By Helen
Briggs BBC News
5 December
2018
The
modification of land for farming and building cities is favouring the same
species everywhere, according to a new study.
Animals
like rats and pigeons are taking over from less common ones, which can survive
only in certain habitats, say scientists.
Researchers
looked at 20,000 animals and plants in 81 countries.
They
found that species occupying a large area tend to increase in places where
humans use the land.
However,
fauna and flora that occupies a small area is lost.
"We
show around the world that when humans modify habitats, these unique species
are consistently lost and are replaced by species that are found everywhere,
such as pigeons in cities and rats in farmland," said Dr Tim Newbold, a
research fellow at University College London.
Rats,
mice, sparrows and pigeons are examples of species with wide ranges that do
well when natural habitats are replaced with farmland and cities, he said.
However,
the "narrow-ranged losers" include animals and plants which may have
great cultural value, such as rhinos and tigers.
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