Natural habitats used by man or tampered with tend to become unsatisfactory or unsuitable for the native wild species. As I learned in class, habitat loss is the number one threat to modern primates. Not only do primates suffer, but habitat loss is the greatest threat to various parts of life on this planet that humans have caused. Simply speaking, along with habitat destruction, ties in the extinction of diverse species. “Biodiversity as a whole forms a shield protecting each of the species that together compose it, ourselves included. What will happen if, addition to the species already extinguished by human activity, say, 10 percent of those remaining are taken away? Or 50 percent? Or 90 percent? As more and more species vanish or drop to …show more content…
Wilson proposes a solution to this problem in his book, Half-Earth: Our Planet’s Fight for Life. The message is plain and simple: In order preserve biodiversity, Wilson proposes to devote half of the Earth’s land as a human-free natural reserve. “The current conservation movement has not been able to go the distance because it is a process. It targets the most endangered habitats and species and works forward from there. Knowing that the conservation window is closing fast, it strives to add increasing amounts of protected space, faster and faster, saving as much as time and opportunity will allow” (Wilson, 2016). What I hope to cover is to highlight the pros and cons of Wilson’s proposal, what other ideas can be done to solve the problem, and why humanity should be more involved with preserving the life around them.
Can the world really set aside half of the Earth’s land to preserve both wild and plant life? The protection of wildlife is a significant importance to the quality of life, with the loss of species – there may be severe consequences. Wilson’s concern is many species being destroyed before scientists have a chance to identify them. “Humanity is losing the race between the scientific study of global diversity and the obliteration of countless still-unknown species” (Wilson, 2016). This is where I see a positive light in Wilson’s
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How would Wilson find the money to fund his idea? How much would it cost to set aside not just a small portion of land, but half of the Earth’s land? While I feel the Half-Earth proposal has its ups and downs, the idea has already begun in some ways. There are many regions of the world who have set aside land, in order to preserve wildlife. “Take a look at Namibia. In that nation, seventy-nine wildlife conservancies cover about 20 percent of the country, and 41 percent of Namibia’s land is communal. And, according to the World Bank, as of 2012, Costa Rica has placed 26.9 percent of its terrestrial area in protection” (Andrews,
As discussed previously, Kareiva and Marvier argue that focusing on human welfare does not have to sacrifice biodiversity (962-969). However, some find that the argument only holds when conservation itself is tied to a clearly outlined conservation agenda (Sanderson and Redford 389). For conservation efforts to be successful, multiple countries and agencies need to cooperate (“Lecture Week 13”). Conservationists, economists, and political strategists must find conservation issues that do not hinder efforts to alleviate issues of the human condition such as global poverty and world hunger. In actuality, biodiversity loss and poverty are linked, but conservation strategies that will reap success in integrating the two need clear conceptual frameworks (Adams et al. 1146). In order to find a balance and to foster stability for lasting and sustainable development and environmental health, it is important to take humans out of the equation when assessing the status of the environment, and to implement formal scientific strategies to conservation policies (Erwin
Another point in his essay is that all land is one mechanism and if you damage one part then you intern damage or affect another part. So we cannot fully preserve land because our scientists cannot recognize all of the earth's mechanisms. For instance if you kill the wolves then the rabbit and deer
When Aldiss explained about the condition of the Badlands, “Ancient bomb craters and soil erosion joined hands here; man’s talent for war, coupled with his inability to manage forested land, had produced thousands of square miles of temperate purgatory, where nothing moved but dust.” (257) For the overpopulated humans, they all needed land to live in, so deforestation was a major issue. War also made deforestation worse, with bomb craters destroying thousands of square miles of forested land. Today, many trees are being logged to create land for people. The more overpopulated our planet is, the more land we need to deforest and reduce the world’s forests.
