Monday, February 22, 2010

Extinction.

#5

Extinction is known as the end of an organism or group. It is officially decided when the last individual dies or no more can be found. Here are a few animals that recently became extinct:
The Caribbean Monk Seal is one of the most recent animals to be declared extinct. This animal officially became extinct on June 6th, 2008. This seal was the only known seal to be native to the Caribbean Sea and the Gulf of Mexico. The reason why this animal became extinct was because of human causes such as being hunted for their meat. The seal was originally discovered by Christopher Columbus on the coast of Santo Domingo in 1494. Columbus called them "sea-wolves", and ordered his men to kill eight of them for food. This seal was slow on land, unaggressive and wasn't afraid of humans. I think that because they were hunted so much for food and oil, it probably made them become extinct much faster then they should have been.

Another animal recently declared extinct is the Baiji River Dolphin. This Dolphin was found in China and became extinct in late 2006, when a search was preformed and not one dolphin was found. The reason this animal became extinct is again because of human causes. But this time it was because their habitat was put into heavy use for fishing, transportation and hydroelectricity. As China grew bigger, the Dolphins became more and more endangered. The river they lived in began getting waste poured into it, concrete walls, bigger boats were going through and colliding into the dolphins, and fishermen were using bigger nets. By 1980 nearly half the deaths of the River Dolphin were cause by fishing gear and only a few hundred were left. I think that if the people who caused this extinction would have taken the time to realize what was happening and what they could have done differently maybe the Baiji River Dolphin would still be around today.

In conclusion, there are many animals becoming extinct and endangered by human activity and I think we should take the time to learn how we can help make a difference to save some of the species today.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Impact of Rising Temperatures on Aquatic Environments

#8

An increase in the average global temperature causes global warming. Human activities and some natural events like volcano eruptions are the main causes of rise in temperature. It has a great impact on the habitat of all species. But perhaps the most affected are the aquatic environments. An increase in water temperature can result in the death of many aquatic organisms and cause sea levels to rise; which ruin aquatic habitats. Also rising temperatures are causing more intense hurricanes to occur more frequently. This not only affects aquatic organisms, but also the organisms on land, including us.
The increase of water temperature can result in the death of many aquatic organisms and destroy aquatic environments. Fish such as salmon and trout require cold water to survive and to reproduce. But if the temperatures increased these fish would not be able to reproduce and would eventually become extinct. More than 20% of the world’s fresh water fish have already become extinct, are endangered or threatened. Plants such as algae are the basis of many food chains and have very little ability to adapt to the sudden increase of temperature rise. So if these plants were to go extinct, many other species will soon follow which rely on these plants. Aquatic organisms are very sensitive to temperature rise. Even the largest mammals of the world, whales are now also starting to decrease in numbers because of temperature rise. We cannot continue to keep taking these organisms for granted anymore. Fish like salmon and trout provide countless people with food, plants like algae help to clean our water systems and are the basis of many food chains. Now imagine if all of these species went extinct. There would be very little life left on Earth. Humans and animals who depend on seafood will starve, and many aquatic organisms will become extinct.
Rising temperatures are causing more intense weather patterns to occur more frequently. The hurricanes have destroyed many of the breeding grounds for marine mammals, brown pelicans, turtles and fish, as well as migratory species such as redhead ducks. Now these animals will have to search for alternate breeding grounds, or they will not be able to reproduce. Coral reefs are now also threatened by hurricanes. Before Coral reefs and other animals could easily bounce back and regenerate from a hurricane, but since more intense hurricanes are occurring more often, coral reefs are unable to keep on regenerating. Remember hurricane Katrina which occurred in 2005? It caused a lot of destruction and chaos to us humans; but what about the animals that also suffered. “Overall, about 20% of the local marshes were permanently overrun by water as a result of the storm” (Meriliannews.com). Scientists believe temperature rise caused hurricane Katrina’s intensity to increase. Perhaps if global warming was not occurring, hurricane Katrina’s intensity would’ve been a lot lower and may not have caused as much damage.
In conclusion humans are mostly to blame for the extinction and endangerment of the aquatic organisms. These organisms are not susceptible to rapid temperature rise and will become extinct. We caused the temperature to rise and now other species are paying for it with their lives. But we are the only species that can actually change this outcome. Some ways that you can help reduce global warming and save the aquatic plants and animals are to reduce green house emitted gasses by driving a fuel efficient car, shutting off appliances not being used and by telling others about the information which I have presented to you. Maybe if people become aware of the damage they are causing they may change their habits. In the end it’s going to be us who suffer if we let these organisms become extinct.

