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Per the Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office (https://www.fws.gov/nevada/protected_species/fish/species/dhp/dhp.html https://www.fws.gov/nevada/protected_species/fis
by mugenettowa 7y ago
Per the Nevada Fish and Wildlife Office (https://www.fws.gov/nevada/protected_species/fish/species/dhp/dhp.html https://www.fws.gov/nevada/protected_species/fish/species/dh...):
"Devils Hole pupfish has much to teach scientists about adaptation to adverse conditions. It has adapted to survive in very warm water with very low oxygen content.
Envision each living thing on Earth, including humans, as being a thread in a piece of cloth. Each time a species goes extinct, a thread is removed and the fabric is weakened. As more threads disappear, one-by-one, the strands separate and fall away. Eventually, the original piece of cloth falls apart and disappears.
All living things are part of a complex, often delicately balanced network called the biosphere. The earth’s biosphere, in turn, is composed of countless ecosystems, which include plants and animals and their physical environments. No one knows how the extinction of organisms will affect the other members of its ecosystem, but the removal of a single species can set off a chain reaction affecting many others. Only time will tell."
- matz1 7y agoHuman is part of nature too, if these species extinct due to human then its means they are not good enough to adapt to the changing nature.
- mugenettowa 7y agoI think that's a fair point. From an overall survival perspective it makes sense. It may be to our disadvantage later on though. But like the quote ends, I wouldn't know for sure one way or another. It could be useful to keep them around, or it might never make a real difference for human use. Separately there is the simple act of conserving a species for its own sake, but that's a separate topic from its helpfulness for material human needs.