Question

Explain briefly the ‘rivet popper hypothesis’ of Paul Ehrlich.

Answer 1

Paul Ehrlich proposed the rivet popper hypothesis to show the effect of biodiversity loss on the ecosystem. An airplane (ecosystem) has thousands of rivets. Popping of rivets (causing a species to become extinct) by passengers may not affect flight safety (Proper functioning of the ecosystem) in the beginning but the plane will become dangerously weak over a period of time. Removal of a rivet of a critical part like a wing (key species that derive major ecosystem functions) is obviously a more serious threat to flight safety than the loss of a few rivets on the seats or window inside the plane.