57 species and subspecies of North American freshwater fishes became extinct between 1900 and 2010. The modern extinction rate for these fishes is estimated to be 877 times greater than the background rate from the fossil record. This data is provided by CEOS_EXTRA via NASA's Earthdata platform.
Use Cases
- Calculate the modern-to-background extinction rate (M:BER) using species counts and extinction years.
- Analyze temporal trends in extinction events by decade, particularly the post-1950 increase.
- Compare extinction rates across vertebrate groups using the fact that freshwater fishes had the highest rate in the 20th century.
- Project future species loss by 2050 using current extinction counts and estimated ranges.
- Assess geographic reporting bias by comparing North American extinction tallies to under-reported data from other continents.
Strengths
- Data covers a specific 110-year period from 1900 to 2010.
- Provides a quantified comparison, stating the modern extinction rate is 877 times the background rate.
- Includes projections for future extinctions by 2050.
Limitations
- Exact row count, column names, and sample data are unavailable.
- The dataset appears focused on North America, which may limit global analysis.
- The last documented extinction was in 2006, suggesting data may not include very recent events.
Provenance
- Source
- CEOS_EXTRA via NASA Earthdata.
- Collection Method
- null
- Time Range
- 1900 to 2010, with historical context from 1898 and projections to 2050.
- Freshness
- null
- Geography
- North America, with comparative notes on Africa, Eurasia, and South America.