Deforestation may lead to mass extinction of species: Study

Scientists from Sydney’s Macquarie University have revealed an alarming situation as mass extinction of tropical species may have already happened without anyone noticing as a result of deforestation.

A new research published in the scientific journal 'Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences' on Tuesday, drew on data from hundreds of local-scale studies and is the first of its kind.

According to the reports, Associate Professor John Alroy said that "The amount of expected extinction is really high, I think the scientific community should find the result disturbing".

"Previously, research has focused on a local extinction, but what is new about this research is that it's not about a local or small forest but about complete extinction globally."

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Many of the world’s most threatened and endangered animals live in forests, and according to the findings, disturbing their ecosystem could have a threating impact.

Prof Alroy said small and non-flying species were at higher risk, including frogs, lizards and insect groups.

“The overall implication of this research is that any substantial loss of primary forests will result in numerous extinctions across many groups”, he added.