MY IMPACT
WHY I MATTER
I PLAY AN IMPORTANT ROLE IN MY ECOSYSTEM
Myrtle’s silverspot helps its ecosystem through its instrumental value as well as its biodiversity value. Its instrumental value allows for an increase in eco-tourism and joy, while its biodiversity value helps with food source and pollination. The value of biodiversity is nearly undefinable. Nearly every species on earth is intertwined with nature. Every species serves its place in the food chain and cycling of energy and helps to create a balanced and healthy ecosystem (Shah, 2020). In most ecosystems, organisms coevolve, meaning they can only live with the support of their coevolved species. One example of this is Myrtle’s silverspot and the western dog violet. If Myrtle’s silverspot was to disappear, the western dog violet would suffer unknown effects due to the loss of pollination (Cummins, 2017). Because of its contributions to the world around it, Myrtle's silverspot has a high intrinsic value, meaning it has the right to survive, just the same as you do. It's important to work to preserve the butterfly not only because of the immense amount of ecological and economic benefits it brings but because it is a living organism and has a right to survive.
Image Courtesy of ESRI
Image Courtesy of ESRI
Other Species Depend on Me For Survival
Photo by Gerry Queener
The Myrtle’s silverspot and western dog violet (Viola adunca) flower have a mutualistic relationship, in which both beneficially work together. The western dog violet is the only flower the butterfly can lay its larvae in. The Myrtle's silverspot is a crucial pollinator and carries the western dog violet’s pollen from the stamen to the stigma, which is a crucial role in the production of seeds. If Myrtle's silverspot is not there to pollinate the western dog violet who will pollinate the flower? The western dog violet is not only a beautiful flower needed by Myrtle's silverspot, but it was also used as traditional medicine by the Blackfoot, Bella Coola, and Tolowa tribes. The leaves and roots were used to treat stomach problems and asthma in children, and as a cataplasm to treat soreness and swelling (Rawat, 2018).
My Impact on the Global Economy
The western dog violet has a very important relationship with Myrtle's silverspot butterfly, as it is the only plant that the butterfly can lay its larvae in. Because of its aesthetic value, the extinction of Myrtle's silverspot will affect the abundance of the western dog violet flower. The western dog violet is very important to the cosmetic industry, an industry in which the average woman spends $15,000 on in her lifetime (Personal Care Council, 2016). Oil is extracted from the flowers’ leaves and is used to produce personal beauty products such as perfumes, oils, and lotions. These oils strengthen the global economy and contribute nearly $237 billion to the US GDP (Personal Care Council, 2016).
Photo by Creative Commons Zero
My Role In The Economy of Point Reyes
Photo by Ernest McGray Jr.
The home to Myrtle’s silverspot butterfly, Point Reyes National Seashore, is one of the world’s largest biodiversity hotspots. Because of this, Point Reyes National Seashore thrives off of ecotourism. In the year 2016, Point Reyes tourist spending supported 10,497 individual jobs and contributed over $1 Billion to local economies (National Park Service, 2017). Tourists come from all over the world to see rare, beautiful species such as Myrtle’s silverspot. If we let Myrtle’s silverspot go extinct then we will not only be harming the beautiful ecosystem that it helps thrive, but we will be damaging the San Francisco Bay Area economy (the world's 19th biggest economy) (Evans, 2019).