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LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY AND EXTINCTIONS

If you were to measure wealth as biodiversity, the worlds rain forests would be the richest places on Earth. The sheer weight of vegetation in one hectare of rain forest is greater than in the same size area in other habitat on the planet. According to K.V. Krishnamurthy in his book Textbook of Biodiversity, Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Greater biodiversity implies greater health. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas Polar Regions support fewer species. Rapid environmental changes typically cause extinctions.1Since life began on Earth, five major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic eon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosiona period during which nearly

every phylum of multicellular organisms first appeared. The next 400 million years included repeated, massive biodiversity losses classified as mass extinction events. In

the Carboniferous, rainforest collapse led to a great loss of plant and animal life.

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Raup, D. M. The Role of Extinction in Evolution,p. 67586763.

The PermianTriassic extinction event, 251 million years ago, was the worst; vertebrate recovery took 30 million years The most recent, the CretaceousTertiary extinction event, occurred 65 million years ago, and has attracted more attention than all others because it killed the nonavian dinosaurs. 2

Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution. The origin of life has not been definitely established by science, however some evidence suggests that life may already have been well-established only a few hundred million years after the formation of the Earth. Until approximately 600 million years ago, all life consisted of archaea, bacteria, protozoans and similar single-celled organisms. The history of biodiversity during the Phanerozoic (the last 540 million years), starts with rapid growth during the Cambrian explosiona period during which nearly every phylum of multicellular organisms first appeared. Over the next 400 million years or so, global diversity showed little overall trend, but was marked by periodic, massive losses of diversity classified as mass extinction events. A significant loss occurred when rainforests collapsed in the carboniferous. The worst was the Permo-Triassic extinction, 251 million years ago. Vertebrates took 30 million years to recover from this event.3

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Sahney, S., Benton, M.J. & Falcon-Lang, H.J. Geology, p. 1079-1082 Dasmann, R. F. 1968. A Different Kind of Country.( MacMillan Company, New York),

p. 578

The fossil record suggests that the last few million years featured the greatest biodiversity in history. However, not all scientists support this view, since there is considerable uncertainty as to how strongly the fossil record is biased by the greater availability and preservation of recent geologic sections. Corrected for sampling artifacts, modern biodiversity may not be much different from biodiversity 300 million years ago. Estimates of the present global macroscopic species diversity vary from 2 million to 100 million, with a best estimate of somewhere near 13 14 million, the vast majority arthropods. Diversity appears to increase continually in the absence of natural selection. 4

During the last century, decreases in biodiversity have been increasingly observed. In 2007, German Federal Environment Minister Sigmar Gabriel cited estimates that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050. Of these, about one eighth of known plant species are threatened with extinction.5

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Okasha, Shin.Does diversity always grow?, P. 318. S.L. Pimm, G.J. Russell, J.L. Gittleman and T.M. Brooks,The Future of

Biodiversity.(Laurence King Publishing, 1989), p. 347

Estimates reach as high as 140,000 species per year (based on Species-area theory). This figure indicates unsustainableecological practices, because few species emerge each year. Almost all scientists acknowledge that the rate of species loss is greater now than at any time in human history, with extinctions occurring at rates hundreds of times higher than background extinction rates.6

In biology and ecology, extinction is the end of an organism or of a group of organisms (taxon), normally a species. The moment of extinction is generally considered to be the death of the last individual of the group (although the capacity to breed and recover may have been lost before this point). Through evolution, new species arise through the process of speciation where new varieties of organisms arise and thrive when they are able to find and exploit an ecological nicheand species become extinct when they are no longer able to survive in changing conditions or against superior competition. A typical species becomes extinct within 10 million years of its first appearance, although some species, called living fossils, survive virtually unchanged for hundreds of millions of years. Most extinctions occur naturally, without human intervention: it is estimated that 99.9% of all species that have ever existed are now extinct.7

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Sparks, Michelle. Life and Beyond. (Harpers Publishing, 1990), p. 154

Raup, David M. Extinction: Bad Genes or Bad Luck?(New York: W.W. Norton and

Company, 1991), pp. 36

As long as species have been evolving, species have been going extinct. It is estimated that over 99% of all species that ever lived have gone extinct. The average life-span of most species is 10 million years, although this varies widely between taxa. There are a variety of causes that can contribute directly or indirectly to the extinction of a species or group of species. "Just as each species is unique," write Beverly and Stephen Stearns, "so is each extinction ... the causes for each are variedsome subtle and complex, others obvious and simple".8 While all causes of extinction are not known, introduced species, direct exploitation, and habitat destruction have been among major human-induced threats.

