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Biodiversity (1988) / Chapter Skim
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Part 13: Epilogue
Pages 491-496

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From page 493...
... the need to maintain biodiversity, and a consensus soon emerged that the greatest threat to this goal today is from human activities. Human populations are expanding most rapidly in the tropics the very area where biodiversity is the greatest.
From page 494...
... The practicability of this approach may be arguable, but several authors give specific examples of how whole new habitats, such as salt marshes, can be restored or how an extirpated' subspecies of peregrine falcons can be replaced by a new, artificially created subspecies that seems to fill successfully the niche that was lost. Although scientists have had isolated successes in restoring habitats or saving endangered species, the key to a more permanent equilibrium and therefore the long-term preservation of biodiversity will depend on effective population control in the tropical Third World.
From page 495...
... Thus, the relatively common eland antelope has been implanted with a rare bongo embryo and sue' cessfully carried to term. As our knowledge and skills improve, other rare mammals can be born to foster mothers to develop captive populations large enough for eventual reintroduction to their former habitats.
From page 496...
... To keep the Earth reasonably habitable for humans in the centuries to come, natural forces will have to lower the human population and reduce the indiscriminate exploitation of the natural world. Controlled rational exploitation may be the answer, if the surviving humans have the foresight and sensitivity to carry it out.


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