If the Lion is considered King of the jungle then humans should be considered as Kings of the world. The decisions and actions that we make so casually impact the world daily no matter how small we feel that decision or action is. In a way, we control the fate of the Earth and have the power to lengthen or shorten it's life span. The majority of our interventions impact the biodiversity of our ecosystems negatively,
such as poaching/hunting, trapping, pollution, depletion, genetic engineering, global warming, and many, many other harmful actions. However, despite the overload of damaging human interventions, we are still capable of helping our ecosystems. An example of human intervention that has positively affected the biodiversity of our ecosystems is endangered species reserves. There are multiple endangered species reserves located in Canada, including New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Ontario, and British Columbia. By creating these reserves, humans have the ability and opportunity to save many species from extinction. The results of this human intervention are proven to be positive because there have been many encouraging examples of recovery activities. Species such as the White-top aster, Massasauga, and North Atlantic Right Whale have all been recovered from the brink of extinction and are examples of the positive results of endangered species reserves. Since many species are being saved, humans can maintain the biodiversity of our ecosystems through their efforts in reserves. As environmental stewards we have the responsibility of environmental quality shared by all those whose actions affect the environment (United States Environmental Protection Agency 1). As a result of the strong effects that our actions have, I would say that we are definitely being stewards of the world and should take on that responsibility even more so. We manage our planet’s species and our space (both negatively and positively), however we need to accept even more responsibility so that our human interventions only affect the biodiversity of our ecosystems in a positive way.
Sources:
United States Environmental Protection Agency. "Environmental Stewardship." April 30, 2009
http://www.epa.gov/stewardship/
Hinterland Who's Who. "Species at Risk in Canada." Canadian Wildlife Federation. 2009
http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?cid=4&id=232
Images from: http://www.hww.ca/hww2.asp?cid=4&id=232
Commented on:
Demijel Junio - Wong
http://bioblogbydemi.blogspot.com/2009/09/whats-going-on.html
Jed's Blog
http://dejedj.blogspot.com/2009/09/unit-2-wellat-least-humanity-got-what.html
4 comments:
Hey Laura,
Bear with me here, I have a few nitpicks.
our interventions impact the biodiversity of our ecosystems negatively, such as ...depletion, genetic engineering,
I'm just a tad bit iffy on what you mean by depletion. I think you mean the depletion of natural resources, but your post is a bit vague. If it is indeed mentioning the depletion of natural resources, does that not fall under pollution and global warming? Sorry if my interpretation is way off and I'm simply misunderstanding.
On a second note, I'd just like to know why you consider genetic engineering as a negative effect. What types of genetic engineering are you referring to, and can you give an example?
An example of human intervention that has positively affected the biodiversity of our ecosystems is endangered species reserves.
I'd just like to point out that the purpose of reserves is, more often than not, to slow the reduction of biodiversity. If animals were not being put in danger in the first place by humans, they would not require any saving. It would be like building a tower in a sinking plot of land; ultimately, it seems like a normal building, rendering no illusion of height.
P.S.: Just as a little tip, I personally find that being presented with a wall of text is quite intimidating. More often than not, I find myself lost in the sea of words stacked one upon the other. You should try using breaks, as they organize your post much more effectively and are easier on the eyes.
Otherwise, I do like your main idea. Your opening line was quite a good icebreaker to the topic as well.
Thanks for this interesting take on biodiversity.
I don't know if I actually agree with you. The fact that humans are trying to keep biodiversity by building reserves and such is very apparent, but is it really enough for us to be considered 'stewards of the world'? We have already ruined a beautiful world to not be titled so.
Although we humans are trying, it does not mean we are succeeding. Are we not interfering too much already? Sometimes even though it seems like we are helping the world flourish, in reality it is not so. Sometimes what we do just leads to more chaos in the natural order. But I guess the future holds no absolute and so we can never truly know until such a day comes when biodiversity is saved or no more.
Hey Laura, I really like your opening sentence. It’s really catchy and it surly made me want to continue on reading. I really like the topic in which you chose to your blog on. I agree with you that even though we have a negative affect on biodiversity, humans are still trying to do their best to preserve many species from extinction. However in the near future, if more and more species become endangered due to our harmful acts towards the environment, will these resorts be able to save all those species? We can’t just leave it to the resorts to fix our problems by saving endangered species, which we caused to be endangered in the first place. Basically, I agree with you when you stated “we need to accept even more responsibility so that our human interventions only affect the biodiversity of our ecosystems in a positive way”. We need to be more responsible towards our environment so that these resorts won’t have any use in this world any more, because we humans are not causing them to decline due to our harmful ways. Overall I enjoyed reading your blog and it kept me wanting to read on. I love the fact that you stated your own opinions in them and I found it interesting to see how you feel about the issue you were talking about. Anyways, great blog!
- Logi
Duuude! nice blog! =)
I enjoyed reading your blog as you kept it interesting and kept your points, more or less, short and sweet. Your topics didnt seem to drag on and bore me and all of your illustrations kept it interesting. Also, I especially liked you comparsion of humanities impact on the world to Banjo Kazooie, I found that quite interesting, and well... I LOVE THAT GAME!! :)
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