Different species have different impacts on the ecology or interrelations of various life forms. Since bees are involved in fertilization of many plant species including those we humans use for food the disappearance of bees would have great consequences for us humans and other life forms. The disappearance of most other species would have less impact. A parasite that lives only in the gut of the passenger pigeon would have disappeared with the extinction of the passenger pigeon. The disappearance of such a parasite would have made little or no difference to other forms of life. Since money that goes to preservation of our ecosystem is in short supply I feel we should not only classify species as to whether they are endangered or not we should also classify species as to the impact they have on the ecosystem. As lamentable as it may be I doubt that the disappearance of the koala would have a great effect on our ecosystem. In addition we should not only be concerned with the preservation of particular species we should be concerned with the preservation of ecosystems in which those species thrive. In the case of koalas stand of gum trees that koalas use for food are essential for the preservation of koalas. In general preservation of habitat is possibly the most important thing we can do for preservation of species

i can't help thinking that damage to wild life is done by radio waves, radar etc. Constant, unabating noise is another.
Particularly in the marine environment, one can hear ship noise for miles. On top of that we have pollution of air, water & soil.
The extinction of species is on-going & ours won't be all that far off. We can already see widespread brain damage & I imagine the body won't be far behind.
Nature will win & recover with or without us.
Personally, I'd like to see more lakes created in Australia which would enhance Nature & wild life rather than impact on it negatively !
Storm water run-off from urban areas could be directed to huge settling basins from whence it could flow on in rivers & through lakes getting cleaner along the way & eventually out to sea far less polluted. This could become a huge economic opportunity as well. All it needs is political will & a will of public co-operation. In the GBR region a reduction in recreational & commercial fishing is essential. A new fresh water fishing industry could offset this.

Dear David,

Thank You for this discussion.

All over the world, and especially in the less
developed societies, the pressure of the human
population and its technologies is devastating
natural ecosystems.

This pressure takes many forms - urbanization
and highway construction; transformation of virgin
land into farmland, chemical pollution of fresh
water; dredging and landfill in coastal areas;
uncontrolled hunting and poaching, especially of
African wildlife; deliberate and accidental
poisoning of wildlife with pesticides;
disruption of natural predator prey relationships;
strangulation of millions of birds and fish with
discarded styrofoam pellets, plastic bags, and other
synthetic flotsam, dam construction and irrigation,
and of course massive deforestation.

To some peoploe, the disappearance of other species as
a result of human activity is a matter of no particular
consequence. To others, it represents the height of
human hubris, in that we are making ourselves the
ultimate arbiters of which species may survive and which
may be obliterated.

However there are many practical reasons why human
society should protect other life forms.

For example, tropical forests are a stabilizing factor in
the global climate for they absorb vast amounts of
atmospheric carbon dioxide. Many plants are medically
valuable; most anti-cancer compounds, for
example, come from plants of the rain forest, and this
pharmaceutical cornucopia is still mostly untapped.

Wild species as a "storehouse" for agriculture scientists
who interbreed them with domestic species in order to
create more fruitful or resistant strains.

The rain forest is itself a vast and irreplaceable
"library" from which genetic engineers of the future may
draw raw material.

Many species among the millions of uncatalogued plants
may surely prove to be edible and could become major
crops in the future.

If we only stop and think for a moment of the trees,
and the flowers, the beasts of the field and the fowls
of the air, as an aesthetic treasure, capable of not
only delighting our senses but giving us some vision
of what we are so carelessly destroying.

cont'd ...

There is another argument for protecting other
life forms and it has nothing to do with any
social benefit to ourselves.

The breathtaking diversity of species has evolved in
delicate and precarious balance over millions of
years. Most of the plants and animals with which we
share the earth have been here a great deal longer
than we have. For a fleeting moment in planetary
history, our technology has given us domain over
them.

In awe, respect, and humility, we might just let them be.

A documentary I watched last night on orphaned children in Bangladesh trying to earn a living; families living in squalor either side of a railway line - that put the concern about supposedly threatened animals into perspective for me.

ttbn wrote "A documentary I watched last night on orphaned children in Bangladesh trying to earn a living; families living in squalor either side of a railway line - that put the concern about supposedly threatened animals into perspective for me."

Dear ttbn,

"orphaned children in Bangladesh trying to earn a living; families living in squalor either side of a railway line" are also threatened animals. Humans are part of the natural world and an animal species. Perhaps, your perspective might be widened.