The Mary River in Queensland Australia is one known for erratic water flow and species that have been forced to adapt to their home. Proposals to put a dam in place on the river are being challenged by Dr. Lyndon DeVantier who believes that the creation of a model to address the possible impacts of this dam has not been properly done. He believes that the already struggling species who inhabit it would be unable to adapt to further environment changes. This claim is quite reasonable, as many of the organisms who inhabit this river are already referred to as endemic. Turtles in this river have weeds growing from their heads and some fish are able to breath air. Some advocates for the dam claim that it will improve the situation and provide the river and its species with a chance of recovery. Dr.DeVantier claims that “70% of all freshwater species extinction can be attributed to habitat modification”. (Ecologist warns of dam threat, 2009). If this claim is true, a dam will only worsen the situation for the river and its species. While no work has been done to prove these claims one way or another, it is important to think of all the possible outcomes that a dam will have on this ecosystem. It would be completely audacious to implement such radical changes to an ecosystem without doing so. The government has already been told that it is quite likely that dangerous weeds would take over the ecosystem and have an adverse affect on these already compromised organisms. Having received results such as this, it is difficult to believe that the government would knowingly go through with these plans. It is quite lucky that Dr. Lyndon has stepped forward to act as a steward for the river.
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