Given the task definition and input, reply with output. In this task, you are given a text of many news articles seperated by special token "|||||". Your task is to summarize them.

WASHINGTON (AP) — Species of plants and animals are becoming extinct at least 1,000 times faster than they did before humans arrived on the scene, and the world is on the brink of a sixth great extinction, a new study says. 
  
 This undated handout photo, taken in 2010, provided by Terry Goss Photography USA/Marine Photobank, shows an Oceanic whitetip shark. The oceanic whitetip shark was once one of the most plentiful predators... (Associated Press) 
  
 This handout photo, taken Dec. 2012, in Brazil, provided by Stuart Pimm, Duke University, shows a baby golden lion tamarin. Once thought to be extinct, this tamarin is a success story because biologists... (Associated Press) 
  
 This handout photo, taken in 2009 in Nazsre Paulista, Sao Paulo State, Brazil, provided by Roberto de Lara Haddad, shows a Buff-tufted-ear marmoset which is listed as a vulnerable species because of habitat... (Associated Press) 
  
 The study looks at past and present rates of extinction and finds a lower rate in the past than scientists had thought. Species are now disappearing from Earth about 10 times faster than biologists had believed, said study lead author noted biologist Stuart Pimm of Duke University. 
  
 "We are on the verge of the sixth extinction," Pimm said from research at the Dry Tortugas. "Whether we avoid it or not will depend on our actions." 
  
 The work, published Thursday by the journal Science, was hailed as a landmark study by outside experts. 
  
 Pimm's study focused on the rate, not the number, of species disappearing from Earth. It calculated a "death rate" of how many species become extinct each year out of 1 million species. 
  
 In 1995, Pimm found that the pre-human rate of extinctions on Earth was about 1. But taking into account new research, Pimm and his colleagues refined that background rate to about 0.1. 
  
 Now, that death rate is about 100 to 1,000, Pimm said. 
  
 Numerous factors are combining to make species disappear much faster than before, said Pimm and co-author Clinton Jenkins of the Institute of Ecological Research in Brazil. But the No. 1 issue is habitat loss. Species are finding no place to live as more places are built up and altered by humans. 
  
 Add to that invasive species crowding out native species, climate change affecting where species can survive, and overfishing, Pimm said. 
  
 The buffy-tufted-ear marmoset is a good example, Jenkins said. Its habitat has shrunk because of development in Brazil, and a competing marmoset has taken over where it lives. Now ,it's on the international vulnerable list. 
  
 The oceanic white-tip shark used to be one of the most abundant predators on Earth and they have been hunted so much they are now rarely seen, said Dalhousie University marine biologist Boris Worm, who wasn't part of the study but praised it. "If we don't do anything, this will go the way of the dinosaurs." 
  
 Five times, a vast majority of the world's life has been snuffed out in what have been called mass extinctions, often associated with giant meteor strikes. About 66 million years ago, one such extinction killed off the dinosaurs and three out of four species on Earth. Around 252 million years ago, the Great Dying snuffed out about 90 percent of the world's species. 
  
 Pimm and Jenkins said there is hope. Both said the use of smartphones and applications such as iNaturalist will help ordinary people and biologists find species in trouble, they said. Once biologists know where endangered species are they can try to save habitats and use captive breeding and other techniques to save the species, they said. 
  
 One success story is the golden lion tamarin. Decades ago the tiny primates were thought to be extinct because of habitat loss, but they were then found in remote parts of Brazil, bred in captivity and biologists helped set aside new forests for them to live in, Jenkins said. 
  
 "Now there are more tamarins than there are places to put them," he said. 
  
 ___ 
  
 Online: 
  
 Journal Science: http://www.sciencemag.org 
  
 ___ 
  
 Seth Borenstein can be followed at http://twitter.com/borenbears ||||| Contribute to Science 
  
 Every observation can contribute to biodiversity science, from the rarest butterfly to the most common backyard weed. We share your findings with scientific data repositories like the Global Biodiversity Information Facility to help scientists find and use your data. All you have to do is observe. |||||

Human activity is wiping out species of plants and animals at a dizzying rate, leaving the world on the verge of the sixth great extinction in its history, a new study warns. Researchers found that species are vanishing around 10 times faster than previously believed—and 1,000 times faster than they did before humans emerged, the AP reports. A mass extinction on the scale of the one that wiped out the dinosaurs is close, and "whether we avoid it or not will depend on our actions," says the lead researcher. Habitat loss is the main factor causing species to disappear, but climate change, overfishing, and the spread of invasive species also play a role. But the situation isn't completely hopeless: Modern technology and "citizen scientists" are helping biologists locate endangered species, aiding efforts to save their habitats, the study author tells National Geographic. Thanks to mobile apps like iNaturalist and online crowdsourcing, "we know where the species are, we know where the threats are, and—even though the situation is very bleak—we are better able to manage things," he says. What can the average citizen do? A scientist not involved in the study suggests encouraging lawmakers to connect nature reserves to each other, and the study author notes that extinction rates of mammals, birds, and amphibians are 20% lower than they would be without protected refuges. About 13% of the planet's land has been designated as such; the same holds true for only about 2% of the ocean.