Biodiversity offsetting is a planning strategy that aims to compensate for losses of biodiversity in a given area by protecting an area elsewhere and generating gains that are ecologically equivalent to the loss in the area being developed (Maron et al. 2012.) In practice, this means that the residual losses in biodiversity that take place as a result of a development can be offset and compensated for in any area in the UK, potentially even far from the one under development. The UK government has suggested that this strategy may be ideal on the basis that countries all over the world, such as the United States, India, Australia and 21 others have and are currently using this planning strategy to meet its society’s needs (DEFRA green paper.) On the 5th of September 2013, DEFRA published a public consultation document on Biodiversity offsetting in England (also called the Green paper) which laid out a framework of options for how biodiversity offsetting in England could potentially operate. The consultation is written in a style that gives information and suggestions as to how an offsetting scheme could operate, however, it also asks 38 specific questions relating to the execution offsetting practices, from very basic questions such as asking if offsetting should be mandatory for developers, to more specific questions regarding potentially off...
As the international community focuses on climate change as the great crisis of our era, it is ignoring another looming problem: the global crisis in land use. Seed Magazine
The remaining green spaces that are left are not large enough to support much wildlife, and often don’t supply the benefits that native plants offer. Non-native plants can be invasive, and generalist species can outcompete native plant species. This can create a burden on available nutrients and can cause issues in particular ecosystems to all of its inhabitants. Non-native plants sometimes require artificial fertilizers and pesticides due to the fact that they are not adapted to the environment that they have been placed into. Not only does this have a negative effect on the environment, but it also can have a negative impact on human health. The ways in which animals and plants have co-evolved with one another must be considered, when determining the impacts that non-native plant species can have in an ecosystem. For example, insects are an important food source for many animals, and are crucial for a healthy ecosystem. Different plant species have different ways of protecting themselves, many have distasteful or toxic chemicals. Insects who don’t have an evolutionary history with a plant species may not have the specific adaptations they need to be able to feed on them. This creates problems in the food web of that ecosystem. A study conducted in 2008, which focused on the
There as not only been a decreased number of species from this environmental crisis; but even in parts of the globe were exotic living beings used to flourish, now are at an all-time low when it comes to how many of them are left of this Earth. “Today we’re living through the sixth great extinction, sometimes known as the Holocene extinction event.” (Whitty, 2015) In future generations, those kids would be lucky if they even get to see a rhino or elephant in their life because of how much these animals are exploited and slaughtered for nothing other than blind greed. “Of the 40,168 species that the 10,000 scientists in the World Conservation Union have assessed, one in four mammals, one in eight birds, one in three amphibians, on in three conifers and other gymnosperms are at risk of extinction.” (Whitty, 2015) In the latest centuries recorded extinctions, the current rate is one hundred times the background rate. It’s shocking that on average somewhere between 2.7 and 270 species are eliminated from existence every day. If we remain on the road of frivolous destruction, half of all the worlds’ plant and animal species will cease to exist. Keeping in mind that the circle of life does exist and animals and plants will eventually die just like all of us one day; but humans continually take advantage of natural resources and other living beings. The only way to save Earth’s membrane is to salvage what is left of its beauty and assemble its broken pieces back together. Surprisingly, not all hope in humanity is lost. The strive to rewilder North America is one of the many positive steps that need to be taken. Starting with reconnecting what remains of wilderness parks, sanctuaries, and national parks. In addition to those actions, North America must also rekindle the four broad “megalinkages” which include “the Rocky
Landscape fragmentation can impose devastating and irreversible consequences on the biodiversity of ecosystems. Because of the conflicting interests between ecology and human economic benefit, it has become increasingly important to find solutions for a harmonic balance. It is imperative for people to recognize the impacts of biodiversity loss and increased extinction of many species. These impacts must be understood in order to protect landscapes and the immense biodiversity they contain. Raising environmental consciousness through education and public cooperative efforts, as well as promoting resource conservation and changing consumptive patterns, are just a few ways that we can begin to protect biodiversity.
