Additional Post 1

The decline in the number of the world's species of plants and animals is concerning for a variety of reasons. We get many goods and services from the environment but one of the most important is probably the compounds found in plants that can be useful medicinally. Like the Rosy Periwinkle (Catharanthus roseus) from the article in the link below, plants can be instrumental in fighting some serious diseases. The websites states that there are over 50,000 plants that are known to have some medicinal value. As we learned in Evolutionary Ecology this semester, humans are having a very negative impact when it comes to Earth’s biodiversity. Habitat destruction, pollution, introducing invasive species, overpopulation and over harvesting are all human activities that are increasing the extinction rate of species. With the extinction of all these species we may be destroying plants that produce compounds that could useful in fighting some of the world’s worst diseases.

http://www.treehugger.com/lawn-garden/saving-the-plants-that-save-us.html