Study: Oysters becoming extinct worldwide
This picture shows how many oysters are being caught and
harvested. But this is happening all
over the world driving oysters to extinction.
Summary:
Oyster habitats all around the world are disappearing at a rapid rate. The reason they are dying is because of overharvesting and the spread of diseases. Oysters population use to be 70% in bays and 63% in ecoregions but now oyster reefs are at less than ten percent of their prior abundance. A research team studied 144 areas around the world where oysters were predominantly found. Not only did they find that the oyster populations were decreasing at a horrific rate but the reefs where they lived were damaged or destroyed. According to Dr. Michael Beck from UCSC, if something is not done to stop the overharvesting of oysters, then they could become completely extinct within a generation. Oysters are keystone species in their ecosystems. They scavenge pollution and other contaminants from water and without oysters, aquatic ecosystems everywhere will be compromised and could possibly be permanently altered. But not only are the beneficial for their ecosystems but to us as well. They are a food source for us and a source of employment for people who live near the oyster reefs. Oysters are a vital part to our environment so they must be saved!
Oyster habitats all around the world are disappearing at a rapid rate. The reason they are dying is because of overharvesting and the spread of diseases. Oysters population use to be 70% in bays and 63% in ecoregions but now oyster reefs are at less than ten percent of their prior abundance. A research team studied 144 areas around the world where oysters were predominantly found. Not only did they find that the oyster populations were decreasing at a horrific rate but the reefs where they lived were damaged or destroyed. According to Dr. Michael Beck from UCSC, if something is not done to stop the overharvesting of oysters, then they could become completely extinct within a generation. Oysters are keystone species in their ecosystems. They scavenge pollution and other contaminants from water and without oysters, aquatic ecosystems everywhere will be compromised and could possibly be permanently altered. But not only are the beneficial for their ecosystems but to us as well. They are a food source for us and a source of employment for people who live near the oyster reefs. Oysters are a vital part to our environment so they must be saved!
Opinion/Reflection:
I was very surprised about how great the importance of oysters is. Without oysters many ecosystems around the
world could collapse. But something
really needs to be done about this. Not
only do we need to save the oysters but look at the bigger picture. Obviously we are doing something wrong
because many species around the world are going extinct because of our
greediness. We need to become more aware
of our environment because by the looks of everything, we are not doing a very
good job preserving them. We need to
stop being so self centered and start trying to help the environment and save
it. If we don’t change our actions soon
all of our environments will be destroyed.
Questions:
1. Why do you think people continue
to harm the environment even though they know the consequences?
2. Why don’t we hear about extinction
of animals in the news?
3. If oysters go extinct, what could
happen to ecosystems and people?
Opinion/ Reflection: WOW! That is a horrific statistic. I am so surprised that oysters have dropped that much in a certain amount of time. It is awful to think that we are the main reason they are decreasing even though if they get extinct it will affect us. I agree with Ryan when he said that he didn’t know oysters were so important. I thought oysters were just a little part of the ecosystem that are mainly used as a food source to humans. It isn’t only oysters that are becoming extinct though. All around the world species are going extinct, and if we don’t want to fall into another mass extinction, we need to put a stop to affecting animals like we are doing.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to Question 1: I think humans continue to harm animals because they do not realize the things that are going to happen to the oyster’s ecosystem or how it will affect us, so they don’t worry about it. Also, humans are overharvesting oysters because the more oysters they produce, the more money they make. They are not worrying about the oysters, but themselves instead.
Expansion: You mentioned in your summary briefly that oysters are keystone species, so I found an article more about why they are considered keystone species. Here it is: http://deseagrant.org/outreach/aquaculture-faq-why-are-oysters-considered-keystone-species
I would like to add that in class we learned that animals that are very important to their environment are called keystone species. Like the oysters, we also learned that sea otters are keystone species too!
DeleteOpinion/Reflection: I never knew oysters were a keystone species. They seem like they just sit there and do nothing. Not only is it bad to harvest the oysters it is bad for the ecosystem around them. I think it is very interesting that they scavenge pollution. If we continue to take these oysters for food, it could be very harmful to the ecosystems around them. We need to change our actions soon!
ReplyDeleteExpansion: You mentioned in your summary that oysters are becoming rapidly extinct. So i found another link that gives more facts about there extinction. Here it is: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-1353244/Oysters-extinct-85-cent-worlds-reefs-disappear.html
I was really surprised when I read this. I think it is horrible that all these oysters are being wiped out. People really need to stop harvesting all these oysters because like Ryan said, they are a keystone species. They are very important to their ecosystem and they need to be preserved. If we don't start to help these oysters, there could be another mass extinction.
ReplyDeleteAnswer to question 1: I don't really know why people continue to harm the environment. I think it is because they don't really care, they just want the oysters so they can sell them. People really need to stop doing this to these animals.
1. When do you think people realize what they are doing is wrong?
2. What species would be affected if the oysters went extinct?
3. How can we prevent them from becoming extinct?
http://www.exploringnature.org/db/detail.php?dbID=7&detID=67
This is an article about another keystone species.