Biodiversity Endangered?

In the Huffington Post news article “America’s Commitment to Nature: Another Endangered Species?” (20 October 2010) the authors Peter Seligmann and Harrison Ford make a number of claims. A strong claim that they made is that our planet is in an extinction crisis and that a large number of our species go extinct every 24 hours, despite all the conservation and scientific efforts. They also claim that for every species of plant and animal that disappears, humanity forever loses critical scientific resources that those species can provide. Seligmann and Ford specifically claim:

“Our planet is in the midst of an extinction crisis - the worst, in fact, since the dinosaurs died off 65 million years ago. Despite the focus and best efforts of the scientific and conservation community, 150-200 species of plants and animals go extinct every 24 hours.” (Seligmann and Ford 2010)

Seligmann and Ford offer no evidence to back up this claim and seems to over exaggerate the fact that we are in a such a trouble that the planets species are in danger of extinction like the dinosaurs. The argument that Seligmann and Ford are making seems to be that (a) we are in a extinction crisis worse then it was with the dinosaurs; (b) the loss of one species of plant or animal critically affects humans forever.

There seems to be a few problems with these claims and the arguments they are making. First, if we are in an extinction crisis and our best efforts through conservation and science are not working, it may be possible that we can not stop extinction and that it is not a crisis but a natural happening like that which happened with the dinosaurs. The loss of one species is a problem but not all species that go extinct have critical affects on humans and their daily lives. I will go into further detail about these points in the rest of this blog post. I will end with my own brief thoughts of the extinction crisis; conservation of biodiversity, and the governments need to positively affect biodiversity with services and projects to help the planet.

The number of species becoming extinct is very large and the fact over 150-200 species are extinct every day is staggering. However the term species now constitutes a very broad number of animals and plants. The term species is very misunderstood; people should understand that there are over 1200 species of beetles alone. Estimates of species range from 2 million to 100 million different species in the world. ("Biodiversity") Species are also found on a daily rate. In 2006, 16969 species were discovered from a report compiled by Arizona State University's International Institute for Species Exploration.("Mongabay") That’s nearly 50 per day. The replace ability argument then comes up. For every species that becomes extinct a new one shall arise to takes its place. Charles Darwin also showed that extinction of a species is a part of evolution. He adds that a steady rate of extinction is a normal process in evolution; the name of this is “the background rate of extinction”. ("Oracle ThinkQuest") Species evolve and disappear through time because of climate change and difficulty to adapt and survive with competition. Humans are affecting biodiversity but extinction, evolution and new species arising are all natural processes and should be taken into the argument instead of just expecting that all the species are going to go extinct and that humans must be the difference maker.

Seligmann and Ford also make a claim that each extinction is affecting the human race critically. That for each species that becomes extinct the human race is losing an important “biological secret” that has yet to be known. It is a slippery slope claim that each extinction of a species lends itself to a chain of events that culminate to significant event. However this significant climax is very vague on how or when it is to happen. Is it when all the species become extinct or when the humans run out of species that are of value to them? The slippery slope is an argument that should have a known end point and we cannot know when that is. Species extinction is important however one species may not be as critical as Seligmann and ford believe. We will always have alternatives and unless most or all species become extinct we will have alternatives. Species have been going extinct for as long as we have had species. New species arrive all the time and it is not reasonable to expect the extinction of one species to affect every person, family, and nation.

Peter Seligmann and Harrison Ford argue is based on the importance of every species and that biodiversity is decreasing so much that it is affecting humans. They may be able to take other views into consideration. Every species is important but trying to conserve every one is simply impossible and should not be forced because extinction is as natural as death. I do not mean that we should let the species just go on and not try to help them but we should do it conservatively and not become so worried about a number of them becoming extinct. While it may seem cruel animals are evolving and adapting and trying to help them may even affect the rate they can adapt to the world. I believe that Sleigmann and Ford are trying to do the right thing by encouraging biodiversity and focusing on saving as many species as possible but the goals and reasons why to save biodiversity should be toned down.

Word Count: 933

References

"50 species per day discovered in 2006." Mongabay. N.p., 27 May 2008. Web. 10 Nov 2010. .

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"How Many Species are There?." Biodiversity. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov 2010. .

Natural Causes." Oracle ThinkQuest. N.p., n.d. Web. 10 Nov 2010. .

Seligmann, Peter, and Harrison Ford. "America's Commitment to Nature: Another Endangered Species?." The Huffington Post. N.p., 20 Oct 2010. Web. 10 Nov 2010. .

By: Tashi Nanglo