Introduced species, often called exotic species, are those species moved by humans from a native location to the another location. Must often the species are introduced for agricultural purposes or as sources of timber, meat, or wool and these species need humans for their continued survival. Regardless of their method of introduction, some introduced species become invasive, spreading and outcompeting native species for space and resources. We can categorize the interactions between introduced and native species into competition, predation, and disease.

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Stearns, Beverly. Watching, from the Edge of Extinction. (Yale University Press, 2000),

p. 5

Competition may eliminate local populations and cause huge reductions in the densities of native species. On the other hand, there have been many recorded cases of extinction from predation. Parasitism and disease carried by introduced organism have also been important in causing extinctions. Direct exploitation, particularly the hunting of animals, has been the cause of many extinctions. 9

Habitat degradation is currently the main anthropogenic cause of species extinctions. The main cause of habitat degradation worldwide is agriculture, with urban sprawl, logging, mining and some fishing practices close behind. The degradation of a species' habitat may alter the fitness to such an extent that the species is no longer able to survive and becomes extinct. This may occur by direct effects, such as the environment becoming toxic, or indirectly, by limiting a species' ability to compete effectively for diminished resources or against new competitor species. Habitat degradation through toxicity can kill off a species very rapidly, by killing all living members through contamination or sterilizing them. It can also occur over longer periods at lower toxicity levels by affecting life span, reproductive capacity, or competitiveness. Habitat degradation can also take the form of a physical destruction of niche habitats. The widespread destruction of tropical rainforests and replacement with open

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Lisowski, Marilyn. Biology The Web Of Life. (First Lok Yang Road, Jurong Singapore,

2003), p. 1288

Pastureland is widely cited as an example of this; elimination of the dense forest eliminated the infrastructure needed by many species to survive. For example, a fern that depends on dense shade for protection from direct sunlight can no longer survive without forest to shelter it. Another example is the destruction of ocean floors by bottom trawling. Diminished resources or introduction of new competitor species also often accompany habitat degradation.

Global warming has allowed some species to expand their range, bringing unwelcome competition to other species that previously occupied that area. Sometimes these new competitors are predators and directly affect prey species, while at other times they may merely out compete vulnerable species for limited resources. Vital resources including water and food can also be limited during habitat degradation, leading to extinction. There are many causes of habitat destruction, including logging, mining, oil drilling, and exploiting other natural resources; clearing land for agriculture and cattle ranches; development for residential areas; and roads for people to do all these activities. Of course, habitat loss isn't something that happens in wetlands and tropical forests. Prairies, temperate forests, deserts, coastal regions, coral reefs, mangroves these are just some of the ecosystems at risk.10

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10

Wilson, Richard. The Future of Life,p. 678

The world environmental situation is likely to be further aggravated by the increasingly rapid, large scale global extinction of species. It occurred in the 20th century at a rate that was a thousand times higher than the average rate during the preceding 65 million years. This is likely to destabilize various ecosystems including agricultural systems. In a slow extinction, various balancing mechanisms can develop.

No one knows what will be the result of this extremely rapid extinction rate. What is known, for sure, is that the world ecological system has been kept in balance through a very complex and multifaceted interaction between a huge numbers of species. This rapid extinction is therefore likely to precipitate collapses of ecosystems at a global scale. This is predicted to create large-scale agricultural problems, threatening food supplies to hundreds of millions of people. This ecological prediction does not take into consideration the effects of global warming which will further aggravate the situation. Industrialized fishing has contributed importantly to mass extinction due to repeatedly failed attempts at limiting the fishing. A new global study concludes that 90 percent of all large fishes have disappeared from the worlds oceans in the past half century, the devastating result of industrial fishing. The study, which took 10 years to complete and was published in the international journal Nature, paints a grim picture of the Earths current populations of such species as sharks, swordfish, tuna and marlin. The loss of predatory fishes is likely to cause multiple complex imbalances in marine ecology.11

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11

http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions

Wildlife extinction has a large impact on our world that most people are not aware of. it will take at least 5 million years for speciation to rebuild the biodiversity we are likely to destroy during this century! The instrumental value of some species should be taken into consideration. Species provide economic value in the form of food crops, fuel wood and lumber, paper, and medicine. The genetic information in species is also very important to mankind. The information is used to create new crop types, as well as food, medicines, and vaccines. The plants and animals of the earth are also important because of the recreational pleasure they provide us with. Eco-tourism generates at least $500 billion per year worldwide. There are many ways wildlife extinction has an influence on the world.

