The three films that I chose for this assignment were the Lorax, Avatar and WALL-E. I chose these three movies as they expressed lessons, news, and brought overall awareness to the effects of habitat fragmentation and the extinction crisis. The Lorax and Avatar looked at the cause of habitat fragmentation and the extinction crisis, whereas WALL-E looked at the restoration of the planet Earth.
Avatar is a movie that focuses on the topic of habitat fragmentation driven by humans. The movie opens in a futuristic setting, where the Earth has been depleted of all its resources. This movie is set up on a moon orbiting Earth called Pandora, that has been mined for 3 years by humans for a rare mineral called Unobtanium. The conflict within the movie arises when the Na’vi people’s environment is under attack by humans – which forces the environment and the animals living within it, to be forced out as well. Loss of habitat is a huge reason why organisms are going extinct, and the movie Avatar touches on these connections, bringing the idea full circle.
Avatar was a roaring success, as it touched the hearts of audiences all over the world. It not only was able to send out a clear message regarding global warming and the affect humans have on the Earth. But it also allowed viewers to see what the result could be if we do not change our ways.
In a more scientific light, the movie Avatar has a lot of examples of plant science within itself. For one, most of the plants in Pandora are glow in the dark. The characteristic of being glow in the dark is called bioluminescence and is not natural on Earth. However, a science journal published by Tatiana Mitiouchkina (and others working with her) states that they were able to use bacterial bioluminescence in plastids to create autoluminescent plants (Mitiouchkina, 2020). So perhaps the glow in the dark plants from the Avatar will one day exist!
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 