The Guam Rail or Ko’ko bird is a flightless bird which was endemic to Guam. The Guam Rail is mostly brown with white stripes on its stomach. It grows up to a height of 30cm and is omnivorous. There used to be as many as 10,000 Guam Rails on the island and they were easily spotted. However, during World War II, the Brown Tree Snake (Boiga irregularis) came to Guam and devastated native bird populations. The Guam Rail was one of the native birds that were annihilated. In just 30 years, the Guam Rail population plummeted to just 21 birds. The Guam Rail is now extinct in the wild. However, there are still some birds in captivity now. The Guam Rail should be preserved from possible extinction.
The Guam Rail and other native birds of Guam eat the seeds from that fall from some native trees. The birds then leave droppings, which disperse some of these seeds. Without birds, these seeds that come from these trees would fall near the original tree, where the seeds would either die from fungal infection, or overcrowd the trees, stunting the growth of other trees. Both of these options would have a disastrous effect on the environment of Guam. Trees that don’t rely on the native birds would become more dominant then the ones that do, and the weaker trees might even die out all together. Furthermore, when the seed passes through a bird’s stomach, a protective layer on the seed is removed, resulting in faster growth of new trees. If the seed does not pass through a bird’s digestive system, it will grow slower than a seed that has. Gregory Butcher, the Director for Bird Conservation at the National Audubon Society in America says that birds provide:
“invaluable ecological services…we know that if birds are not present to fulfill that role, t...
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...es caused by the snakes, and the risk to small children from potentially deadly snake bites. It’s a win-win situation.
Henrik Tikkanen, a Finnish author once said, “Because we don't think about future generations, they will never forget us.”(URL#2) If the Guam Rail is allowed to become extinct, the future generations will never forget the harm done to the Guam Rail and to nature itself. The Guam Rail should not be remembered as the bird that should have been saved, but wasn’t due to the foolishness of mankind. It should be remembered as the bird which was on the brink of extinction but was saved by the intelligence of mankind. Thomas Fuller an English writer in the 18th century wrote: “We never know the worth of the water till the well is dry”. We will never truly know the worth of the Guam Rail until it is undeniably, definitely, without a doubt, gone forever.
Since there is such a vast amount of the pythons then this series of events is sped up and it is all happening at an extremely fast rate. What makes them even more dangerous is that they have no natural predators due to the fact they are not from the area so the population of the snakes only increases (Bradley). In an attempt to solve the snake issue and restore the ecosystem back to the way it was before the burmese python’s became a problem state officials organized the Python’s Challenge, a public snake hunt but it was to no avail (Haberman).
Ever since 1973, when the Endangered Species Act came into being, conservationists and private landowners have been debating over whether to preserve the habitats of many endangered species found in unprotected areas (Ligon et al, 1986). Increasing levels of human development has led to the cutting of old-growth forests and construction of roads and other physical barriers to wildlife. These activities have greatly contributed to the fragmentation of wildlife habitat, which has had detrimental effects on the population structure and survivorship of the affected area’s indigenous species. One species that has been affected by habitat fragmentation is the red-cockaded woodpecker (Picoides borealis), a nonmigratory bird with a home range covering most of the southeastern United States (Roise et al, 1990). Habitat fragmentation has led to the loss of genetic variability, nesting sites, and suitable population sizes to support cooperative breeding requirements. These factors have been responsible for the precipitous decline of the red-cockaded woodpecker. Because the red-cockaded woodpecker provides important ecological and economic benefits to both humans and the environment, we should strongly consider enacting a conservation plan for this species.
appears to be slowly moving toward extinction. Public policy is not likely to provide any over-
Timmons, J. B., Alldredge, B., Rogers, W. E., & Cathey, J. C. (2012). Feral hogs negatively affect native plant communities. Informally published manuscript, Texas AgriLife Extension Service, Texas A&M , College Station, TX, Retrieved from http://feralhogs.tamu.edu/files/2010/04/feral-hogs-native-plants.pdf
Soule, Michael E et al. “Ecological Effectiveness: Conservation Goals for Interactive Species.” Conservation Biology 17.5 (2003) : 1238-1250.
