The red-backed fairywren (Malurus melanocephalus), one of Australia's songbirds. This species displays a remarkable pattern of genetic variation within its range. The results of the models produced within the scope of the study carried out within the body of Hacettepe University Biogeography Research Laboratory do not look very encouraging. Models indicate that one of the two existing subspecies of this species, as well as most of its genetic diversity, will disappear by 2070 due to one of today's major problems, climate change. The research considers these results as a negative cost of global warming to Australia and the Earth's biodiversity.
As the author of the article, Prof. Dr. Utku Perktaş, Faculty Member of our Biology Department, stated to our newspaper, this period defines a time period characterized by loss of biodiversity, and most of the species with which we share our planet are under threat. Perktaş adds that if the necessary precautions are not taken, we will have to pay the bill of climate change with more losses.
Details of the study can be found on the website of the Biological Journal of the Linnean Society.
(Cover photo: Greg Miles)