References
Merilian news. (2005). Information about hurricane Katrina. Effects of hurricanes on animals. http://www.merliannews.com/artman/publish/article_985.shtml
Deanna Coon. (2009). The Effects of Global Warming on the Ecosystems. Effects of Global warming on Aquatic organisms. http://plaza.ufl.edu/dede9/dedewebpage.html

How Species Benefit From Human Intervention

#7

Many animals throughout the world are becoming endangered, extirpates and/or going extinct everyday. Most of these problems are due to forest clearing, and other human disturbances. On the reverse side of this there are many things that we can do to help animals to protect them from becoming extinct.
Humans wreck animals habitats without even thinking twice about doing so. We cut down tress and hunt like nothing is happening because of it, when in reality we are killing off species faster than we can save them. You may only do a little bit in the big picture, but together all our small actions add up to one big problem. 35-150 species become extinct everyday due to human disturbances.
Most of the time we as human beings don’t even notice the species going extinct. Usually it’s plants and insects going extinct. Generally, we don’t care that animals are going extinct because of us and the way we choose to live, with all our demands in everyday life, but animals are important for our world. If we kill off all wolves then rabbits will over-populate and if rabbits over-populate then vegetation suffers. Extinction of one animal can throw off the entire balance of things
Humans can help control the rate of species becoming extinct by intervening. The best way to intervene and protect these species is to preserve their habitats. Animal preserves allow species to live in their natural surroundings. Captive breeding is another way to protect species from going extinct. Captive breeding is the process of breeding species in human controlled environments with restricted settings, such as zoos or animal preserves. Another way to keep animals from going extinct is having “protected species” this prohibits people from killing off any of these animals and if they do they get charged. We have this so that we can intervene and help protect them before people end up killing them all off.
In conclusion, many animals become extinct or extirpated everyday due to human disturbances to their environments. There are a number of things that we can do with the resources that we have.

References:
http://forests.org/archive/general/coolfact.htm, used Feb 21st

http://animals.about.com/od/wildlifeconservation/tp/helping_endangered_species.htm, used Feb 21st

Thursday, February 18, 2010

#1. Impact of Climate Change on the Diversity of Living Things

Back almost five million years ago there used to be animals that we had never heard about, but when the climate shifted some of those animals became extinct. The reason they became extinct was because of the huge shift in vegitation, if the animals food changed then they wouldn't have anything to eat and would therefore die. Some of those animals also adapted to the change in vegitation. Scientists know this because the animals teeth changed as they changed their diets. This then caused a evolution of the animal kingdom, animals which could not adapt died but the ones that could either changed their diets or they evolved into a species which has the right credentials to eat those sorts of plants. Scientists can tell that the animals that are living right now had to apapt very drastically in order to overcome those circumstances.

The climate is a big part of evolution, if the climate gets really hot then the animals will have to evolve so they can live in the heat. For example a horse will have to find something other than grass to eat because grass dies in the extreme heat.


Therefore; do you think you would be able to change all your eating patterns based on the climate.. because if it gets to hot then vegitation would be hard to find.

Saturday, February 13, 2010

Impact of Pesticides on Biodiversity

#3

Did you know that around 20 000 people die each year due to the use of pesticides? In fact, pesticides even have a large effect on our environment. They can harm our plants and animals; they also have a harmful effect on the people who use them. But, pesticides are not only harmful. As much harm as they can do, we need the help that they can give. They can help the biodiversity of our planet as well as us.
The use of pesticides have some terrible effects on our biodiversity. These problems start with the fact that only seventy to ninety percent of pesticides that are applied by hand on the ground actually get to the target area they were meant to, and twenty-five to fifty percent of pesticides dissipated in the air by airplanes actually reach their target area. When the pesticides don’t reach their target area, they end up hitting other animals and the environment. Unfortunately the pesticides don’t only have effects on the animals it directly hits, the pesticides make their way up the food chain and poison animals on the higher part of the food chain as well. For example, if a fish was directly poisoned and was eaten by a bird, then the bird was eaten by a wolf. The wolf would still have pesticide poisoning but it would be more concentrated and not as deadly. Pesticides can harm the way an animal reproduces, and if they are still able to reproduce, the offspring is very likely to be affected and have birth defects. The effects of pesticides can last up to a couple of years because they take an extremely long period of time to break down. Lastly, scientists have researched and came to a conclusion that pesticides are contributing to the thinning of the ozone layer, and global warming. The uses of pesticides are becoming an increasing concern for biodiversity.
Pesticides can also be good for our planet and biodiversity because they have control on everything. Weeds and fungi can be very invasive of other plants and wild life; to get rid of them so other plants can survive we use pesticides. Using pesticides on weeds and fungi can also help keep habitats for animals clean, so they can survive there instead of having to find another clean place to live. The use of pesticides can also help humans; we use pesticides on crops to stop animals and pests from consuming our harvest. This helps us because if we didn’t use the pesticides we would not have any crops because they would all be consumed by pests. For example, we use pesticides on apples to keep fruit flies away. If we didn’t, we wouldn’t have any apple to eat. Pesticides help our biodiversity by protecting some of our most important habitats.
I personally believe that the use of pesticides is okay in some situations. I think that the stronger the pesticide, the more cautions should be taken with it. Pesticides should only be used to protect our crops, and some habitats. Personal use of pesticides should not be taken because that is where most accidents happen.
Pesticides are used to control the amount of pests, weeds, and fungi in certain areas. They cause many problems to biodiversity, they can kill or seriously poison anything that comes into any kind of contact with them. But, they also help preserve important habitats. Pesticides have many pros and cons about how they have effects the biodiversity of the planet.

