- Exam
- NEET
- Subject
- Botany
- Chapter
- Biodiversity and its Conservation
NEET · Botany · Biodiversity and its Conservation
What is the perspective towards species extinction?
Options
- AThe loss of a few species does not matter
- BThe loss of key species is a more serious threat to the ecosystem
- CThe loss of species does not affect the quality of life
- DThe loss of species does not affect the proper functioning of the ecosystem
Correct answer
B. The loss of key species is a more serious threat to the ecosystem
Step-by-step solution
There are no direct answers to such näive questions but we can develop a proper perspective through an analogy (the ‘rivet popper hypothesis’) used by Stanford ecologist Paul Ehrlich. In an airplane (ecosystem) all parts are joined together using thousands of rivets (species). If every passenger travelling in it starts popping a rivet to take home (causing a species to become extinct), it may not affect flight safety (proper functioning of the ecosystem) initially, but as more and more rivets are removed, the plane becomes dangerously weak over a period of time. Furthermore, which rivet is removed may also be critical. Loss of rivets on the wings (key species that drive major ecosystem functions) is obviously a more serious threat to flight safety than loss of a few rivets on the seats or windows inside the plane.