Currently our planet is going through a biodiversity crisis. The extinction of species is equivalent to what it was at the end of the Cretaceous period when the dinosaurs were wiped away. The current extinction is sitting at a rate of over 75 percent. The only ones to blame for this is the human race with their acts of habitat destruction all over the planet. Of course there are certain natural aspects as well, but mainly it is us to blame. We lose about one to two hundred species per year; some we may never even know will exist. Nematodes, for instance, are numerous and very dense. They create soil and are the primary decomposers for soil. We only know about fourteen thousand of them which is less than one percent of what is actually out there. We need to preserve diversity of life on the planet for several reasons; the question is how we will go about doing so.

First of all, having diversity in nature is overall aesthetically pleasing for everyone. It would be tragic having to look at the same animals and plants throughout the world wherever you go.  Biodiversity is also useful for means of knowledge, discoveries, and research. Many organisms may hold that “key” to the survival of life and the extinction of a particular species only eases on the downward spiral slope of life. Bromeliads are these beautiful that evolved over 65 million years ago. They receive nutrients from rainwater and exist in the tropics. The tropics now are being torn down and destroyed at a rate of a hundred acres per hour. These bromeliads have a chemical in them that are used in twelve out of fourteen different drugs used to treat leukemia. Biodiversity also is an important factor for ecological service. Plants, animals, and other organisms contribute to shaping the planet and continuing on this cycle of life as we know it. If the nematodes did not exist, the planet would not exist due to the fact that they create the soil which allows us to grow food or plant trees.

                In 1859 a man named Alexander Wilson saw a single flock of birds that lasted for about six hours and consisted of over two billion of those birds. The three mile wide and twenty mile long was what is now known as passenger pigeons. By 1875, there were 100,000 passenger pigeons left. By 1895, there were 1,500 passenger pigeons left. In 1914, the last passenger pigeon which was a male, died. What exactly is causing this destruction of biodiversity and extinction of organisms? In the case of the passenger pigeon, it could possibly be from simply natural causes. In 1860 and 1861 there were two very severely cold winters. These birds take part in ground nesting meaning they lay their clutch (the number of eggs they lay per year) actually on the ground. Because of the cold and the snow, a lot of their eggs did not survive causing there to be about a fifty percent mortality rate. What also took place in the 1860s and 70s was the first great westward movement. The people in this movement removed large amounts of shrub in order to begin creating homes and towns. Shrubs are these pigeon’s habitats so it removed approximately 25 percent of their habitats. One of the biggest reasons for their extinction occurred in 1875. A restaurant in New Mexico called Delmonico’s began serving an extremely popular meal. This meal was squab, or in other words, baby passenger pigeons. This increase in popularity for squab made passenger pigeons very valuable. The average person made about five dollars a month and with a single passenger pigeon, they would receive 250 dollars. This increased the amount of commercial hunting for this particular bird.

                Thirty percent of these extinctions are due to habitat destruction. We decrease an organism’s habitat then the generation time, or the rate of evolution causing this organism to decrease their reproduction.  Seventeen percent of these extinctions are due to commercial harvesting. Organisms are harvested for a profit. Take poaching for instance. African Elephants are illegally hunted and killed for their ivory and rhinoceros’s are hunted for their horns because they are both extremely valuable. Fourteen percent of extinctions are caused by alien introductions. When non-native species are brought into an unfamiliar and unnatural area for them, they have to compete with the native species that are there. This makes survival extremely difficult for the non-native species. Half of the extinctions of birds were caused by alien introductions. The Brown Trout was introduced to North America from Europe and caused a major extinction of the salmon species. In Australia, the rabbit was introduced and caused 25 percent of the deaths of the kangaroos. The other 39 percent of extinctions are caused by a large combination of reasons. Some take hunting as a sport which kills of several animals completely unnaturally. Predator control causes over reproduction of a certain species. In third world, underdeveloped countries many people have to hunt for their own food since they are unable to afford buying good. In Madagascar, lemurs are their primary meat and protein source however it is the only place where lemurs exist. Organisms are also taken in as specimens for museums, research, or collections when they become extremely valuable. Beatle and butterfly collecting became extremely popular and valuable in Europe. Pollution is the smallest percentage of actual extinction, but is none the less a possible explanation.

                Finding a way to preserve and protect biodiversity is another task all together and we as humans have figured out four main ways; Laws, preserves, national parks, and sites such as zoos or botanical gardens for people to see for amusement. There were only two major laws that were considered important. The first law was the Endangered Species Act (ESA) passed in 1975. It is a unique law because it is the first law that does not involve human beings. It is broken down into two parts. Who has jurisdiction over different species and areas of the world? The United States Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS), a Bureau in the Department of the Interior, has jurisdiction over land and fresh water organisms. The National Marine Fisheries Service (NMFS), in the Department of Commerce, has jurisdiction over any marine organisms. How is the act applied? In order to be nominated for the Endangered Species Act, there are certain things one must be able to do. You must be able to determine the endangered status of that particular organism. You must be able to describe the critical habitat, or in other words what allows the organism to survive. You must also be able to have a recovery plan available for each endangered species. What is actually being protected by the ESA is the critical habitat, not the actual organism itself. If failed to comply with the ESA, there is a 25,000 dollar fine per animal that is killed.

