Why we care
The California Least Tern, a beautiful seabird that roams our beaches doing no harm and contributing to the economy and the ecosystem, must be saved. By adding to the biodiversity of beach ecosystems, and providing many ecological services that help scientist distinguish how healthy an environment is; seabirds are incredibly valuable. The California Least Tern specifically provides services to our wetlands by keeping the ecosystem balanced (Importance of Birds, 2017). For centuries people have come to beaches and other ecosystems to bird watch and observe such an intriguing species and inorder for this magic to continue, the CA Least Tern population needs to be helped. In order to save the Least Tern this would include; creating safe places for the birds to nest and feed and keeping the habitats clean and stable (California Least Tern, 2016). The main two contributors to the decline of the species are sand dredging and the destruction of wetlands; this would mean that both activities need to be regulated stronger and there will need to be safe places where the Least Tern can live without these disruptions (California Least Tern, 2016). The California Least Tern should be saved due to its value in ecosystems, environmental indicator abilities, and because of the cultural significance of birds and bequest value.
The California Least Tern should be saved due to their importance in the beach and wetland ecosystems. In order to have a balanced ecosystem, there needs to be a working ratio of predator to prey. Once a species is removed from an ecosystem the balance if off and the rest of the working habitat is now affected. While preying on small fish this seabird helps the balance while not allowing the fish population to run too high (California Least Tern, 2016). It is important for Wetlands to be healthy due to the economic value they serve such as: flood control, providing food and freshwater and building materials (Ecosystem accounting and the cost of biodiversity losses, 2010). Seabirds help allow nutrient cycling in the ecosystem with their guano and ​clean up the beaches by feeding on washed up species (Importance of Birds, 2017). The CA Least Tern is also prey to other species who rely on seabirds to feed to their young and stay alive, the death of the species could result in the death of their predatory species as well (California Least Tern, 2017).
Seabirds are incredible environmental indicators by showing changes in ​physical parameters ​such as​ sea-surface temperature ​[SST], ​salinity​, depth of thermocline​ of the marine ecosystem (Diamond). Such changes can help scientist determine highly important conclusions about oceans and the effects of climate change on beach ecosystems (Diamond). With the levels of pollution increasing day by day such environmental indicators are necessary to test the toxicity that shows accumulated in the CA Least Tern systems from feeding (Diamond). Our planet is at risk from climate change and CA Least Tern serve as important contributors to the research and fight against the destruction of our planet.
The California Least Tern deserve the attention from humans to be saved due to their existence as a species and because of the cultural significance that birds have. Every species on this planet is valuable in some way and contributes to the balanced ecosystem. CA Least Tern have bequest value because of the significance of birds in our world. Such a popular animal that represents flight and freedom, must be saved. The California Least Tern is a beautiful bird that should be saved so the next generations can benefit from the beauty and beneficial contributions that the seabird serves.
Every species deserves a fighting chance to thrive and because humans are responsible for the mass rate of extinction of many animals; it is time for humans to give back and save what species can be saved. The California Least Tern will be saved because if it is not, then beach ecosystems will be unbalanced, humans will not have an environmental indicator, and the generations will never know the beauty of a single species. Sand dredging companies like CEMEX need to take action to reconstruct Least Tern habitats and any activities that cause destruction of wetlands need to be highly regulated. It is up to the world to save the many endangered animals that are on the verge of extinction before it is too late.
As seen before in this website, the tern plays a very important role in its ecosystem by controlling populations of other species, serving as food source to other animals, and also by providing more biodiversity for the environment.
If the tern disappears, the populations of other animals would also be in danger. The red fox, for example, has this bird as one of its food sources, so without the tern, the population of the red fox will eventually decrease, affecting coyotes and wolves, which are some of the species that eat the fox (Fox, 2007). Anchovy, smelt, silversides, shiner surfperch and small crustaceans are some examples of marine species which the CA least tern eats (Baird,2010). If these animals are not predated by the tern anymore, their population’s density will rise, destabilizing the food chain.
Not only the least tern, but birds in general, provide lots of benefits for their ecosystem, because they contribute for and are part of the biodiversity from its environment. Some of the benefits are that if the ecosystem is healthy and balanced with a lot of biodiversity, they can recover easily from different types of disasters (Shah, 2009). Nutrient cycling is another very important function that birds like the CA least tern play. How? Birds can move nutrients from one place to another, spreading them into different parts of the ecosystem, helping it to be more healthy (Hill, 2014). The flow of nutrients also links several living and nonliving organisms that are dependent of each other (such as animals/plants and air, food sources, etc) (The Importance of Nutrient Cycles, 2015).
Another good aspect of saving the CA least tern is that by cleaning beaches (which are the tern’s habitat) and leaving them free of human and domestic animals’ activity, would not only be good for the bird, but also for all the environment in that area!
Actions should be taken soon, as the year of 2014 represented the lowest count of breeding pairs (4232) recorded since 2002 (Frost, 2015).
Cleaning beaches and leaving them without trash, would prevent lovely animals, such as sea turtles and fishes from dying intoxicated or choked by plastic or mercury, for example. Also, if factories stop throwing toxins on the sea and soil, the air and water quality would be much better for all of us!
In general, by restoring and preserving the bird’s habitat, lives of humans and animals can improve dramatically. We can all live in harmony respecting each others’ space and privacy, animals like the tern should not be disturbed at any time, we do not want them to feel scared and get lost from theirs groups, as you seen before, they depend on the population’s density and would not survive by themselves!
By doing that, we are going to have a way more healthy ecosystem in which the air is cleaner and biodiversity is abundant, not only bringing beauty to the world, but also health for all. That is why I think the California least tern should be saved.