In South America lies the largest and most wondrous rainforest in the world, the Amazon Rainforest. This 1.4 billion acre forest represents over half of the planets remaining rainforests, and comprises the largest and most bio-diverse tract of rainforest in the world. Ten percent of all known species on the planet are found in this rain forest, most of which have yet to be discovered. For the past century, the Amazon has been gradually decreasing in size due to agricultural expansion, ranching, infrastructure projects, energy exploration and illegal logging. At its current state, the Amazon is losing land equal to the size of the state of Delaware every year. The destruction of this forest releases 340 million tons of carbon per year according to the World Wildlife Foundation, or WWF, which in turn cause climate changes everywhere around the world. Undiscovered species can hold the key to curing a plethora of diseases, but if those species become extinct those keys are lost forever. If nothing is done to prevent this, the world’s treasure trove of bio-diversity will cease to exist, creating irreversible damage to not only the South American people but also the rest of the world.
Humans are destructive. Not a lot of us think about how what we do affects the world around us. We almost act like we are the only ones on this planet. We go around polluting and destroying our world with no regard for our actions. The things that live out in the wild are paying the price for it. Every day that passes there is another animal or plant that is placed on an endangered list. This is happening at an alarming rate. Because of man’s desire to expand and conquer their surroundings, there are animals and plants that are on the brink of extinction that will not be around for our kids and future generations to enjoy if something is not done about it now. This problem has been going on for hundreds of years. There are animals and plants that can only been seen in paintings or early photography. It is because of our early ancestors that we have this problem today and we have to do more to prevent more animals and plants from disappearing forever.
In this new age of technology and advances in every possible field of study, many people forget about the environment. Some will just throw their trash all over the place with no concern for the possible consequences. Of course, there are many consequences, but only one comes to my mind. That is the demolition of species’ homes or habitat destruction. Habitat destruction or habitat loss is the altering or elimination of the conditions that plants and animals need to survive. “The primary threat to the world’s biodiversity is habitat destruction” (Okey p.1). Prairies have been greatly affected. The “loss of prairie habitat ranges from 20 to >99 percent depending on the region” (Benedict, Freeman, & Genoways, p.161). Habitat destruction can be caused by many things. These include:
Rainforests once covered 14% of the worlds land surface, however now it only covers a mere 6%. It is estimated that all rainforests could be consumed in less than 40 years. Trees are becoming more needed and used everyday. We need them cut down for many reasons such as paper and timber, while also needing them ‘untouched’ for other reasons like oxygen, we have to ask ourselves, which is more important? At the current rate, most of the rainforests are being cut down for resources like paper and timber, but less importance is being placed on main resources like oxygen.
Many of the issues of biodiversity loss can be traced back to human interaction to the environment. One of the issues is alteration and loss of habitats. A lot of this issue is based on the destruction of habitats and for the land to be used for human consumption. The land is either used up for agricultural use or for neighborhoods. Destroying habitats and building them for our own use can have a positive impact on our way of living but a negative impact on the environment. We would gain land for building land for crops and communities to be built. The habitat for the animals would be destroyed and the species local to the land would either relocate or die. There are restrictions to deforesting land and there are organizations to help protect the land.
The degradation of ecosystems and loss of biodiversity is increasing at an alarming rate every year. Humans are certainly not the only reason for this, but they are the main contributors. The well-being of ecosystems affects our everyday lives - consumption and consumerism depend on natural resources. Everything humans use is derived from them, in seemingly indirect and direct ways. Yet despite the fact that humans are destroying the environment, many continue to and neglect to take important measures to protect it.
One of the reasons for loss in biodiversity is alteration of habitats. A habitat is the natural environment in which a species of living organism lives. If the habitat of a species is changed, it will cause the species to die or migrate to other places where it can find its natural habitat. There are many ways in which the habitat of plants and animals can be altered. One of them is land use changes. Since the beginning of human life, human beings have been changing land use for farming. Large areas of forests have been cleared by humans to increase the area of farming to satisfy their growing needs. Many biodiversity-rich landscape characteristics have been lost due to intensive farming (Young, Richards, Fischer, Halada, Kull, Kuzniar, Tartes, Uzunov & Watt, 2007). For example, traditional farming was replaced by private farms in Europe after the First World War causing an immense change in land use patterns. Another major proble...