Humans are not the only ones who will be affected by “The Wall”

By: Nicole Macki

Summary: The Trump Administration in the United States has made the plans to build a wall on the border of Mexico and the United States stretching roughly 2000 miles and standing at 55 ft tall. This border wall is going to cause serious damage to the ecosystems around it if it is built. The area that surrounds this border is populated by 15,00 native species of plants and animals including the bighorn sheep and cougars who are at risk for extinction due to the wall disrupting seasonal migration and pollution taking over plant species and that many animals feed on. The types of ecosystems that surround the area that the wall will be built on are forests, grasslands and salt marshes, which will be torn up and destroyed as the wall is being built. Along with this wall will come many more human amenities such as street lights and stands for officers which will also do damage to the natural ecosystems. Biologists have made this known to the Trump Administration but they still have decided to move forward with pursuing these plans. Research has also shown that this is going to change fire regimes and cause erosion of soil which could cause flash flooding. So why would people want this wall? It is due to the desire to minimize drug trade and illegal immigration from Mexican citizens. But is it worth it?

Why we should care?  As this wall is built, resources will be cut away from animals. Where are these animals going to go for drinking water when the ponds and streams dry up? How will these animals find mates? How will these animals migrate?

Credit: Mark Catalano USFW

Example News Article: 
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/01/24/climate/border-wall-wildlife.html
The main reason I am so interested about this topic is because I didn’t know lot about it or that this was even an issue. The media has not done a lot of coverage on this topic. Not many people are at all aware that there is wildlife at danger due to this new Mexican border wall. A lot of our society are not aware of how much of an impact our buildings and structure have on the environment. A simple wall is going to upset several different type ecosystems and animal and plant species. I also chose this because of the political part of this topic. I believe it is very interesting that the simplicity of building a wall between two countries is anything but that.

Science in Action.
Dr. Paul Ehrlich is President of the Center for Conservation Biology and Bing Professor of Population Studies at Stanford University.

Paul Ehrlich's research aligns directly with this topic. He researches human evolutionary effects on the environment and how humans and animals can live together without cause so many different disruptions.  He is also apart of the MMA and is very invested in several different research groups that study the effects that humans have on our environment. In this article in particular he looks at issues such as the types of plants and animals that are at risk for extinction such as the bighorn sheep they specifically covered. It also talks about the support solutions and the amount of scientist that are against this change. Also, he and his colleagues talk about why the ecosystems around the border are so important and why they need our help and also why it has become our responsibility to help.