Environmental science美国作业：维持水生生物多样性

Review:Sustaining Aquatic Biodiversity综述：维持水生生物多样性

 

水生生物多样性受到威胁。世界野生动物基金会在2015年发布的一份报告[1]显示，从1970年到2012年，海洋生物数量下降了近50%。一些在当地和商业上捕鱼的物种的数量也下降了50%，甚至更多。一个简单的推论是，如果我们任由海洋生物发生，它是否会在未来40年内灭绝。

Aquatic biodiversity is under threat. A report[1] published by the World Wildlife Fund in 2015, shows a almost 50% decreasein marine life populations from 1970 to 2012. The populations of some species which are locally and commercially fishedhave also fallen by 50%, or even more. A simple inference is whether Marine life will be extinct in the next 40 years, if we let it happen.

 

Major threats主要威胁

 

So what is the major threats? Human activities.那么主要的威胁是什么呢？人类活动。

生态系统中特别固有的模式和规则。破坏这种模式的后果是一种生态灾难，就像拖网破坏海底的栖息地，或者大坝破坏淡水栖息地一样。破坏栖息地，也杀死赖以生存的物种。

Patterns and rules that are particularly inherent in the ecosystem. The consequence of breaking this pattern is an ecological disaster, just like trawling damage the habitats on sea bottom, or the dams breakdown the freshwater habitats. Destroy the habitats, also kill the species who lives on. 

海洋污染往往会对海洋生境造成严重破坏。是什么导致了海洋污染？石油泄漏、化肥和塑料垃圾等有毒污染物很容易使海洋生境和生态系统失衡或遭到破坏。

Marine pollution can often cause serious damage to Marine habitats. And what cause the marine pollution? The toxic pollutants like oil spill, fertilizers and plastic garbage easily unbalanced the marine habitats and ecosystem or destroy them.

人类的另一个活动是过度捕捞，这是直接杀死海洋生物。根据世界野生动物基金会的报告，金枪鱼和鲭鱼的数量已经减少了近四分之三，太平洋的蓝鳍金枪鱼濒临灭绝。这主要是由于全球过度捕捞的问题，作者说。与海龟和其他濒危水生生物一样的困境。

Another activity of human is overfishing, which is killing marine life directly. According to the report from the World Wildlife Fund, the tuna and mackerel populations have seen a nearly three quarters decline and Bluefin tuna in the Pacific are on the brink of extinction. This is largely due to the global problem of overfishing, the authors said. The same plight as the sea turtles and other endangered aquatic creatures.

Harmful invasive species is a threat too. Thousands of invaders, unrestrained encroachment and squeezing the living resources of the protozoa. But how them get the chance to slip in? Most of invasive species were hitching a ride on human activities.

 

So YES, we are guilty.

 

How should we do now?

 

Limit and reduce human destructive activities on the oceans and rivers. The National Wild and Scenic Rivers Act is protect rivers and river segments with outstanding scenic, recreational, geological, wildlife, historical, or cultural values. The U.S. federal policy is a zero net loss goal; destruction of some wetlands is allowed, if the same type of wetland is created back elsewhere. National and international laws and treaties include CITES, Global Treaty on Migratory Species(1979), the US Marine Mammal Protection Act, the Endangered Species Act, the U.S. Whale Conservation and Protection Act, and the International Convention on Biological Diversity. The diversity of Marine life is maintained by laws, economic incentives and establish the protected areas in ocean and land. We should establish more large-scale cross-regional aquatic environment monitoring systems, and to combine the governments of various countries and regions to strictly regulate all activities related to Marine life in and out of the protected areas. Reduce state subsidies for fishing industries and develop industries that have little impact on the Marine environment, such as Marine tourism.

But we are not going to completely stop all activities on the oceans and rivers. The aquatic ecosystem is the treasure of the world. We should develop the aquatic economy in an appropriate and orderly way under the guidance of science. This should entail an ecosystem strategyto protecting biodiversity. Priorities should be locatingaquatic biodiversity, identifying and preserving key areas, creating fully protected marine reserves, protecting and recovering lakes and rivers, initiating ecological restoration projects worldwide, and finding ways to raise the incomes of people who live near the reserves,try to achieve a harmonious balance between Marine sustaining and human development.

There is still hope that the harmful effects of human activities on biodiversity can be reversed in future.