Stanford University researchers Jose Fragoso and Rodolfo Dirzo published research Oct. 9 in the Nature Ecology and Evolution scientific journal that links the increased biodiversity of mammals in an ecosystem to that ecosystem’s ability to retain carbon from the atmosphere.
It's apparent from this research that the delicate balance of our world's animals and plants are imperative to all of ecology. Without the proper balance of these populations, irreversible environmental devastation can occur.
Humanity’s misuse and overuse of natural resources has made it complicit in significant damage to the ecosystem, which will cause further harm to the environment and ourselves.
The recent massive bee die-off, which may be linked to the increased use of pesticides containing a class of chemicals known as neonicotinoids, provides a clear example of the damage our environmental policies inadvertently may be causing.
Bees are vital pollinators, and if they were to go extinct, it would drastically affect the availability of various important foods and byproducts.
Meanwhile, the Environmental Protection Agency is currently refusing to ban commonly used pesticides that have been linked to thousands of deaths and cases of illness each year.
The EPA's refusal persists despite petitions from farm workers, the Natural Resources Defense Council and the Pesticide Action Network of North America asking for restrictions on the pesticides’ use.
Current documentation shows that nearly 477 vertebrates have gone extinct since 1900, which implies our current rate of extinction is eight to 100 times higher than the natural predicted rate.
Recently, global warming has caused ocean water temperatures to increase, which in turn has led to massive bleaching events in coral reefs around the world, including the Australian Great Barrier Reef, where 35 to 50 percent of the coral has died over the past two years.
These changes will likely result in oceans releasing acids, which may cause 40 percent of deep-sea species to go extinct, as well as increased frequency of harmful algae buildup. Humans are now entering the sixth great extinction and have only themselves to blame.
A famous example of a trophic cascade, in which the addition or elimination of one species of plant or animal leads to a series of ecological changes, was the reintroduction of wolves into Yellowstone National Park.
The commonly told story is that when wolves were reintroduced to the park, the return of these predators forced elk and deer to change their grazing habits. This allowed for increased tree and foliage growth and then led to the return of various rodents, birds and other small fauna.
In reality, these kinds of massive ecosystem changes are more complicated and multidirectional than the example implies.
This is still in accordance with what Fragoso and Dirzo found — increasing the amount of species in any one area will allow the area to better regulate carbon levels in the air and water.
It is too easy to view the extinctions of the planet’s plants and animals as merely the collateral damage of our fossil fuel dependent lifestyles. In reality, each extinction brings us closer to an irreversible environmental disaster.
Recycling and green energy are certainly important to maintaining the viability of life on earth, but the impact of the flora and fauna living around us is equally important.
jhoffer@indiana.edu
@jhoffer17
