"The Sixth Extinction" Chapter 10- Matthew Batista
Kolbert points out that there is an evolutionary arms race, in which each species must be equipped to defend against their potential predators, and need to be more fit than their competition. A species has no defense if it encounters a new fungus, virus, or bacterium. This can be extremely deadly, as it was in the case of American bats killed by the psychrophilic fungus Geomyces destructans. This fungus, also known as White Nose-Syndrome or WNS, is a disease that is killing hibernating bats in eastern North America. WNS was first documented at four sites in eastern New York 2007. After that, photographs taken in February 2006 were found, showing affected bats at another site. Kolbert states, “The white powder is now known to be a cold-loving fungus- what’s known as a psychrophile- that was accidentally imported the the U.S., probably from Europe”(194). The deadly fungus that’s killing off all the bats isn’t natural. However, it’s another example of humans altering natural systems through introducing invasive species. Connecting back to the golden frogs in chapter 1, it’s clear that humans are causing extinction not only through global warming but also with messing with ecosystems.
Later in the chapter, Kolbert talks about the studies of Charles Elton. Charles Elton was a British biologist who people tie the start of the studies of invasives with. Elton uses a very interesting analogy where he talks about glass tanks and all of the glass tanks are connected with tubes. Each glass tank would be filled with different chemicals and overtime the chemicals would seep into the other tanks. Kolbert states, “Some new compounds would form and some of the original compounds would drop out”(212). This analogy perfectly shows how invasive species affect the ecosystem. As new species are introduced to new areas the ones that once thrived in the area is killed off for various of reasons. One reason can be that there is finite amount of prey because invasive species are taking the food from the native species. Kolbert time and time again proves to us that human activity is hurting the Earth more than it’s helping the Earth.
Kolbert points out that there is an evolutionary arms race, in which each species must be equipped to defend against their potential predators, and need to be more fit than their competition. A species has no defense if it encounters a new fungus, virus, or bacterium. This can be extremely deadly, as it was in the case of American bats killed by the psychrophilic fungus Geomyces destructans. This fungus, also known as White Nose-Syndrome or WNS, is a disease that is killing hibernating bats in eastern North America. WNS was first documented at four sites in eastern New York 2007. After that, photographs taken in February 2006 were found, showing affected bats at another site. Kolbert states, “The white powder is now known to be a cold-loving fungus- what’s known as a psychrophile- that was accidentally imported the the U.S., probably from Europe”(194). The deadly fungus that’s killing off all the bats isn’t natural. However, it’s another example of humans altering natural systems through introducing invasive species. Connecting back to the golden frogs in chapter 1, it’s clear that humans are causing extinction not only through global warming but also with messing with ecosystems. 
Later in the chapter, Kolbert talks about the studies of Charles Elton. Charles Elton was a British biologist who people tie the start of the studies of invasives with. Elton uses a very interesting analogy where he talks about glass tanks and all of the glass tanks are connected with tubes. Each glass tank would be filled with different chemicals and overtime the chemicals would seep into the other tanks. Kolbert states, “Some new compounds would form and some of the original compounds would drop out”(212). This analogy perfectly shows how invasive species affect the ecosystem. As new species are introduced to new areas the ones that once thrived in the area is killed off for various of reasons. One reason can be that there is finite amount of prey because invasive species are taking the food from the native species. Kolbert time and time again proves to us that human activity is hurting the Earth more than it’s helping the Earth. 
No comments:
Post a Comment