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Essay / Keystone species and the importance of raising awareness about endangered species
Extinction is a natural phenomenon that occurs at a natural rate of approximately one to five species per year. Scientists estimate that we are currently losing species between 1,000 and 10,000 times faster, and dozens of them are disappearing every day. There is no mystery that our human activity can harm animals and their habitats. People are unaware of the impact that the extinction of certain species can have. There are animals in this world that are vital to the ecosystem, but their populations are declining. Many of these endangered animals are keystone species. A keystone species is defined as one that other species in an ecosystem are largely dependent on, such that if it were removed, the ecosystem would change dramatically. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on 'Why violent video games should not be banned'? Get the original essay Perhaps ecosystems would collapse if certain key species became extinct, but how could this happen and why should they we care? The Earth is currently experiencing a mass extinction of life; one of six mass extinctions that have occurred throughout the history of our planet (based on scientific estimates). Because the number of species on Earth is an estimate, it is difficult to determine precisely how many species are facing extinction. However, according to the World Wide Fund for Nature, scientists estimate that between 10,000 and 100,000 species cease to exist each year due to habitat loss, resource depletion, climate change and other factors. How is this possible? Wouldn't we hear about these organizations on the news? Maybe the dozens or hundreds of species expected to disappear every day are not the cute or beautiful creatures we are taught to care about. In fact, you may not be aware of many species that are actually very important to our own existence! If we lose keystone species, extinction rates will increase dramatically. We cannot afford to lose any more species! When I was little, I heard stories of people being attacked by a large fish with sharp teeth. Mike Feltham, 6, was frightened to discover that these victims were beachgoers like me. I was constantly on alert whenever I was in the ocean, but my family tried to comfort my fear by telling me that there were no sharks in New England waters. As I got older, watching the movie “Jaws,” which depicted sharks as man-eating monsters, only increased my fear. After that, even when I got into a pool, I was paranoid because I felt like there was something there. Then, at age 11, my fear turned to curiosity when I watched an annual Shark Week show on the Discovery Channel. Seeing these magnificent creatures swimming and hunting gave me a feeling of awe. A diver said something I will never forget: “By entering the water with this animal, I am entering its house. » His house is not our house. It was later revealed in other shows that many species of sharks are very few in number due to our human activity. It perplexed me that the scariest creature in the entire ocean was being killed by us humans. So really, who are the monsters? us or them? They rarely mistake us for prey and in exchange for this confusion, we develop crazy stories that promote fear and hatred towards these animals. On average, 100 million sharks arekilled by humans each year and the United States only experiences an average of 19 shark attacks per year and one shark attack death every two years. They are beautiful animals to which we have given the image of a monster. They must be preserved because the role of sharks is to keep other marine species in balance and to regulate the oceans. The elimination of sharks could seriously disrupt this balance, to the point of causing the collapse of the ecosystem. This is a great example of endangered species that need our protection, as sharks are vital to ocean ecosystems and can be found in all of the world's oceans. Many ecologists consider top predators like sharks, killer whales and wolves to be key organisms because they maintain the balance of biodiversity and resource availability. From the top to the bottom of the food chain, all of these endangered species have been greatly affected by our human activity. As species become extinct, so do our alternatives for future discovery and progress. The impact due to the loss of diversity of life around the world includes a decrease in new medicines and greater vulnerability of the ecosystem. The rate of extinction of endangered animals has increased a hundredfold over the past century, and we are to blame. Just like humans, a plant or animal cannot live alone. It must interact with other organisms in its environment to survive. Removing an animal or plant species from the ecosystem will compromise the life of other organisms that interact with it. Leaving aside a legacy of unique animals for the next generation is a desirable value. We would like our children to also benefit from the benefits that wildlife can provide, not just from their mere existence, but also from the potential benefits that they can provide. We now need to answer the questions that determine a fair topic for the Rotary talk. Is this the truth? Yes, the loss of endangered species threatens the ecosystem and could become a potential threat to us. Is it fair to these animals that we take their homes and kill them to extinction? No, we share this planet. Will raising awareness and protecting species create goodwill and better friendships? Yes, animal conservation can bring communities together to save a species. Will this benefit everyone involved? Yes, saving species will keep all ecosystems on this planet in a healthy balance. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Nature is a beautiful thing and provides us with every resource we have. It is our duty to conserve the multitude of animals that are affected by our human activities and fear. We are taking over other animal habitats and causing the extinction of species important to ecosystems. Keystone species need to be preserved in every way possible, as the collapse of a food chain could also pose a great threat to us. Animals must be protected so that we can all thrive on this planet. If endangered animals die, it could have a ripple effect and put us in danger too. We humans would then become the endangered animal. Works Cited Chapron, G., Kaczensky, P., Linnell, JDC, von Arx, M., Huber, D., Andrén, H., ... & Boitani, L. (2014). Recovery of large carnivores in modern human-dominated landscapes of Europe. Science, 346(6216), 1517-1519.Díaz, S.,