http://green.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/17/in-marine-wildlife-preserves-a-balancing-act/?scp=5&sq=ecosystems&st=cse
Picture: A dolphin off the coast of Bangladesh.
Summary: Bangladesh is creating wildlife marine sanctuaries for endangered freshwater dolphins, which typically live in the Sundarbans, which is also the world’s biggest mangrove ecosystem. The Irrawaddy and Ganges River dolphins are the main freshwater dolphins surviving in Asia, and the Yangtze River dolphin hasn’t been seen in nearly 10 years. The article goes on to talk about other wildlife sanctuaries for marine life around the world, and how this particular one is estimated to protect almost 20 miles of channels. The mammals are facing threats from dam construction and other human activity among and in their habitat. The total number of marine protected areas in the world, about 5,000, only makes up 1 percent of the earth’s surface, 1,600 of them are in American waters. Convention on Biological Diversity defines this situation and these areas as ‘‘reserved by legislation or other effective means, including custom, with the effect that its marine and/or coastal biodiversity enjoys a higher level of protection than its surroundings.’’ Which in Bangladesh, creating a space for only a certain species is almost an impossible act without coming across overlapping conflicts.
Opinion/Reflection:
I didn't even know that there were dolphins in Asia's rivers, let alone that they are in the midst of going extinct. By the dolphins going extinct, that could propose a negative chain reaction in their natural habitat.I learned in global studies that they are building the dam to make things easier on the humans and their culture, but they obviously didn't look too deep into how that affects the natural surroundings in areas in and around the dam.
Questions:
1. The world today is pretty much based on economics, and with global warming the focus is starting to shift slowly. Why do you think we didn't account for these things years ago while modernizing society?
2. How would the dolphins going extinct affect their habitat and surrounding areas?
3. What are some other ways we could protect the dolphins?
We did not account for these things years ago because for did not have the technology to do so. The advancement in technology today helps the fact to account for these things today.
ReplyDeleteIf the dolphins go excint their habitat will be destroyed and the surrounding area will slowly decrease in population because of the dolphins excintion.
We could protect the dolphins easily with all of our technology by setting up some protection program that makes them unable to hunt. We could also set up a program that takes care of the dolphins so other predators don't hunt them.
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ReplyDeleteWe did not account for these things because peoples priorities were not set on preserving wildlife. I would like to agree with austin, I believe that now that we have technology, we must focus on saving these species that we have hurt over the past years.
ReplyDeleteIf the dolphins go extict, their prey will increase and their predators will decrease. This will dramatically change the ecosystem and possibly cause a collapse.
I do not think that we should put them in a zoo like austin said, but we could moniter their population. Putting them in captivity is not good because they will eventually need to know how to survive by themselves.
We didn't think of these things years ago because we were so caught in the moment and didn't stop to think how this could be harmful to the earth in the future. However, now that we know about these problems and have even more advanced technology, we should be doing something to make a difference.
ReplyDeleteIf the dolphins go extinct, then their habitat will either adapt to the changes, or slowly fall apart. Without the dolphins, thier prey will increase, and thier predators decrease, throwing off the entire balance of the habitat.
To protect the dolphins from becoming extinct, they should set up laws that make them unable to be hunted. I also agree with the idea about the zoo; if they slowly bring them back in a controlled habitat, then the dolphins may be able to come back from near extinction.
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ReplyDeleteThis article is very interesting to me. Im surprised that the dolphin is even in the river. Since dolphins are a keystone species if the dolphins go extinct then the ecosystem will collapse. They need to do something to protect this wildlife creature and help it reproduce so humans will not have to worry about this problem. I'm still very shocked that the Chinese are buildign a dam that could potenially damage the population of dophins in the river.
Questions-answered
I think we didn't account for these things years ago because I tink that a lot people are living day by day and not planning ahead. But our technology today should at least be able to make up for the years we didn't do anything.
If the dolphins go extinct then the ecosystem containing them will slowly go down and collapse sooner or later. Without dolphins then the trophic level below them will increase. I beleive that dolphins are a keystone species.
We could protect the dolphins by putting them in a zoo and try to multiply the numbers so the population wil start to increase. Or people could make a no hunting policy for dolphins and if caught you will have a consquence.
My opinion on this article is that humans should stop destroying habitats before it is too late. If this goes on, all these freshwater dolphins could become extinct. It is possible that the dolphins are a keystone species and are vital to the stability of its ecosystem. However, it is hard to realize this before its too late.
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