- The assignment I was thinking of doing deals with biodiversity hotspots. It deals with researching a biodiversity hotspot. The summary of the research should include the areas location, commonly found species in the area, and factors which lead to biodiversity loss. Then after the summary I was thinking of going to IUCN Protected Area Categories and determine which category would apply to the area and why I think it falls in this category. The response I think should be more than 250 words and less than 600 words. I also think that including the links that were used is mandatory. The location that I chose was the Caribbean Islands. In the Caribbean Islands there are about 13,000 species of plants and 6,500 single-island endemics. Also there are more than 600 bird species, in which 160 of them are endemic in the Caribbean Islands. Another thing that the Caribbean Islands have is nearly 90 mammal species. The Caribbean Islands is rich in the reptiles with over 500 species and which 470 of them are endemic. About 170 species of amphibian which include the four families of frogs, such as the Bufonidae, Dendrobatidae, Hylidae, and Lebtodactylidae. The Caribbean Islands also has more than 160 species of freshwater fish, in which 65 are endemic to the islands. Since the arrival of humans in the islands about 4000 years ago, the environmental degradation started to occur. The first wave was the deforestation of sugar cane plantations. The second wave was the impact of human settlers which introduce alien species to the area. Some examples of this is the agouti, a land tortoise and the white-tailed deer. According to the IUCN Protected Area Categories, the Caribbean Islands have about 13 percent of the hotspot protected. There is a need for better management, monitoring and enforcing the protected area in the Caribbean Islands. A lot of local organizations promote the conservations efforts of the Caribbean Islands. Some of them include the group of citizens and scientists in the Dominican Republic, in which they help support and manage Jaragua National Park. This is one of the largest land and sea parks in the hotspot. Another group that helps out is the Foundation for the Protection of Marine Biodiversity, in which they work with the fisherman and the government to promote maintainable use of the country’s marine resources.
- I think that biodiversity is important because every living thing was created and exists for a reason. The reason is anthropocentric because all lifeform have some kind of use on our planet either it could be small or large they all deserve to live here. We need biodiversity to survive because without plants and animals we would not have food or air to breathe. The plants could give us oxygen in turn we give them carbon dioxide to breathe. The animals provide us with protein through their meat source. We also have to be careful on how much we hunt for food because we do not want any species of animals to become extinct in the process.
Info from http://www.eoearth.org/view/article/150636/
Hi Christina, this is Akiksha, currently a freshman here at University Park. Your post is really unique and I like how you highlight the importance of certain biodiversity hotspots and why there is a need to protect them. It is completely different from my post, as I have talked about how climate change affects biodiversity and what threats my hometown’s biodiversity faces. Also, learning about the biodiversity of the Caribbean islands was something new and interesting.
Here is a link to my post : http://geog030.dutton.psu.edu/2016/04/14/module-10-biodiversity-5/
I hope you go through it too.