ARTICLE TITLE: Which Species Will Live?

AUTHOR/SOURCE: Michelle Nijhuis

MAIN POINTS: Several species of storm-petrels are similarly endangered like the dark-gray seabird Conservation groups are ignoring the petrel Experts gathered in small conference rooms to make their choices of which species is the most important to the ecosystem, economically, culturally and potential to serve as a conservation emblem. In the middle of the first day, panels eliminated more than half the species on the list. Wildlife Conservation Society process made the decision more explicit and painful. When budgets shrink, environmental stress grew. Politicians and Regulators cared more for economy than the planet. Conservation triage is based on medical triage, a decision-making system used by battlefield medics. Medical triage had several variations but all involve sorting patients for treatment in difficult situations when time, expertise and supplies are short. 1973, U.S Congress passed Endangered Species Act, not because of scarcity but generosity. Act is still considered the most powerful environmental law in the world. Stipulated eligibility for protection of all nonpest species In book called Noah's Choice, it explains the act's reasoning: all species are fundamentally equal and everything can and should be saved Today, triage is the most provocative ideas in conservation To many, it invokes political threats to laws such as the Endangered Species Act Politically controversial species attract more funding Researchers proposed several ways to make triage decisions, with aim of providing maximum benefit for nature as a whole Umbrella species whose own survival ensures survival of many others should be protected. Advantages of "function first" is that it focuses on specific ecological roles than raw #. Gives conservationists a better chance at protecting functioning ecosystems. Alternative is "evolution first" favors most genetically unusual threatened species. Emphasizes preservation of genetic diversity Wildlife Conservation Society combined different triage approaches in its analyses: gave priority to threatened species that have larger body size and wider geographic range. Reasoning: protection of these creatures would likely benefit many other plants and animals With combo of available data/expert opinions, analysis identified a small group of "global priority" species that the organization can focus on Given importance of protecting not just the individual animals but also the relations among them

Meyers called it hotspots Hotspots were thought to top priority lists, by combining function first and evolution first processes: protects ecological relations by focusing on the entire ecosystem, and protects genetic diversity by prioritizing endemic species. Idea caught on and influences decisions today Researchers criticized hotspots for oversimplifying a global problem In effort to refine concept, people developed Marxan, a software program this maximizes effectiveness of conservation reserves by considering the presence of endemic species and level of consideration threats. Protected areas are hard to police and because climate change is already shifting specie ranges, and static boundaries may not offer the best long-term protection. In response Possingham created a resource-allocation process that goes well beyond the selection of hotspots, allows decision makers to weigh cost, benefit and likelihood of success. New Zealand Department of Conservation used this process and found that actions that were cheapest were most likely to succeed and could save half again as many plants and animals from extinction with same amount of money. Species low priority means a call to action by other groups Vulnerable species or habitat will require measures too expensive for govt. or group to shoulder, so what do we do? Line between opportunity and lost cause is never clear. A triage system could allow society to prematurely jettison tough cases, choosing from shortterm economic rewards over long-term conservation goals. The ESA has one provision for such a too-hard basket--it allows for a panel of experts than can permit a federal agency to violate the act's protections.

AUTHOR'S MAIN POINT: Scientists were interested in finding one species that was important to the ecosystem, economically, culturally, and that had potential to serve as a conservation emblem. Politicians and regulators, however only cared about the economy and not the animal in our environment. After this, scientists found the need for triage. Triage is a decision making system when treatment in difficult situations with time, expertise and supplies are short. Triage is a provocative subject today. Its a way laws such as the Endangered Species Act which protects innocent species. Researchers proposed several ways to make triage decisions that everybody would agree with. One way is "function first", where it focuses on specific ecological roles. Another is "evolution first", which focuses on the protection on genetic diversity. A man named Norman Meyer and his colleagues decided to protect the maximum number of species based on land area. This was called hotspots and was a combination of both function first and evolution first. MY THOUGHTS:

I think triage has made an impact because now its still a provocative subject and that just goes to show that people do care about the environment. Many ideas branched out from triage, such as 'functionfirst' and 'evolution-first'. Triage can reward us in a big way by keeping species from being threatened or extinct. I think that focusing on just one species would be the wrong thing to do; every specie helps us and is useful for many things. More people should be learning about Triage so they can be informed about what is going on, because before I read this article I had no idea what Triage was. So What? Triage is subject that is used by scientists and researchers to help figure out what is the best species to save. What if..? What if they only did focus on one specie? What would happen to the rest? Would they become extinct quickly? Says Who? Michelle Nijhuis

What does this remind you of? This remind me of the coyote lab, because it showed how important they were, and how it would impact the other creatures.