Biologists conservatively estimate that the current rate of extinction is at least 1,000 to 10,000 times the rate before we arrived. This amounts to an annual extinction rate of 0.1% to 1% per year. These estimated extinction rats are startling and noteworthy. 1% extinction rate at least 20% of the worlds current animal and plant species could be gone by 2030 and 50% could vanish by the end of this century. At these rates the amount of extinction will damage the world so drastically that it will take twenty times the amount of time it took to damage it, to fix it. The worst part is the rate of loss is likely to increase over the next 50- 100 years.12

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12

http://exitstageright.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/the-impact-of-wildlife-extinction

We all depend on the natural world to sustain us with food, clothing and other necessities, establishing a set of use values. A total of about 3,000 plant species, 200 of which have been domesticated, are used worldwide as a food source. However, just 20 of these plants provide more than 80% of our food at the present time. In order to maintain the high level of production such consumption demands, plant breeders frequently turn to the wild relatives of domestic crops in search of desirable genetic traits such as resistance to disease or drought: wild plants are a valuable reservoir of genetic diversity. A smaller number of animal species provide human food but the scale is often enormous. For example, in 1989 world landings of fish and other aquatic life forms totalled 99.5 mega-tonnes, 70 % of which was for human consumption.

In addition to food, many of our drugs and raw materials for manufacturing also originate from either plants or animals. Globally 3.5 billion people rely on plant-based medicine for primary health care, and in the USA a quarter of medicines prescribed are based on compounds originally found in plants. Many industrial materials, such as fibres, resins, dyes, waxes, pesticides, lubricants and perfumes derive from plant or animal sources. Trees provide more than 3.8 million cubic metres of wood annually for use as fuel, timber or pulp.13

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13

http://www.jri.org.uk/brief/biodiversity.htm

In addition to these long established patterns of consumptive utilisation, there is now a rapidly growing leisure industry, which involves the non-consumptive "use" of the living world. For example, eco-tourism, based on the observation of wild animals and wilderness habitats, generates between 100 and 200 billion US dollars annually, much of it in needy developing economies.

While we can readily identify uses of biodiversity which directly support human life and are commercially valued, we often overlook a host of hidden functions of living organisms which are equally vital to human well-being. Foremost among these are free environmental services, such as nutrient cycling, soil formation, watershed protection, waste disposal, pollination, oxygen production, carbon sequestration and climate regulation. Placing a cash value on these services is not easy, but one estimate of their global value is US$ 33 trillion per annum, compared to a world GNP of US$ 18 trillion.

There are also many species which are not exploited themselves but have indirect value because they are food for economically valuable species. For example, molluscs and crustaceans are eaten by edible fishes. Other non-use values derive from the as yet undiscovered possibilities for future uses of wild flora and fauna, such as new drugs from plants and genes usable in breeding new characteristics into crops and domestic animals.14

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14

Ibid.

A totally different set of non-use values attaches to the significant contribution of wild organisms to human art, literature and religion. Christianity values biodiversity as a potent reminder to humans of Gods personality, power and creative genius (Rom.1:20) and Psalm 104 exclaims: "O Lord, what a variety you have made! And in wisdom you made them all! The earth is full of your riches."15

To sum up, we have to first recognize the importance of protecting the ecosystem and biodiversity on our planet. Then through the awareness of people around the world, cross-nation meetings, summits, and agreements can thus be made to solve this problem, as the decrease of biological species may affect us all in the long run. This is a global scale problem, which can only to be tackled by working together and putting the well-being of the whole race and planet as priority. Or else, we might face some disastrous consequences.

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15

http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic66941.html

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Raup, D. M. The Role of Extinction in Evolution, p. 67586763.

Sahney, S., Benton, M.J. & Falcon-Lang, H.J. Geology, p. 1079-1082

Dasmann, R. F. 1968. A Different Kind of Country. ( MacMillan Company, New York), p. 578

Okasha, Shin.Does diversity always grow?, P. 318.

S.L. Pimm, G.J. Russell, J.L. Gittleman and T.M. Brooks,The Future of Biodiversity. (Laurence King Publishing, 1989), p. 347

Sparks, Michelle. Life and Beyond. (Harpers Publishing, 1990), p. 154

Raup, David M. Extinction: Bad Genes or Bad Luck? (New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 1991), pp. 36

Stearns, Beverly. Watching, from the Edge of Extinction. (Yale University Press, 2000), p. 5

Lisowski, Marilyn. Biology The Web Of Life. (First Lok Yang Road, Jurong Singapore, 2003), p. 1288

Wilson, Richard. The Future of Life, p. 678

http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions

http://exitstageright.wordpress.com/2007/10/08/the-impact-of-wildlife-extinction

http://www.jri.org.uk/brief/biodiversity.htm

http://www.english-test.net/forum/ftopic66941.html

LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY AND EXTINCTIONS

A Research Paper

Submitted To:

Mr. Jovie Cruz

TALON-TALON NATIONAL HIGH SCHOOL

Submitted By:

Arnel M. Caada

IV-Genghis

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