Research Prospectus: Introduction and Bibliographies

From rainforests and waterfalls to desserts and sand, from oceans and waves to mountains and mountaintops, from grasslands and prairies to the icebergs in Antarctica humans have put their foot onto just about every place imaginable on Earth. Planet Earth is thought of by some people to be what they call a “Gaia”. A Gaia is essentially a prospective view of the world as a living organism. In the Gaia view, it is believed that the Earth is relative to how the human body works. Like the human body, Earth has many vital “organs” that help make it possible for the Earth to function and remain habitable. These “organs” that I am talking about can be oceans, lakes, mountains, plains, volcanoes, rainforests, etc. The veins in the human body are thought of to be like the rivers and streams that flow throughout various places on Earth. The idea is that these various landforms and flows of water make up an ecosystem that sustains itself and allows it to function properly on its own. With out these vital “organs” the world would not be habitable just as the human body and its incapability of living, breathing, or operating without its functioning parts.
In this paper I will dig into various questions that I raised when I was thinking about this global issue. Questions such as, what is biodiversity and what does it have to do with me? Why is it important to conserve biodiversity within ecosystems? What does the biodiversity of ecosystems have to offer? What will happen if the biodiversity of ecosystems are destroyed beyond where it can be recovered? Who is helping us keep our ecosystems stay as diverse as possible? Who is out to destroy biodiversity? Finally, How can we change our livelihoods in order to preserve these diverse ecosystems?
The diversity of our ecosystems is valuable for more reasons than one. First of all, many species depend on one another; whether it’s within the nitrogen cycle where soil, bacteria, and plants work together to produce many products that help out tremendously; or bees that provide the service of flower pollination; the dependency of species as food sources; or nature and its dependency on itself in order to regenerate ecosystems. Along with the dependence on one another, our diverse ecosystems offer many natural services including but not limited to its own natural water purifier. Everyday biologists and scientists learn more about what our ecosystems have to offer as well as the importance to preserve it. Though the biodiversity of our ecosystems are not often thought about in our everyday lives, it actually has plenty to do with our everyday lives. If someone were to put an economic value on the situation at hand, one would find that the biodiversity of our ecosystems are more important than to the naked eye.
Most people would say that there are many reasons why biodiversity needs to be sustained, in order for our world to keep revolving. The argument made most about the ecosystems is that species depend on the environment and likewise for the environment so we must help sustain it, but how accurate exactly is that statement? Can the ability of natural services be kept sustained even without some species, like how some of our bodies can live without an appendix, kidney, lung, or half a pancreas?

Bibliography:
1. Shah, Anup. "Why is Biodiverity Important? Who Cares?" GlobalIssues.org. Anup Shah, 18 Nov. 2009. Web. 25 Jan. 2010. .
2. Ridder, Ben. "Questioning the Ecosystem Services Argument for." Biodiversity and Conservation 7.4 (1998): 781-90. Springer link. Springer Netherlands, 23 Jan. 2008. Web. 1 Feb. 2010. .