Scientists say that parasites were not a very good image, and they meanwhile, is no worse than mammals, fish or birds, and are also at risk of extinction.
Only 4% of the known parasites can affect humans, and most of the rest are of critical environmental importance. For example, they regulate the populations of different species, which without it could turn into pests as a result of uncontrolled growth.
But to date, science has identified only one tenth of the parasites. The vast majority of them remain unstudied, and therefore are not covered by any program of conservation of species. And it really bothers scientists from USA, Australia, Spain and other countries, which was published in the journal Biological Conservation global plan for the protection of the parasites.
“Parasites — an incredibly diverse group of species, but we are not aware of the extent of biological diversity is valuable, says Chelsea wood at the University of Washington. The purpose of this publication is to show that we lose the parasites and the functions performed by them, not even recognizing them.”
We offer scientists the plan includes twelve goals for the coming decade, one of which is the identification of half of the existing types of parasites.
“If the type has no name, we are unable to keep it, explains Colin Carlson of Georgetown University. – We have long have the names for most animals and plants, but scientists have discovered only a small part of all the parasites. Cutting edge science now is the deep ocean, deep space and the world that lives within each species on Earth.”
In addition, scientists propose to establish a “red list” of parasites, to include them in studies on biodiversity, to digitize the collection of parasites, to inform the wider public about what these creatures are under threat, to enact legislation protecting the parasites, and a number of other measures.
