Biologically, a species is considered extinct when the last of its kind takes its last breath. According to researchers, species can go extinct a second time.
Societal Extinction: The Second Type of Extinction
Societal extinction which is the second form of extinction has become the major topic of a new study aimed at discovering the effects of the phenomenon.
Biological systems researcher Josh Firth from the University of Oxford, UK said: "Societal extinctions can affect conservation efforts aimed at protecting biodiversity because it can diminish our expectations of the environment and our perceptions of its natural state, such as what is the standard or relatively healthy," according to Science Alert.
Researchers fear that this second form of extinction might bring about changes in our present society and might affect our efforts in conservation. This is because when species go into extinction and slowly leaves our memory, it might be difficult to continue the preservation of the remains of these species.
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Possible Causes of Societal Extinction
From the studies gathered during the investigation, how long the specie lasted, its interactions or connections with humans, and its contribution to society's cultural and symbolic aspect might affect the possibilities of it going into societal extinction.
Researchers also stated the possibilities of both extinction happening at the same time or even a species experiencing societal extinction before the first form and this depends on how popular that particular specie was and if it was not controlled properly.
Uri Roll, a conservation biologist from the Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, Israel said: "Species can also remain collectively known after they become extinct, or even become more popular," as per Scitech Daily
An ideal example can be herbal plants, some of these plants has lost most of their value in medicine due to the improvement in modern alternatives and are somehow going through societal extinction even when they are still on earth.
Some of these species even goes into extinction even before they are recognized by society sometimes because of how less visible they are to the human eyes while some experience the second form after naturally going into extinction.
More Societal Extinction May Occur if not Prevented
From the study, the extinction is highly influenced by the lack of support of biodiversity conservation and also the damaging activities of humans.
These activities are rapidly decreasing human connection and interest with nature and also affection memories of species that are either extinct or about going extinct.
From the multiple links connecting human activities with this extinction, researchers fear that within the coming years there will be a huge increase in societal extinction unless a preventive measure surfaces and this prevention will require lots of multidisciplinary approaches that are beyond conservative biology and ecology.
The study was published in Trends in Ecology & Evolution.
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