biodiversity and society essay

Essay on Biodiversity for Students and Children

500+ words essay on biodiversity.

Essay on Biodiversity – Biodiversity is the presence of different species of plants and animals on the earth. Moreover, it is also called biological diversity as it is related to the variety of species of flora and fauna. Biodiversity plays a major role in maintaining the balance of the earth.

Furthermore, everything depends upon the biological diversity of different plants and animals. But due to some reasons, biodiversity is decreasing day by day. If it does not stop then our earth could no longer be a place to live in. Therefore different measures help in increasing the biodiversity of the earth.

Methods to Increase Biodiversity

Building wildlife corridors- This means to build connections between wildlife spaces. In other words, many animals are incapable to cross huge barriers. Therefore they are no able to migrate the barrier and breed. So different engineering techniques can make wildlife corridors. Also, help animals to move from one place to the other.

Set up gardens- Setting up gardens in the houses is the easiest way to increase biodiversity. You can grow different types of plants and animals in the yard or even in the balcony. Further, this would help in increasing the amount of fresh air in the house.

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Protected areas- protected areas like wildlife sanctuaries and zoo conserve biodiversity. For instance, they maintain the natural habitat of plants and animals. Furthermore, these places are away from any human civilization. Therefore the ecosystem is well maintained which makes it a perfect breeding ground for flora and fauna. In our country, their various wildlife sanctuaries are build that is today spread over a vast area. Moreover, these areas are the only reason some of the animal species are not getting extinct. Therefore the protected areas should increase all over the globe.

Re-wilding – Re-wilding is necessary to avert the damage that has been taking place over centuries. Furthermore, the meaning of re-wilding is introducing the endangered species in the areas where it is extinct. Over the past years, by various human activities like hunting and cutting down of trees the biodiversity is in danger. So we must take the necessary steps to conserve our wildlife and different species of plants.

Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is extremely important to maintain the ecological system. Most Noteworthy many species of plants and animals are dependent on each other.

Therefore if one of them gets extinct, the others will start getting endangered too. Moreover, it is important for humans too because our survival depends on plants and animals. For instance, the human needs food to survive which we get from plants. If the earth does not give us a favorable environment then we cannot grow any crops. As a result, it will no longer be possible for us to sustain on this planet.

Biodiversity in flora and fauna is the need of the hour. Therefore we should take various countermeasures to stop the reduction of endangering of species. Furthermore, pollution from vehicles should decrease. So that animals can get fresh air to breathe. Moreover, it will also decrease global warming which is the major cause of the extinction of the species.

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What is biodiversity and why does it matter to us?

The air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat all rely on biodiversity, but right now it is in crisis – because of us. What does this mean for our future and can we stop it?

What is biodiversity?

It is the variety of life on Earth, in all its forms and all its interactions. If that sounds bewilderingly broad, that’s because it is. Biodiversity is the most complex feature of our planet and it is the most vital. “Without biodiversity, there is no future for humanity,” says Prof David Macdonald, at Oxford University.

The term was coined in 1985 – a contraction of “biological diversity” – but the huge global biodiversity losses now becoming apparent represent a crisis equalling – or quite possibly surpassing – climate change.

More formally, biodiversity is comprised of several levels, starting with genes, then individual species, then communities of creatures and finally entire ecosystems, such as forests or coral reefs, where life interplays with the physical environment. These myriad interactions have made Earth habitable for billions of years.

A more philosophical way of viewing biodiversity is this: it represents the knowledge learned by evolving species over millions of years about how to survive through the vastly varying environmental conditions Earth has experienced. Seen like that, experts warn, humanity is currently “ burning the library of life ”.

Do animals and bugs really matter to me?

For many people living in towns and cities, wildlife is often something you watch on television. But the reality is that the air you breathe, the water you drink and the food you eat all ultimately rely on biodiversity. Some examples are obvious: without plants there would be no oxygen and without bees to pollinate there would be no fruit or nuts.

Others are less obvious – coral reefs and mangrove swamps provide invaluable protection from cyclones and tsunamis for those living on coasts, while trees can absorb air pollution in urban areas.

Others appear bizarre – tropical tortoises and spider monkeys seemingly have little to do with maintaining a stable climate. But the dense, hardwood trees that are most effective in removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere rely on their seeds being dispersed by these large fruit-eaters.

When scientists explore each ecosystem, they find countless such interactions, all honed by millions of years of evolution. If undamaged, this produces a finely balanced, healthy system which contributes to a healthy sustainable planet.

The sheer richness of biodiversity also has human benefits. Many new medicines are harvested from nature, such as a fungi that grows on the fur of sloths and can fight cancer. Wild varieties of domesticated animals and crops are also crucial as some will have already solved the challenge of, for example, coping with drought or salty soils.

If money is a measure, the services provided by ecosystems are estimated to be worth trillions of dollars – double the world’s GDP. Biodiversity loss in Europe alone costs the continent about 3% of its GDP, or €450m (£400m), a year.

From an aesthetic point of view, every one of the millions of species is unique, a natural work of art that cannot be recreated once lost. “Each higher organism is richer in information than a Caravaggio painting, a Bach fugue, or any other great work,” wrote Prof Edward O Wilson, often called the “father of biodiversity”, in a seminal paper in 1985 .

Just how diverse is biodiversity?

Mind-bogglingly diverse. The simplest aspect to consider is species. About 1.7 million species of animals, plants and fungi have been recorded, but there are likely to be 8-9 million and possibly up to 100 million. The heartland of biodiversity is the tropics, which teems with species. In 15 hectares (37 acres) of Borneo forest, for example, there are 700 species of tree – the same number as the whole of North America.

