I often wonder what would happen if several of a species suddently disappeared. Any thoughts?

Question

this would include animals, forests, and anything to do with nature.

Answer 1

Given the wild estimates of the number of species anywhere from 2 million to 100 million, I would say that nothing would happen if a few species were to disappear from our planet.

The planet has always found ways for life to survive even through periods known as mass extinctions; In the Cretaceous period spelled the end to the dinosaurs who ruled the Earth for over 100 million years or so. The same thing has happened throughout the Triassic, Permian, Devonian, and Ordovician periods.

Earth resiliency is second to none, and species disappear quite often without too much consequence.

Answer 2

This has happened all through history.  We adapted and survived.  How long we can keep doing this is anyones guess.

Answer 3

well each species of animal whether it be bug, mammal, or fish ha ve a role to play in the food chain and how the world works.  take away the hunters and you get to many grazers which eats the grass.  take away the grazers and you get to many hunters.  everything has to work in a balance.  we keep on destroying habitat then who knows.

Answer 4

read about the wolves,and what happens when they are gone

http://byderule.multiply.com/journal/ite...

There is a series that you can download easy ,called

bbc,Planet earth by David Attenborough.

About 15 ---700mb videos

this is a photographic team that has been filming Nature stories all over the world ,for a very long time .

In 3 of the episodes called --the future--saving species(this one covers extinction and the importance of species)

the future--living together ,ice worlds ,

they compare films they made before of places and species to what they are filming now in the same places.

Many scientists give commentaries as well .

And whole migrations of animals involving millions have disappeared in only 20 years,

in one place in the tundras ,in just 5 years .

Ice sheets,glaziers have gone

They say about half of the worlds forests have gone in the last 300 years

Half of the natural habitats,like wetlands , ice fields tundras,mountain vegetation and rain forests . in the last 50 years,and all of the inhabitants with it

CHECK THE CLOCK FOR THE SPEED

http://www.poodwaddle.com/worldclock.swf

Global warming is a component in a group of destructive forces at work ,it is not the only one , but other factors which we are responsible for ,are rapidly making it the worst .

We are now witnessing a mass Extinction of animals and plants of Biblical proportions,equal since the disappearance of the dinosaurs.

Who cares what it is called or WHY EXACTLY IT IS HAPPENING ,What or who is to blame

If we want to save ourselves as a specie ,we have to address

the problems

Apparently we can correct most of the destructive factors

with disciplines ,changes of attitude and habits.

All species are in Danger eventually,

and each is important

Imagine that the Eco system is a wall and each specie is represented by a brick

every brick taken out weakens the wall ,and eventually it will collapse ,which brick is the most important ???

they are all important

Answer 5

we're doomed. totally doomed. well probably we're going to be the first to be extinct before any other microorganisms. we should probably be buying land from mars. but is this the answer? well the good news is we have the capacty and the power to literally save the planet from destruction.,

Answer 6

Have you ever considered that humans are also extinct if earth as home that not managed properly the way jungles and Forrest are managed?

Answer 7

A species disappears forever about every 20 minutes. We have lost an estimated 40% of the world's species between 1970 and 2000. This is the fastest rate of global extinction since the last two ice ages.

Some people have already answered that it doesn't matter since "it doesn't affect us." So alright, assuming that you don't believe that just for the sake of principle it is wrong to exterminate 40% of the biodiversity in the known universe - consider that we rely on plants and animals to feed us, to process the pollution from our air and water, to pollinate our crops, to protect us from flooding, to supply new sources of medicines, to name just a few things. For more information, check out http://www.cbd.int/gbo2/main-messages.sh... which summarizes some of the main points of the Global Biodiversity Outlook report, commissioned by the United Nations Environment Programme.

By the way, the United States hasn't bothered to ratify the global Convention on Biological Diversity. That makes four countries. Us, Andorra, Somalia, and Iraq. That's Andorra: a country smaller than the city of San Francisco with a population under 72,000; Somalia: the only country in the world with no functioning government; and...Iraq. When it comes to not caring about the rate of global extinction, we keep pretty good company, hmmm?

Answer 8

Well this has happened previosuly during times like the Ice Age, and eventually human's and animal existence still was plotted across the World, so eventually yes we the animals of all species will all die, but eventually somehow will take another form, on Earth.

Answer 9

Several of a species? That happens every single day. Things die and others are born to take their place. I'm guessing you mean something different than what your question seems to mean?

Answer 10

It's happening right now.

Just yesterday they announced a species of seal is offically gone from the Earth.   It's close relatives in (i think Carribean) are extremely endangered.

Right Whales are about to vanish, too. There are about 300 of them left on the entire planet, and still ships run into them.

Answer 11

extinction of larger mammal species would create an ecological imbalance this is harmful for for mother nature