Background Extinctions Natural selection is going to lead to a species that dies out, by no cause of man On average, most species will exist for 5-10 million years before going extinct The number does not remain constant

Kills off 50-95% of life on Earth Have happened 5 times in our history We are in a 6 th extinction now and it is happening about 100x faster than the normal background extinction Extinction can happen at a fast rate (100’s of years) or a slow rate (millions of years)

Ecosystem Services Provide food, fuel, fiber, and shelter Purifies air and water Detoxifies and decomposes waste Stabilizes Earth’s climate Moderates floods, droughts, and temperature extremes Recycles nutrients and renews soils Pollinates Plants Maintains genetic diversity for new crops and livestock Gives us the means to adapt and change

Provide many of the new drugs and drugs that have been around for centuries Rosy Periwinkle of Madagascar Provides chemicals for Hodgkin’s disease and a rare fatal form of leukemia Australian Cork Has chemicals that are used to treat some forms of cancer, stomach disorders and motion sickness Pacific Yew Provides chemicals for many of the cancer drugs

Tourism and Recreation Many people travel to different locations all over the world to see exotic locations with different landscapes and ecosystems Ex. Rainforests treks, savannah safaris, scuba diving around coral reefs This trekking provides income for many developing nations which have local services hired to run these recreation adventures. Problems?

Consider that we have the increasing need for space, the need for more resources from under the ecosystems, and increasing population that needs to be fed, and that some species are deadly to us. Even if you are not writing notes, take a sheet of paper out and write a small para graph on which side of the argument are you on? Should we conserve biodiversity, or should use the resources as we see fit?