WALKING into the TRAP

The dangers of human alterations to the environment are made glaringly visible by the author in the article below. What are we going to do about it?

Evolution arises from the ability of a species to adapt. As Charles Darwin quotes "It is not the most intellectual of the species that survives; it is not the strongest that survives; but the species that survives is the one that is able best to adapt and adjust to the changing environment in which it finds itself." However, adapting to certain kind of environment is not always beneficial for a species. Certain newly modified environment in this Anthropocene epoch, acts like a quicksand for those species that are changing habits and habitat preferences in the presumption of their better fitness (growth, survival and reproductive success). Any species would not by itself be willing to walk into a death trap. The struggle for survival on earth is always accompanied by selfishness. Why then, would the 'selfish gene' (referred to by Richard Dawkins) be suicidal by adapting to the wrong environment? Or is it the slow-poisoning by the environment that is sweetly adapted by the species?

To unravel this mystery, it is important to understand 'When or how a species considers an environment to be beneficial for their survival, so as to adapt to it?' The choice of a species plays a key role in this story, as it will determine a species' decision to either adapt or abandon a certain environment. The next question in line is 'How does a species choose a habitat?' A species chooses a habitat based on certain indicators that give a green signal about the quality of a habitat. These indicators are the main culprits that are misleading the species to choose a poor-quality habitat by masking the true characteristics of the same. This concept in ecology is called the 'Ecological Trap'.