References
Blades Lawn Care. (2009).Information about pesticides. Why are pesticides bad for the environment? http://www.bladeslawncare.com/pesticidesandenvironment.html

Croplife.(April 2009).Biodiversity and pesticides. http://www.croplife.org/library/documents/Sustainability/Factsheet%20-%20Biodiversity%20and%20Pesticides.pdf

Donna, F. (July 28, 2009). School to go. What are the negative effects of pesticide use? http://fryedblog.blogspot.com/2009/07/what-are-negative-effects-of-pesticide.html

Oliver, J. (January 31, 2001). Pesticides and biodiversity. http://dp.biology.dal.ca/reports/zoliver/oliverst.html

conserving wetlands

#4
Some people think that wetlands are a waste of space, a breeding ground for mosquitoes and other pests, and should be drained for agricultural and urban developmental uses only. They are actually very important to the environment. Wetlands store excess water from storms and runoff; prevent floods, and they are homes to many fish, plants, and animals that are endangered and endemic (native).
There are many laws that have been passed to protect wetlands. Agencies and organizations are also working to protect the wetlands. For example, the “St. Johns River Water Management District uses its Environmental Resource Permitting (ERP)” to confirm that no new construction floods or pollutes the wetlands. If someone or some company wants to build they must have and ERP. The person who wants to have the permit has to provide reasonable information on why they should be able to build, they must guarantee they will follow the guide lines of the permit, and be positive that their building will not harm any wetlands.
There are also hundreds of things you and your family can do on your own to protect the wetlands. According to the EPA, everybody lives near a wetland, so everything that you do affects them. If you are going to be affecting them, you should do it in a positive way. These are just a few of the things you can do to help protect wetlands: When landscaping, plant grasses, flowers, trees, etc., that are native to your area. This will help these plants from decreasing, and they will also attract wildlife that are found in your area. When walking your dog make sure to pick up after them, do not let the waste runoff and contaminate wetlands. Conserving water in many ways will help protect wetlands, and an other positive to this is saving money. Lastly, you can try to use ‘green’ cleaning products that are not harmful to the environment because eventually these products will end up in wetlands. There are many people trying to conserve the wetlands and anything you can do on your own will help.

Risks and Benefits of stocking lakes with fish

#2
Stocking lakes with fish can develop both positive and negative factors. There are many obvious, and some not so obvious risks involved. However; there can be many benefits of stocking lakes with fish as well.
The first risk of stocking lakes with fish is that the population could be so large in one area that it could result to overcrowding. Overcrowding can lead to many negative factors. For instance: in the 18th century when the Industrial Revolution evolved, the city populations expanded greatly which caused a sufficient amount of crime rate and disease. This can occur with the fish as well. The diseases that can occur are most likely the biggest risk of stocking fish. When there are more species in one area it is easier to pass on diseases. In severe cases, disease has the power to wipe out a species, or at least the species in that area. Another large risk is the food resource that is available. If there is a large amount of fish in one area, then the food will less abundant more and more after each meal. This can also lead to diseases as they won’t be able to get a sufficient amount of nutrition. If there is too many fish in one area, there might not be enough room for them all to live in that environment. This can result in habitats getting ruined as they try to fixate new places to live within the area, or fish might migrate far away to find a home, which would defeat the purpose of stocking an area if they’re going to go elsewhere anyways.
By stocking fish in lakes, there can be many benefits as well. The biggest benefit of stocking is that it can repopulate lakes where the previous fish have been removed. It will save the fish population by allowing various fish species to be together and create offspring’s. Stocking fish where the number is poor can also prevent from extinction. Allowing one type of fish to be stocked into an area with another type of fish can lead to the possibility of creating a new fish. This can benefit the fish environment by creating more to the food chain and environment. Stocking fish in an area can be beneficial to the public too as it allows a great fishing opportunity. Not only will there be an abundant amount of fish, but there will be a wide variety of fish species to catch as well. This can benefit restaurants as they can catch the fresh fish they need to offer on the menu.
In conclusion, there are various risks and benefits that can occur from stocking lakes, or any body of water, with fish.