The Sixth Extinction is a look at our current state of decline in biodiversity, some of the efforts to preserve what we have left, and what is the key species responsible for this decline in biodiversity. Elizabeth Kolbert, author, takes us through several mass extinctions including our current event that has seen the decline of the majority of our mega fauna, loss of some amphibians, decline and extinction of several species of birds, human activities that are increasing carbon dioxide which is destroying our oceans and its life forms, and how fragmenting our forests are decreasing biodiversity. This report will both summarize and critique the ideas and works of Kolbert.
As we are interconnected with our natural environment, our actions to…show more content… In chapter 1, many frog species in Panama were dying, and in an effort to find out why, biologists went out into the field and collected several species (as many as they could find) to see if they could determine what was killing the frogs. It was determined that a fungus was the culprit. These frogs were collected and literally put in an “incredible frog hotel,” a bed and breakfast that “agreed to let the frogs stay (in their tanks) in a block of rented rooms.” As frog’s numbers in the wild declined, those that were captured were not released because the fungus would surely attack them and kill them off as well, so to protect these species, they were kept protected.
In chapter 11, a Sumatran rhino named Suci, who lives at the Chicago Zoo, is getting pregnancy treatments that match any treatment we give to humans. This species of rhino is in severe decline and it is believed that there are “fewer than a hundred left in the world.” Many of these species are living in zoos, and inseminating efforts bring their own set of problems. Many other species of rhinos have declined worldwide, the majority living in zoos or