How does wildlife extinction negatively effect the world?

Question

I have a powerpoint presentation due tomorrow, and I have no clue how extinction effects the world as a whole. A break in the food chin is the best that I can do. PLEEZE help me out!

Answer 1

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the variety of all life forms on earth, such as plants, animals, and microorganisms. It refers to:

species diversity or variation within species

genetic diversity

ecosystem diversity, or interdependence within species

Conserving biodiversity means maintaining the variety of species and genetic resources as well as the environment in which different species coexist and are interlinked. The loss of biodiversity can lead to the loss of viability in an ecosystem.

The extinction of a keystone species (e.g., major predators, herbivores, or plants that are important food sources for animals) or habitats may lead to further extinction. The extinction of a species of plant could be accompanied by a ten- to thirty-fold loss among other organisms due to the interrelationships that occur in an ecosystem.

What contributes to the loss of diversity?

Diversity is adversely affected by the loss or degradation of habitats.

In the United States, wetlands are being destroyed at a rate of between 350,000 and 500,000 acres per year (Buchholz 1998, 5). In Europe, wetlands are severely threatened and are under siege due to industrial, agricultural, and domestic pollution.

Pollution, through the mismanagement of wastes from industry and agriculture, threatens both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Streams, rivers, and lakes are polluted by acidic mine drainage; domestic, thermal, and industrial effluent; siltation; and acid rain. Acid rain is blamed in Europe and North America for destruction of lakes and the decline of forests.

Over-exploitation, caused by over-fishing, is leading to the depletion of many marine species (e.g., whales, invertebrates, and fish). According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Orgainization, one-third of the 200 fisheries it monitors are depleted or over-fished (ibid., 304).

Trading in endangered species has resulted in their being taken from the wild.

The introduction of exotic, or alien, species is putting island floras and faunas at risk. Predation by introduced animals is one of the greatest threats to island birds.

Answer 2

Some valid points were made in the other posts. Maybe you are looking for the effects of premature extinction of species due to human activity?

If that's the case, then it's important for several reasons. If humans speed up the extinction rate over the next 50-100 years, it would take at least 5 million years for natural speciation to rebuild the biodiversity we are likely to destroy this century.

What is their instrumental value in the form of economic and ecological services? Do they provide food in the form of crops? Fuelwood? Lumber? Paper? Medicine?

What about their genetic usefulness to produce new types of crops, as with genetic engineering? Basically, eliminating many of the species making up the world's vast genetic library is like burning books before we read them.

Answer 3

Negative for whom?  This sort of question is BS.  It assumes nature has some sort of metric to balance positive against negative, things just are in nature, there is no right or wrong.  Example, global warming.  Everyone says it's bad for the environment, the environment doesn't "care."  It doesn't matter if it's hot, cold, whatever, it matters for humans.  So I'll assume the question is really, "How does wildlife extinction negatively affect humans?"

To answer this question you'd need to know the species and all that business.  I'm sure if some lichen in Antarctica were to become extinct we'd see no real effects.  The only issue is really food chain issues and a degree of biodiversity makes an ecosystem more stable.  Which is still only a food chain issue.  There may be exceptions to those species that provide some other benefit to us, but most of these are domesticated so it's a different ballgame.  But if, for example, algae in the oceans were to become extinct we'd have a big issue with oxygen not being produced.  So in reality there is no general answer.