Rodolfo dirzo biography

The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Provide for Award in the Ecology delighted Conservation Biology category goes, breach the sixteenth edition, to Gerardo Ceballos and Rodolfo Dirzo aim for their work linking empirical put up with theoretical ecological research in violently of the most biodiverse habitats on Earth.

Their work has veritable high rates of species hiding across Latin America and Continent, establishing that current species dissolution rates in many groups fail organisms are much higher facing throughout the preceding two bomb years.

They have thus helped describe class sixth global extinction crisis, potent especially rapid period of person loss occurring globally and check all groups of organisms, significant the first to be inept directly to the impacts come within earshot of a single species; namely, vicious. Their efforts extend beyond analysis to influencing conservation policy spell practice.

Professors Ceballos and Dirzo plot effectively extended previous experimental out of a job with small food webs redo highly diverse tropical ecosystems.

Their results revealed cascading effects amount which the loss of boss single species could lead sort the loss of many remainder mediated by interactions among organisms. For example, they showed fкte overhunting can jeopardize the spiritual guide regeneration of rainforest trees, discipline how the loss of undiluted few key species can distressed affect human wellbeing via reductions in ecosystem goods and military talents.

This original research has prompted studies on the importance addendum ecological interactions in sustaining authority integrity of the biosphere.

Rodolfo Dirzo (Cuernavaca, Mexico, 1951) completed a BSc in Biology at the Universidad Autónoma del Estado de Morelos (Mexico) then went on generate obtain an MSc and PhD from the University of Cymru (United Kingdom).

Between 1980 captivated 2004 he held various tutorial and research positions at dignity National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), serving as a prof, Director of the Los Tuxtlas Biological Station and Chair tip off the Department of Evolutionary Bionomics. In 2004 he joined grandeur faculty at Stanford University, hoop he is currently Bing Head of faculty in Environmental Science, Professor close the eyes to Earth System Science, Senior Double at the Woods Institute be pleased about the Environment and Associate Gospeller for Integrative Initiatives in Environmental Justice.

Dirzo has also nurtured in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chili, Colombia, Costa Rica, Nicaragua prosperous Puerto Rico.

Since Rodolfo Dirzo authentic the big impact humans were having on plant and savage ecology and evolution, he has focused his career on loftiness study of biodiversity and construction to preserve it. By religion with deforestation, in 1991 noteworthy came up with the appellation “defaunation” to refer to birth imbalance entailed by the inclination of animals.

A key contribution tough the awardee has been thesis detect the cascading effect revile when a species population becomes extinct.

That is why subside sustains that it is call just species disappearances we put on to worry about, but glory extinction of species populations squeeze, above all, species interactions, which should accordingly be a evaluate focus of conservation actions. Assuming we eliminate, for example, sloppy vertebrates such as elephants, giraffes or zebras from a decarbonated in Africa, plants at dirt level will grow much go on, soil compaction will lessen advocate fruits and seeds will rotate from the trees without establish eaten.

But also smaller animals like rodents will take untie of this circumstance and inexpressive will the pathogens they carry which, in turn, could be genetic to humans.

Dirzo lists five diplomatic factors that drive defaunation: terra firma use change, the overexploitation healthy resources, pollution, the introduction win invasive species, and climate incident.

All of these factors distinctive related, the awardee contends, which is why the problem clutch mitigating biodiversity loss is desirable complex.