Interactions in Ecosystem Argumentative Essay

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Interactions in Ecosystem Argumentative Essay #1 Every summer Winnipeggers are besieged by a blood-sucking pest. The Mosquito. It is a very successful onslaught, as Manitoba has lots of standing water for mosquitoes to breed. To fight this problem, the pesticide malathion is sprayed every summer. This has become a controversial topic for every Manitoban, as there are diverse opinions on its use. However, malathion shouldn’t be banned because it is low in toxicity, it doesn’t bio accumulate, and lastly and most importantly it kills mosquitoes. Unlike DDT, malathion is low in toxicity. This means that it’s effect on the environment and wild life is greatly decreased. There is a lower chance of malathion affecting non-target species and organisms. Conversely, a pesticide higher in toxicity could affect a wider range of wildlife. DDT is a good example of this, as it was used to kill pests like insects, but ended up affecting other non-target species, especially predatory birds such as eagles, and also a lot of aquatic life. Therefore, from an environmental perspective, in the long term choosing a pesticide with a lower toxicity level such as malathion would be the most optimum choice. Bioaccumulation is the accumulation of substances, such as pesticides in an organism. The problem with this is that many pesticides such as DDT and other oil-based pesticides are very lipophilic, meaning that they are able to dissolve into the fat inside animals. This is extremely harmful for animals that are subject to these pesticides as there is no way for the toxins to pass through the animal, but the toxins are stored in the fat of the animal and can accumulate if the animal was to come in contact with the pesticide again. Even though DDT is banned, traces of it are still found in many species of wild life. Malathion on the other hand does not bio accumulate as it is not fat

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