Biological consequences of human-caused extinctions

We have now seen that rate at which human-caused extinctions are occurring is different from the rate at which extinction occurred before we became so dominant.⁷ What are the immediate consequences of such extinctions? Geerat Vermeij [17] suggested three questions to be answered to understand the implications of extinction for human welfare.

1. Which kinds of species are susceptible to extinction, and which are not?

2. How will the extinction of species affect the communities in which these species lived and alter the evolutionary environment of surviving life forms?

3. Can new species evolve on a human-dominated planet to replace the species that have disappeared and, if so, what will they look like?