((For Lab Assignment 4))
In Fort Worth, Texas, biologists have been using nets to try and catch fish. From the Brazos River, they have been collecting small eye shiners and sharpnose shiners - fish located only there, now candidates to be listed as endangered and threatened, due to the massive drought raging across the state. As their natural habitat is smack dab in the middle of it, the waters these fish need to survive have been steadily dissipating. Thanks to that, these two types of fish just don't have the 100 miles of river they need to reproduce, and as a major food source for game fish, namely catfish and largemouth bass, their ecosystem needs them. While the drought lasts, the aquatic relocate-es will be moved to a state fish hatchery near Possum Kingdom Lake, the plan being to return them once the drought loosens it's grip. Several additional species are also prime candidates for the white knight - or, white net - rescue as well, if the water levels of the river continue to drop.
I think in this case, this event applies to the engineering paradigm, since people are using the scientific aspect of things in order to preserve these fish species by moving them to an alternative area already set aside in order to keep them from extinction, but this does also tie in with the behavioral and development paradigms all at the same time, since the behavior of the fish, namely the ability to reproduce and remain a food source for game fish, has been compromised by the drought. That fact has a direct effect on the development paradigm, because in the long term, the extinction of two little species of shiners could theoretically cause a cataclysmic chain reaction in the ecosystem - if those two fish die out, larger game fish could die out, which could cause larger animals which feed on them to die out, and so forth. Yes, it sounds totally paranoid to say that one less species on earth, or two in this case, could be the big-bad that ends the world, but...Well, that is kind of why we haven't bug-bombed the entire midwest to get rid of the mosquitoes: Chain reactions are hard to predict.
Speaking from a complexity angle, it may not -seem- like a big deal, just two types of fish, and not even ones big enough to eat...But theoretically in the long run, two little fish could make a big difference.
((Video taken from http://online.wsj.com/video/texas-drought-threatens-fish/BDC2C0CA-7A6D-41B9-92A6-0A8D091326C5.html
Article found at: http://www.weather.com/outlook/weather-news/news/articles/rescue-rare-fish-from-drought_2011-09-16))
