Would we miss snails if they suddenly disappeared? - BBC World Service
Вставка
- Опубліковано 26 вер 2024
- Snails are a major enemy of gardeners around the world, invading vegetable patches and gobbling prize plants. CrowdScience listener Alexandre reckons he’s removed thousands of them from his garden, which got him wondering: apart from eating his garden to the core, what’s their wider role in nature? Would anyone or anything miss them if they suddenly disappeared?
Click here to subscribe to our channel 👉🏽 bbc.in/3VyyriM
And for that matter, what about other creatures? We all know how complex biodiversity is, but it seems that some animals are more important than others in maintaining the balance of life on earth. Is there anything that could go extinct without having knock-on effects?
CrowdScience heads to the Hawaiian mountains, a snail diversity hotspot, to discover the deep value of snails to native ecosystems there. Researchers and conservationists are working together to protect these highly endangered snails, and their natural habitats, from multiple threats.
We hear why all snails - even the ones munching Alexandre’s petunias - have their role to play in the natural world, and get to grips with cascading extinctions: how the loss of a single species can trigger unpredictable effects on a whole ecosystem.
Check out more amazing animals here: • Amazing animals
----------------
This is the official BBC World Service UA-cam channel.
If you like what we do, you can also find us here:
Instagram 👉🏽 / bbcworldservice
Twitter 👉🏽 / bbcworldservice
Facebook 👉🏽 / bbcworldservice
BBC World Service website 👉🏽 www.bbc.co.uk/...
Thanks for watching and subscribing!
#BBCWorldService #WorldService
Brilliant, thank you for publishing! Just to clarify, the curiosity behind the question was not "should we care" if species disappear if they don't contribute to the ecosystem balance, no. The question was really "these living creatures are here, would it make a difference if they weren't, and if yes, what would the consequences be?" It is NOT about whether life matters, because life does matter 😃
There used to be tons of snails here (SF Bay Area Peninsula, California) but in the last decade they have all disappeared. I have been trying to find out why, but no one seems to have a clue.
I am in the Bay Area as well, and I haven’t seen a snail in years. They used to be so abundant, especially when it rained. You’d have to watch your step otherwise you were sure to accidentally step on one. 😓
I would switch with you anytime! I have terrible snail and slug problem in my garden in central Europe. Anything I plant is being eaten overnight. Also it's impossible to not step on them all the time. Slime everywhere 😭
You folks should have asked “would we miss mosquitoes if they suddenly disappeared “.
My daughter like to pick up snail shells in the bush. Many small shells with no flesh. I wonder where the flesh is. Were they eaten by others? Or they lost their shells and go away.😮
Thanks a lot
Fireflies eat snails and slugs, so they'd tell you they're pretty important.
The problem is loss of animals. Snails, mosquitoes. Then man.
Ducks and chickens love 🐌
If humans disappeared, everything else would flourish because we're the apex predators. But what about mosquitoes? What role do they play in the ecosystem?
Do we need 'em?
Except humans everything is needed
As everything developed to fill a certain niche, or to do a certain thing, I'd assume our task here is to contribute our intelligence and abilities to the good of all life.
But first we as a whole society have to grow out of our puberty without having anyone to teach us what it means to be an adult.
Also while growing up it is quite common to feel useless sand threatened by all the unanswered questions. So your stance is definitely relatable.
I believe we'll find our way to contribute. And in order to join back onto your point: either we will on ourselves, or we'll be forced by catastrophe. And then our contribution might be to place the memory of a failed experiment, right.
Let's do good deeds.
embpck
#von.ong
Subscribe to our channel here: ua-cam.com/users/bbcworldservice
"Do we need 'em?" Karl Pilkington
Interesting...