There is a lot that could be said on the general question of why should we care about [insert species or ecosystem]. Indeed, a lot has already been said, and I'm not qualified to add anything new. I will comment, though, in agreement with Kleijn et al. (2015) and McCauley (2006), that purely utilitarian arguments for conservation are insufficient and potentially counterproductive. Moral arguments, however uncomfortable and problematic they might be, are indispensable. 

Kleijn et al. (2015)
http://www.nature.com/ncomms/2015/150616/ncomms8414/pdf/ncomms8414.pdf

McCauley (2006)
http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v443/n7107/full/443027a.html

For a general treatise of ecological ethics, see Kohák (1999):
http://www.amazon.com/The-Green-Halo-Birds-Eye-Ecological/dp/0812694112


Douglas Sponsler
Graduate Research Associate, Ph.D. Candidate
Department of Entomology
The Ohio State University
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