BIOL 469 Lecture Notes - Endangered Species, Habitat Destruction, Species Richness
8 Feb 2013
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Document Summary
Conservation biology is guided by 3 basic principles: Evolution is the process that unites all of biology. Early photosynthetic prokaryotes and eukaryotes generated oxygen, making. Plants accelerated weathering of the rocks, gaining access to rock-bound nutrients. Endemic species species that are found nowhere else. Humans have been exterminating species for 1000s of years due to over-hunting. Humans depend on other species for food, fiber and medicine. Species are necessary for the functioning of ecosystems and the many benefits and services those ecosystems provide to humanity. Human derive enormous aesthetic pleasure from interacting with other species. Extinctions deprive us of opportunities to study and understand ecological relationships among organisms. Living in ways that cause extinction of other species raises serious ethical issues because species are judged to have intrinsic value. To preserve earth"s biodiversity, we need to both maintain the processes that generate new species and provide conditions that will keep extinction rates no higher than typical levels.
