Gone with the dodo

Up to 14 percent of all bird species will face extinction by the year 2100, a rise from only 1.3 percent over the past 500 years. The analysis, conducted by Stanford University's Center for Conservation Biology, attributes the loss to the widespread destruction of bird habitats, climate change and an increase in the introduction of "invasive species"--non-native animals that compete with or prey on birds, or non-native plants that alter the birds' environment and food supply.

Losing species will have serious health consequences. For example, extinction could mean more insects, which birds eat. The disappearance of vultures and other scavengers that help dispose of the carcasses of larger animals could mean the spread of disease. The study, published in the December 2004 issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, notes that a drop in India's vulture population led to an increase of rats and wild dogs, which spread rabies.

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