They blocked out the sun. That’s a phrase writers in the 1800s used to describe several natural events, including migrations of passenger pigeons, Carolina parakeets, and Rocky Mountain locust. All of which were extinct a relatively short time later.
The environment is always changing, going through a series of contractions and renewals. Change happens; the problem is when the contraction of one area goes too far to allow a following expansion. If the landscape gets too fragmented or a population of a species becomes too small, the cycle can’t be completed. The result is visibly less diversity, but the impact on the future could put even more species at risk.
Read the complete column, Creating Natural Positive Change
Photo: https://www.audubon.org/sites/default/files/boa/illustration/plate-62-passenger-pigeon.jpg
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