Power of SUNY

Study Shows Conservation Makes a Difference

Professor H. Resit Akçakaya, of the Department of Ecology and Evolution at Stony Brook University, helped develop guidelines for the application of rules used in assessment of threatened species. And in Nov. 2010, a major synthesis of these assessments has showed that although one-fifth of all vertebrates are at risk of extinction, conservation efforts are making a difference in slowing the slide of many species towards extinction.

The Impact of Conservation on the Status of the World’s Vertebrates, of which Dr. Akçakaya is one of 174 co-authors, represents one of the largest collaborations in the study of biological conservation. The study reports that, on average, 52 species of mammals, birds and amphibians move one category closer to extinction each year.

This is not the first time Dr. Akçakaya has been involved in conservation efforts; he has been working in the field of biological conservation since 1980 and has been involved in both practical and theoretical research on problems of species conservation, including several population viability analysis studies.