Discuss why the extinction of Molluscs or any other invertebrate represents an irreversible loss of biological diversity. Support your answers with the reading you have done for this unit’s topic.
Overview
The unfortunate distinction of having experienced the most reported extinctions of any significant taxonomic group belongs to mollusks. More mollusk species (260 gastropods and 31 bivalves) have gone extinct since the year 1500 than all tetrapod species combined (231) making up a startling 42 percent of the 693 animal species extinctions that have been documented (figure 3).
Ninety-nine percent of all molluscan extinctions involve nonmarine species. Although invertebrate extinctions are frequently overlooked by the general public, most biologists, and many conservation organizations, terrestrial vertebrate extinctions are thoroughly documented. The conservation status of just a very small percentage (less than 2%) of all known molluscan species has been accurately determined. As a result, the extent of molluscan imperilment is poorly understood and almost certainly underreported.
A decline in biodiversity within a species, an ecosystem, a specific geographic location, or Earth as a whole is known as biodiversity loss, also known as loss of biodiversity. The phrase “biodiversity,” sometimes known as “biological diversity,” describes the variety of genes, species, individual creatures within a species, and biological communities that may be found in a given geographic region, from the tiniest ecosystem to the entire biosphere. (A biological community is an interdependent collection of different species in a single environment.)
Similar to this, biodiversity loss refers to the decline of a certain area’s species diversity, genetic variety, and abundance as well as its biological communities. This reduction in the diversity of life may cause the ecosystem where decline has occurred to stop working properly.
