July 14, 2019
Chapter 8 of The Sixth Extinction starts with Kolbert in Eastern Peru standing with a forest ecologist professor from Wakefield University, Miles Silman, who is showing Kolbert the Manú National Park, one of the worlds great biodiversity "Hot spots". The introduced this logical fact that if you start at the North Pole and walk South to the Equator, there will not only be an increase in number but also biodiversity. There are many theories to why there is a high level of biodiversity in tropical areas, one theory states that the evolutionary clock is faster so there are more reproductions followed by more genetic mutations and species; another theory suggests that there are fewer temperature fluctuations within the area which harbors life that can't survive on frequently changing temperatures; yet another theory points out that since tropical ecosystems are older it is logical that it has more species than other ecosystems. According to page 153, "The diversity as a function of time theory was first advanced by Darwin's rival, or, if you prefer, discoverer, Alfred Russel Wallace, who observed that in the tropics 'evolution has had a fair chance,' while in glaciated regions'it has had countless difficulties thrown in its way'"; all these theories show a common trait of hypothesis, which is a scientific use of learning. This connects to the APES Theme: Science is a process of learning more about the world. As time goes on, we start to learn things about the Earth outside of our professional work, which allows us to get further into theories that help break things down. Silman's student, Kenneth Feeley, in page 159 found new transformation based off of research that took a while--"Very roughly speaking, he found that global warming was driving the average genus up to the mountain at a rate of eight feet per year". [R] With given time and the right equipment, discoveries could be made possible of taking steps further into understanding science.
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