Why is protecting any one species important?
There are three answers to this question. First, if you believe that biodiversity has inherent value, then each species is valuable and should be protected from extinction. Second, the extinction of a single species may decrease the utilitarian value of nature. For example, if the species has economic value, its extinction clearly results in an economic loss. Furthermore, if the species is important to other species or for the maintenance of important ecosystem characteristics, then its extinction can have undesirable cascading effects. For example, beavers dam streams and create networks of ponds that provide habitat for species like fish and ducks and that improve water quality and prevent erosion. The loss of beavers, therefore, would result in the loss of other species as well as of the ecosystem services provided by the habitat they create.
