https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10099553/|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|date=June 30, 2020|title=Fewer than 20 extinctions a year: does the world need a single target for biodiversity?|journal=[[Nature (journal)|Nature]]|volume=583|issue=7814 |pages=7–8 |doi=10.1038/d41586-020-01936-y|pmid=32606472|bibcode=2020Natur.583....7.|doi-access=free |department=Editorial}}</ref>

An October 2020 report on the "era of pandemics" from [[IPBES]] found that many of the same human activities that contribute to [[biodiversity loss]] and [[climate change]], including [[deforestation]] and the [[wildlife trade]], have also increased the risk of future [[pandemics]]. The report offers several policy options to reduce such risk, such as taxing meat production and consumption, cracking down on the illegal wildlife trade, removing high disease-risk species from the legal wildlife trade, and eliminating subsidies to businesses which are harmful to the environment.<ref name="Damien 102020">{{cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian|date=October 29, 2020|title=Protecting nature is vital to escape 'era of pandemics' – report|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/29/protecting-nature-vital-pandemics-report-outbreaks-wild|work=The Guardian|access-date=November 28, 2020|archive-date=October 29, 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201029144031/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/oct/29/protecting-nature-vital-pandemics-report-outbreaks-wild|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Mcelwee|first=Pamela|date=November 2, 2020|title=COVID-19 and the biodiversity crisis|url=https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/523944-covid-19-and-the-biodiversity-crisis|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|access-date=November 28, 2020|archive-date=May 15, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220515193422/https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/523944-covid-19-and-the-biodiversity-crisis|url-status=live}}</ref><ref name="IPBESPandemic">{{cite web|url=https://ipbes.net/pandemics|title=Escaping the 'Era of Pandemics': Experts Warn Worse Crises to Come Options Offered to Reduce Risk|author=<!--Not stated-->|work=IPBES secretariat |date=2020|publisher=[[Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]]|access-date=November 28, 2020|archive-date=January 26, 2024|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240126000615/https://www.ipbes.net/pandemics|url-status=live}}</ref> According to marine zoologist John Spicer, "the [[COVID-19 pandemic|COVID-19 crisis]] is not just another crisis alongside the biodiversity crisis and the climate change crisis. Make no mistake, this is one big crisis—the greatest that humans have ever faced."<ref name="Damien 102020"/>

In December 2022, nearly every country on Earth, with the United States and the [[Holy See]] being the only exceptions,<ref>{{cite news|last=Einhorn|first=Catrin|date=December 19, 2022|title=Nearly Every Country Signs On to a Sweeping Deal to Protect Nature|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html|work=[[The New York Times]]|location=|access-date=January 5, 2023|quote=The United States is just one of two countries in the world that are not party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, largely because Republicans, who are typically opposed to joining treaties, have blocked United States membership. That means the American delegation was required to participate from the sidelines. (The only other country that has not joined the treaty is the Holy See.)|archive-date=December 19, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221219234121/https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html|url-status=live}}</ref> signed onto the [[Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework]] agreement formulated at the [[2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference]] (COP 15) which includes protecting 30% of land and oceans by 2030 and 22 other targets intended to mitigate the extinction crisis. The agreement is weaker than the [[Convention on Biological Diversity|Aichi Targets]] of 2010.<ref name="Paddison">{{cite news|last=Paddison|first=Laura|date=December 19, 2022|title=More than 190 countries sign landmark agreement to halt the biodiversity crisis|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/world/cop15-biodiversity-agreement-montreal-climate-scn-intl/index.html|work=CNN|location=|access-date=January 5, 2023|archive-date=December 20, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221220015200/https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/world/cop15-biodiversity-agreement-montreal-climate-scn-intl/index.html|url-status=live}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|last=Curry|first=Tierra|date=December 24, 2022|title=COP15 biodiversity summit: Paving the road to extinction with good intentions|url=https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3787000-cop15-biodiversity-summit-paving-the-road-to-extinction-with-good-intentions/|work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]]|location=|access-date=January 5, 2023|archive-date=December 27, 2022|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221227054903/https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/3787000-cop15-biodiversity-summit-paving-the-road-to-extinction-with-good-intentions/|url-status=live}}</ref> It was criticized by some countries for being rushed and not going far enough to protect endangered species.<ref name="Paddison"/>