Question

Leopold was clearly offering an alternative definition of, and orientation for, conservation. Though it sounds simplistic, for Leopold, conservation required the establishment of a state of harmony between humans and nature, which implied a commitment to two principles: that we strive to understand how the natural world functions; and that we practice precaution in our use of the natural world. These two principles are well reflected in the following excerpts from a couple of Leopold’s better known essays.

Health is the capacity of the land for self-renewal. Conservation is our effort to understand and preserve this capacity. - 'The Land Ethic' (1949)

The last word in ignorance is the man (sic) who says of an animal or plant: "What good is it?" If the land mechanism as a whole is good, then every part is good, whether we understand it or not. If the biota, in the course of aeons, has built something we like but do not understand, then who but a fool would discard seemingly useless parts? To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering. - 'Round River' (1953)

This call to think ecologically was loudly heard again later in the century with the publication of Rachel Carson’s 1962 book, Silent Spring, which publicized the impacts of agricultural pesticides on wildlife and human health. While Carson’s book was largely read as a warning to humanity, consistent with the shallow, human-centred, form of environmentalism that emerged in the late 1960s, her real intent was arguably to challenge us to recognize our existence within ecosystems and the utter foolishness of non-ecological thinking.

Activity Thinking Ecologically

you are asked to think about how the use of a highly persistent and broad spectrum insecticide like dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT) shows ignorance of ecological thinking? Put another way, why would an ecologist think that it makes little sense to use DDT? Can you come up with three (3) points?

Please do little research and provide the reference (thank you )

Answer 1

* Ecological thinking and ecological ethics are terms with very vast meaning. The branch of science dealing with ecology is a well established and highly diversified one.

* One of the major concepts in ecological thinking is "Biodiversity ". All nations in the world have now understood the importance of biodiversity and have Biodiversity boards in the government level to promote conservation activities.

* One of the major concepts in biodiversity conservation is that, we doesn't know the "FUTURE VALUE " of a particular variety of plant/animal/ any other life form.

* A species of a plant, which is irrelevant now, can turn to be a source of a wonder drug for an emerging disease in the future! We can't predict it.

* Likewise, an insect or an arachnid destroyed by the broad spectrum insecticide like DDT, may turn out to be a very useful pollinator or producer of a particular medicine or help in research about some diseases, may compete against and destroy some vectors of a disease etc.

* Well known species affected by the DDT directly are Bald eagle, perigrene falcon, brown pelican, osprey etc , they went to the verge of extinction due to thinning of their egg shells, premature hatching of eggs and death of young ones. When DDT is banned, the incidence is reduced and their population is increasing.

* Biological magnification was well studied with the DDT, in the species of higher levels of food chain.

* Carcinogenic properties and hormonal alteration effects are observed in humans due to DDT over usage. Affinity of DDT towards fatty tissue causes DDT to be secreted through human or animal milk.

* As DDT is a water insoluble compound, it's half life in water is about 150 years! That means it can pollute and pose threat to marine species for centuries. Through the food chain, it will eventually reach humans.

* Thus we know the harmful effects to the big and important species, but , how can we ascertain the loss of smaller life forms, loss of which will indirectly cause extinction of algae or plant species.  

* Another threat is development of resistance among disease vectors against DDT. Resistant species will again make our environment more difficult place to live.  

* Thus we should turn to natural ways to control the pests and insect vectors. Biological farming is a widely accepted concept nowadays. Instead of broad spectrum, bioamplifying chemical insecticides we can make use of pheromone traps, vegetable origin insecticides, by introduction of natural predators, elimination through physical barrier methods etc.

* By adopting nature friendly methods instead of harmful chemical methods, we conserve the biodiversity, protect the environment through ecological ethical thinking, ie:- no animal or plant is useless, each and every species is precious and worth protecting, since we don't have any idea of future value or significance of them, with our limited today's knowledge.