Let's vent:What really ticks you off about the pet trade!

[mycolorfulheart]

A large amount of our drugs come from the rain forest plants and there burning it down. We don't even know what future cures have been lost. Were just throughing it all away.
Hey nice talking to ya!

One of my teachers in high school told me a story from his college days. Him and some other students went to the Amazon to try and collected tree leaves in hope of finding something that would fight the AIDs virus. They didn't think it would work, but it did! Except, when they went back to find the tree, it had been cut down. who knows how many more exist and could be found. Some amazon animals survive in a very small section of the forest.

[Bill]

We can wipe out 95% of all species and still have a functioning ecosystem. It's very sensitive to disturbances at that point (which is the real problem), but it should still work.

I did pull that "95%" out of my arse, but it's not far from the estimated figure, which I'll have to try to look up when I get home. The point was that the ecosystem can endure pretty damn much before it starts to collapse. Apparently, this has actually been tested.

Tested by who? this sounds like one mans or womans findings and who are they? Are they credible. So what did they do put plant green grass in a bio dome and put in a sheep and a cow and because it didn't collapes some says this is all we need. Think about that for a minute. How can you possibly test something like. Stefan-A don't feel bad about pulling that 95% figure out of your arse. I think the person who did this study beat you to it! I learned in the many survival schools I attended, in the army for 15 years, that I can survive by drinking my own pee. That doesn't mean I want to!
But thanks for chimming in. " You really can't discribe what something looks like until you have looked at it from all sides."

[Bill]

Stefan-A, I just want to let you know how much your post has got my blood boiling. I am not mad at you so please don't take it that way. I am angry that someone acctually would have the nerve to publish something like this. Just take a look at some of the disasters that have have happened just by adding 1 foriegn species into a eco system. For instance the cane toad,the domestic house cat,the koeke frog. Not to mention invasive plants. You know ,I"ll tell you right now. I dropped out of school and joined the army at seventeen, technically my level of education is a GED. This does not make me stupid. It makes me uneducated. I have a Brother who has a Masters in english and a bachelors in computer science. I looked in his tool box one day and what did I find? Two adjustable wrenchs,one sae standard and one meteric! Now if you agree with my first point then the opposit must be true. Just because you are educated this does not make you smart. I don't know why people are always trying to get published. I think the first thing that should be taught is this.It is far better to be thought of as a fool than it is to open ones mouth and erase any doubt.

A PHD type once published a paper that stated that chameleons can convert beta carotene into a useable source of vitamin A in the mid 90's. The word still has not gotten out there that this is a load of crap. I cant tell you just how many captive chameleons have died because of this guy's need to get something published. Remember ,just because someone writes something down doesn't make it true. And just because someone has a title before or after their name doesn't make them automatically right! Ahhh....thats fells better.thank you for letting me get that off my chest! Have a Great one! Bill.

[Stefan-A]

It should be credible, the person who mentioned it to us is an ecologist himself with more than a few published articles. Not the kind of person who could afford to pull things out of his arse. It's not so much about how many disappear, it's more about which ones.

So, how many species constitute a healthy ecosystem? In this part of the world, for example, there are still exceptionally many open niches, due to the Ice Age. Remember, ecological niches usually overlap and if you wipe out one species, another one is usually able to expand its niche and take over some or all of its "duties".

[mycolorfulheart]

There have been 5 mass extinctions in the history of the earth. The most famous is the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, but that was not the worst of them. I have been trying to look up the exact figure on how much of life was left after the worst of them--my memory says 10% but my internet is hating me right now.

My point is that life has taken heavy blows in the past--we all know about the abrupt end to the dinosaurs (not just them but plant and sea life died as well). While one change can harm an individual ecosystem very much, given time, life will most certainly find a new niche and flourish. It is terrible to hear about one species or another being lost forever because of humanity's stupidity. But it is very comforting to me to know that life does have a very long, battlescared history. I doubt we could change that even by nuking the entire planet. Life is a tenacious, beautiful thing.

[Stefan-A]

There have been 5 mass extinctions in the history of the earth. The most famous is the one that wiped out the dinosaurs, but that was not the worst of them. I have been trying to look up the exact figure on how much of life was left after the worst of them--my memory says 10% but my internet is hating me right now.

Permian–Triassic extinction event - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The article says 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species.

[mycolorfulheart]

Permian–Triassic extinction event - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The article says 96% of all marine species and 70% of terrestrial vertebrate species.

Thanks!

[Hornets23]

I dont know if the question

[Hornets23]

I dont know if the question is what the ecosystem CAN handle. Sure life can and has rebounded from catastrophic events. However, I think we have to look at the toll that humanity is taking. Sure, perhaps the earth can bouce back, but does that mean its ok to destroy and damage it?

[Stefan-A]

I think that the smart thing to do, would be to consider what's in our interest.