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More species means greater potential for adaptation as ecosystems shift. If one niche species dies off, there’s greater potential for a neighboring species to f

More species means greater potential for adaptation as ecosystems shift. If one niche species dies off, there’s greater potential for a neighboring species to fill the gap. On the same token, more species means more genetic diversity and higher levels of resilience to diseases and other threats. Different species service ecosystems in different ways. Pollination, water purification, soil enrichment, etc. With too few species, key requirements for cross species survival are less likely to be met. On a less scientific basis, more species just makes the planet richer. The thought of just a few dominant species across the planet is a very sad prospect and would represent a huge loss regarding the beauty that billions of years of evolution have brought us.

BurningFrog 3y ago
> More species means greater potential for adaptation as ecosystems shift Of course, somewhat paradoxically, these species disappearing is an adaptation to shifting ecosystems. What's happening now is that ecosystems are globalizing. An ecological niche that was filled by 30 local species before modernity, is now being mixed up and whichever species is "best" may fill that niche everywhere. So if my local frog species disappears, it's probably replaced by more hardworking immigrant frogs. This can be very disruptive and have negative consequences in many ways. But it doesn't mean animal life disappears. It changes.
- steve_adams_86 3y ago
  Arguably it has been disappearing; there is less animal biomass in most of the world than there was since we began keeping record.
  - BurningFrog 3y ago
    This is true, though I think of it as a separate problem. One big thing is that on land we converted from hunting and gathering the commons to farming private land thousands of years ago. In the oceans we're still doing it, and modern technology is devastatingly effective at it.
refurb 3y ago
But there is already diversity within species. Species are a human construct developed to describe similar groups of living organisms. Look at the diversity within canis lupus familiaris, the domesticated dog. Yes a moth with different wing shape is regarded as a separate species.

BurningFrog 3y ago

> More species means greater potential for adaptation as ecosystems shift Of course, somewhat paradoxically, these species disappearing is an adaptation to shifting ecosystems. What's happening now is that ecosystems are globalizing. An ecological niche that was filled by 30 local species before modernity, is now being mixed up and whichever species is "best" may fill that niche everywhere. So if my local frog species disappears, it's probably replaced by more hardworking immigrant frogs. This can be very disruptive and have negative consequences in many ways. But it doesn't mean animal life disappears. It changes.

steve_adams_86 3y ago
Arguably it has been disappearing; there is less animal biomass in most of the world than there was since we began keeping record.
- BurningFrog 3y ago
  This is true, though I think of it as a separate problem. One big thing is that on land we converted from hunting and gathering the commons to farming private land thousands of years ago. In the oceans we're still doing it, and modern technology is devastatingly effective at it.

refurb 3y ago

But there is already diversity within species. Species are a human construct developed to describe similar groups of living organisms. Look at the diversity within canis lupus familiaris, the domesticated dog. Yes a moth with different wing shape is regarded as a separate species.