8. Taylor, Dan. 1998. Audubon Society Inspired to Action by Bird Die -offs . 17 Jan. 1998 . E-mail . Available bkus@sunstroke.sdsu.edu
Landscape fragmentation contributes to loss of migratory corridors, loss of connectivity and natural communities, which all lead to a loss of biodiversity for a region. Conservation of biodiversity must include all levels of diversity: genetic, species, community, and landscape (CNHP 1995). Each complex level is dependent upon and linked to the other levels. In addition, humans are linked to all levels of this hierarchy. A healthy natural and human environment go hand in hand (CNHP 1995). An important step in conservation planning, in order to guarantee both a healthy natural environment as well as a healthy human environment, is recognizing the most endangered elements.
Two key scientists in “de-extinction”, Stewart Brand and George Church, hosted a symposium at Harvard Medical School called “Bringing Back the Passenger Pigeon” in February 2012. At this symposium, Church demonstrated his...
By conserving the ecosystem, the animal population will incline. Recent reports of record duck numbers throughout much of their continent-wide breeding range is proof that to manage wildlife you need to manage their ecosystems. Wet weather, combined with abundant nesting cover provided by the federal Conservation Reserve Program, has shown that wetland and grassland ecosystems are what make or break duck populations. The same is true for all other species, game and non-game. R. Holmes.
The Florida panther (Puma concolor coryi) has been on the endangered species list since 1967 with only 130 individuals surviving within a small area in Southern Florida (Sullivan 2004). Prior to conservation efforts, the Florida panther has suffered several population losses due to inbreeding, habitat loss, and vehicular collisions with only an estimated 30 surviving individuals in the 1970s (Maehr 1992). The number one threat to the Florida panther is habitat loss and habitat fragmentation due to urban development in Southern FL within the hardwood hammocks and wetland habitats in which they live in. Most of the current panther population is located within public lands such as the Big Cypress National Reserve and the Everglades, with some rehabilitation centers such as White Oak and the Florida Panther National Wildlife Refuge to help with conservation efforts within this area (see Figure 1: Florida Panther Home Ranges).
De-extinction is a process that has been experimented with for many years, but has never been completely successful. The ethics and consequences of this idea have been questioned but, de-extinction has the potential to be truly helpful to humans and the environment, and many of the scenarios that people think could happen, are actually impossible. To actually revive a species, there are certain conditions that must be met, and the terrible situations that people think could happen, are unable to actually occur because of the lack of . Bringing species back that are beneficial to the environment could preserve biodiversity, restore diminished ecosystems, advance the science of preventing extinctions, and undo the harm that people have caused in the past. The true potential of the revival of species cannot be realized because people overdramatize the effects and possible outcomes. Once we realize and understand how beneficial the process of de-extinction can be we can better improve our world, our lives, and our ecosystems.
...later time. Though it is simply impossible to know what the ultimate effects will be on our long term survival as a species, it is important to bear in mind that, once a species has been eliminated through extinction, it cannot be brought back. So, for the overall health of our rainforests, their biodiversity, and the limitless potential contained therein, it is crucial for us, as humans, to make as honest an effort as possible at their preservation.
Any species which fall into the categories vulnerable, endangered, or critically endangered are considered to be at risk of extinction. Robert Redford said “I think the environment should be put in the category of our national security defense of our resource’s because it’s just as important as defense abroad otherwise what is there to defend?” People should all take the environment more seriously and protect the future for those to come. It’s our responsibility to ensure that the children to come may enjoy all of earth’s beauty, and not through old issues of National Geographic’s.
Ranganathan, J. et al. (2008). Ecosystem Services a Guide for Decision Makers. World Resources Institute.
It is known that the world relies on capital. Without it the economy would collapse leading to war, famine, and death. Wildlife is an integral part of the world's economy. The world's populatio...