Biodiversity Reading

(Wrote this out on paper for homework and just copied to blog)
1. Intrinsic Value?
The view that nature is innately valuable
2. Ecological Services-> anthropocentric?
They are anthropocentric because they have economic, aesthetic or recreational value, all of which benefit humans.
3. Noah Principle?
The principle that the ‘usefulness’ of a species is not a consideration when discussing it’s conservation, but that the specie’s presence in the history of evolution is a good enough reason to protect it.
4. Is there truth to biophilia?
There must be some truth to the theory that environmentalism is hardwired into humans through natural selection because environmentalist exist and Native Americans and other cultures all over the world (unrelated) had similar ideals of connection to the earth, but it must be a trait some people miss out on because there are of course those who do not feel any sort of connection to the earth and really don’t care at all. I think it has to do with the type of person you are and whether or not you care about things that may not seem to directly affect you.
5. 3 Goods:
Domestic agriculture (crops) -> food supply
Medicine
Clothing
6. 4 Services:
Air Purification
Water Purification
Climate Regulation
Generation of moisture and oxygen
7. Gram of soil – Ecosystem?
1 gram: 2.5 billion fungi, 50,000 algae, 30,000 protozoa…. That is a whole bunch of living organisms in one small amount of soil all coexisting and functioning together… seems like an ecosystem to me.
8. Dangers of over-emphasizing:
1. Could create a bias towards which species to save (biodiversity no, no)
2. Could lead to the thought that ecosystems that don’t directly benefit humans are not worth preserving
9. Aesthetic value only for the wealthy?
No. Having natural wild reserves provides a very cheap and nice vacation for people who could not other ways afford it. It also provides free outlets for exercise. Certainly desolately poor families probably will not be able to appreciate them as often as those who have more available money to take vacations and things but it provides an opportunity for those with enough money to do that and not other vacations a place to go instead of not having the option at all.
10. Protection of biodiversity -> benefit human future
Biodiversity is not only the diversity of animals on the planet for the way they look, they each support an ecosystem. When there are no masquitos what do spiders eat? When the spiders die what do the animals that eat them eat? Loosing one species could mean eventually loosing all the animals we need.