                The Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species (CITES) is the second law in order to protect and sustain biodiversity. It is an international treaty saying that anyone who signs this will agree not to allow importing or exporting of any endangered species or parts of any endangered species. There are four different classes of species. The highest level is Endangered meaning that they will soon inevitably become extinct. The International Union of Conservation of Nature (IUCN) and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) are the only ones who have the authority to list an organism as an endangered species. The next level down is Critically Endangered meaning that there is a chance for this species being saved. The following level is Threatened where not the organism itself, but the organism’s habitat is rapidly shrinking, such as the grizzly bear. The lowest level is Rare Species which is an organism is likely to become threatened due to humans harming and disrupting their habitat. Endangered and Critically Endangered are considered Appendix I Species. This permits the trading and selling of organisms at this level. Fines and penalties of this are imposed by the nation that signed the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species. In Africa, if you are even seen standing next to a dead elephant they will kill you on the spot.  Threatened Species are considered Appendix II Species. This allows the trading of Threatened Species, but only if a license is granted through the International Union of Conservation of Nature. The African Elephant has been reclassified as an Appendix II. All the proceeds from the ivory of the elephants have to be used towards more conservation of the elephants and the stored ivory. Rare Species are considered Appendix III Species. The host country has control of the penalties and fines therefore it is under local jurisdiction. In the United States, the maximum fine under the Convention on International Trade of Endangered Species is only 250 dollars per animal. The United States actually has a multi-billion dollar animal trade black market.

                The other means of saving biodiversity is the use of preserves. They are extremely large lots of land that are self-sustaining and cheap to manage. There is limited access of what and who goes into these preserves. There are no fences and no motorized vehicles are permitted within the preserve. The problem with this is that most people do not want to pay for a preserve because they most likely will not be able to actually see it or see it as often as they would like to. National Parks are designed to protect unique, geographically beauty and natural features or the earth as well as to share the history of that specific location. Originally they were designed so that by 1955 there would be enough that every citizen in the United States could visit once a year. However, that goal was made based on the population size for 1955. Little did everyone suspect that the population growth would be so drastic so fast. The first national park was Yellowstone National Park made in 1905. The next two were Yosemite National Park and the Everglades National Park. Now there are over 400 different national parks throughout America. The problem with national parks however is more or less the people that go in them. Vandalism, pollution, or the harassment of the animals and plants are a huge concern to the national parks because they are open to the public therefore anyone has an open opportunity. Zoos, aquariums, and botanical gardens are all means of the last attempt to save a species when they are endangered. Yes, these are all used for entertainment purposes, but they are also used for captive breeding and propagation for these rare and endangered organisms. Once they have reproduced, they are released back into the wild which is not always a good thing especially for the newly reproduced from the captive breeding. These organisms have to adapt to an entirely new environment from what they are used to.

                This problem of the extinction of various species is something that our planet suffers from daily, considering that we do not even know what most of those species are. None the less, that species could be the one species that could save lives. It could have been the species that maintained this planets survival. Biodiversity at its finest, however there is still hope. Joseph Wright from the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute in Panama and Helene Muller-Landau from the University of Minnestota wrote an argument in the bimonthly issue of Biotropica. This argument states that we may not be in as terrible of a slump as people have said. Some scientists have criticized their work as being “overly optimistic” while others agree that they are some particular points that should be brought to their attention and discussed about.  This could overall result in more efficient means of saving and protecting our biological diversity. With their model projects, they have predicted that there will not be much change in deforestation between now and the year 2030. However many of our primary forests will be replaced by secondary forests (renewed forests which have grown after a fire or some type of devastation). Although these secondary forests are not as biologically diverse as these old growth, or primary forests, they feel that some species will be able to survive through it since they have survived through hunting, land-clearing, and other means of becoming threatened. Once again these are just two of the optimistic scientists which roam about. Whether what they say is true or not, only time will tell. There are things we can do to prolong this extinction throughout the planet, but it is based upon mainly the actions of humans.

References

A lot of my information was taken from the lectures from my Environmental Science professor, Dr. Jim Gore. I attempted doing more research in order to have other sources as well.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity

http://news.mongabay.com/2007/0206-biodiversity.html

http://www.nps.gov/history/preservation.htm

http://www.atbio.org/biotropica.html