debate

What are the pros and cons of protecting endangered species?http://t3.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:oQAz_rCCZzZESM:http://i33.photobucket.com/albums/d52/godino31/extinct%201/Bufo_periglenes3.jpg&t=1 Pros:

Human Benefits- There are a multitude of direct anthropocentric benefits of biodiversity in the areas of agriculture, science and medicine, industrial materials, ecological services, in leisure, and in cultural, aesthetic and intellectual value. Read here for more: [|http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversit…]

Biodiversity provides many ecosystem services that are often not readily visible. It plays a part in regulating the chemistry of our atmosphere and water supply. Biodiversity is directly involved in water purification, recycling nutrients and providing fertile soils. Experiments with controlled environments have shown that humans cannot easily build ecosystems to support human needs; for example insect pollination cannot be mimicked by human-made construction, and that activity alone represents tens of billions of dollars in ecosystem services per annum to humankind.

The stability of ecosystems is also related to biodiversity, with higher biodiversity producing greater stability over time, reducing the chance that ecosystem services will be disrupted as a result of disturbances such as extreme weather events or human exploitation.

Cons: -Biodiversity includes pest species and organisms of no known interest or direct use. -It's expensive to protect, maintain, and prevent endangered species from extinction. -contradicts evolution to an extent that the strong survives and the weak gets wiped out -can't think of many cons

The pros are that with some animals, saving one endangered species could help save other species that are not having problems. (ex: you take the lynx completely out, and the rabbits overpopulate, leading to more disease and more use of resources from the rabbits)

The cons really are that you have to choose which species you are going to save. Many animals will go extinct, and most the time, the choices are on things that are big, cute, or well known, rather than things that are important for the environment.

Source(s):
Wildlife Ecology Degree

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