Any time a species is introduced to a new habitat (intentionally or unintentionally), the consequences can be unpredictable – it depends on the interactions that the “exotic” species has with the natives. Read the following two articles and address the below bullet points.
Assisted colonization of tortoises article (short)https://www.science.org/content/article/relocating-australian-tortoise-sets-controversial-precedent-rev2, biocontrol article (long)
- Identify the pros (at least 3) and cons (at least 3) of introducing species to a new habitat (whether intentionally or unintentionally). I recommend one pro and con from the tortoise article, two each from the biocontrol article
- Assuming scientists have done years of research and determined that the benefits outweigh the negative effects, would you support assisted colonization like what scientists did for the tortoises? Explain your thoughts.
- Assuming scientists have done years of research and determined that the benefits outweigh the negative effects, would you support biocontrol? Explain your thoughts.
Both articles need to be cited (in-text and full at the end), and your work needs to be in your own words.
This post should be 300+ words (not counting the full works cited at the end). Include the word count number at the bottom of your post.
Read others’ responses and reply to your own post with what you learned from reading others’ posts.
Learning objectives associated with this assignment:
- Scientific Literacy: Upon completing the course, the student will be able to evaluate different perspectives, opinions, and statements about biological issues in terms of their logic, content, scientific merit, and biases.
- Critical thinking: Upon completing the course, the student will be able to discriminate among degrees of credibility, accuracy, and reliability of inferences drawn from given data, determine whether certain conclusions or consequences are supported by the information provided, and use problem solving skills.
