Which of the following best illustrates the intrinsic value of an ecosystem?
A)Woodpeckers in the Black Hills eat mountain pine beetles that have been killing millions of acres of pine forests in the western U.S.,costing millions of dollars in lost timber sales and creating an extreme fire hazard.
B)A wetland filters runoff and detoxifies water before it percolates into drinking water aquifers.
C)An estuary is often a stopover location for millions of migrating shorebirds that need to stop and fuel up on the invertebrates living in the mudflats.
D)Chippewa National Forest in Minnesota provides jobs for loggers.
E)My professor's prairie provides flowers for her colony of honeybees to harvest pollen.

Question

Quizplus · Accepted Answer

Intrinsic value refers to the inherent worth of an ecosystem, independent of any economic or utilitarian benefits it may provide to humans. The estuary serving as a stopover for migrating shorebirds highlights the ecosystem's intrinsic value, as it supports biodiversity and natural processes without direct human economic benefit.

Which of the Following Best Illustrates the Intrinsic Value of an Ecosystem