Recent work considering diversity at a genetic level has suggested that creatures thought to be a single species could in some cases actually be dozens. Then add in bacteria and viruses, and the number of distinct organisms may well be in the billions. A single spoonful of soil – which ultimately provides 90% of all food – contains 10,000 to 50,000 different types of bacteria.

The concern is that many species are being lost before we are even aware of them, or the role they play in the circle of life.

How bad is it?

Very. The best studied creatures are the ones like us – large mammals. Tiger numbers, for example, have plunged by 97% in the last century. In many places, bigger animals have already been wiped out by humans – think dodos or woolly mammoths.

The extinction rate of species is now thought to be about 1,000 times higher than before humans dominated the planet, which may be even faster than the losses after a giant meteorite wiped out the dinosaurs 65m years ago. The sixth mass extinction in geological history has already begun , according to some scientists.

Lack of data means the “red list ”, produced by the International Union for Conservation of Nature, has only assessed 5% of known species. But for the best known groups it finds many are threatened : 25% of mammals, 41% of amphibians and 13% of birds.

Species extinction provides a clear but narrow window on the destruction of biodiversity – it is the disappearance of the last member of a group that is by definition rare. But new studies are examining the drop in the total number of animals, capturing the plight of the world’s most common creatures.

The results are scary. Billions of individual populations have been lost all over the planet, with the number of animals living on Earth having plunged by half since 1970 . Abandoning the normally sober tone of scientific papers, researchers call the massive loss of wildlife a “biological annihilation” representing a “frightening assault on the foundations of human civilisation”.

What about under the sea?

Humans may lack gills but that has not protected marine life. The situation is no better – and perhaps even less understood – in the two-thirds of the planet covered by oceans. Seafood is the critical source of protein for more than 2.5 billion people but rampant overfishing has caused catches to fall steadily since their peak in 1996 and now more than half the ocean is industrially fished .

What about bugs – don’t cockroaches survive anything?

More than 95% of known species lack a backbone – there are about as many species in the staphylinidae family of beetles alone as there are total vertebrates, such as mammals, fish and birds. Altogether, there are at least a million species of insect and another 300,000 spiders, molluscs and crustaceans .

But the recent revelation that 75% of flying insects were lost in the last 25 years in Germany – and likely elsewhere – indicates the massacre of biodiversity is not sparing creepy crawlies. And insects really matter, not just as pollinators but as predators of pests, decomposers of waste and, crucially, as the base of the many wild food chains that support ecosystems.

“If we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse,” says Prof Dave Goulson of Sussex University, UK. “We are currently on course for ecological Armageddon.”

Even much-loathed parasites are important. One- third could be wiped out by climate change , making them among the most threatened groups on Earth. But scientists warn this could destabilise ecosystems, unleashing unpredictable invasions of surviving parasites into new areas.

What’s destroying biodiversity?

We are, particularly as the human population rises and wild areas are razed to create farmland, housing and industrial sites. The felling of forests is often the first step and 30m hectares - the area of the Britain and Ireland - were lost globally in 2016.

Poaching and unsustainable hunting for food is another major factor. More than 300 mammal species, from chimpanzees to hippos to bats, are being eaten into extinction .

Pollution is a killer too, with orcas and dolphins being seriously harmed by long-lived industrial pollutants . Global trade contributes further harm: amphibians have suffered one of the greatest declines of all animals due to a fungal disease thought to be spread around the world by the pet trade. Global shipping has also spread highly damaging invasive species around the planet, particularly rats.

The hardest hit of all habitats may be rivers and lakes, with freshwater animal populations in these collapsing by 81% since 1970, following huge water extraction for farms and people, plus pollution and dams.

Could the loss of biodiversity be a greater threat to humanity than climate change?

Yes – nothing on Earth is experiencing more dramatic change at the hands of human activity. Changes to the climate are reversible, even if that takes centuries or millennia. But once species become extinct, particularly those unknown to science, there’s no going back.

At the moment, we don’t know how much biodiversity the planet can lose without prompting widespread ecological collapse. But one approach has assessed so-called “ planetary boundaries ”, thresholds in Earth systems that define a “safe operating space for humanity”. Of the nine considered, just biodiversity loss and nitrogen pollution are estimated to have been crossed, unlike CO2 levels, freshwater used and ozone losses.

What can be done?

Giving nature the space and protection it needs is the only answer. Wildlife reserves are the obvious solution, and the world currently protects 15% of land and 7% of the oceans. But some argue that half the land surface must be set aside for nature.

However, the human population is rising and wildlife reserves don’t work if they hinder local people making a living. The poaching crisis for elephants and rhinos in Africa is an extreme example. Making the animals worth more alive than dead is the key, for example by supporting tourism or compensating farmers for livestock killed by wild predators.

But it can lead to tough choices. “Trophy hunting” for big game is anathema for many. But if the shoots are done sustainably – only killing old lions, for example – and the money raised protects a large swath of land, should it be permitted?

We can all help. Most wildlife is destroyed by land being cleared for cattle, soy, palm oil, timber and leather. Most of us consume these products every day, with palm oil being found in many foods and toiletries. Choosing only sustainable options helps, as does eating less meat, particularly beef, which has an outsized environmental hoofprint.

Another approach is to highlight the value of biodiversity by estimating the financial value of the ecosystem services provided as “natural capital”. Sometimes this can lead to real savings. Over the last 20 years, New York has spent $2bn protecting the natural watershed that supplies the city with clean water. It has worked so well that 90% of the water needs no further filtering: building a water treatment plant instead would have cost $10bn.

What’s next?

Locating the tipping point that moves biodiversity loss into ecological collapse is an urgent priority. Biodiversity is vast and research funds are small, but speeding up analysis might help, from automatically identifying creatures using machine learning to real-time DNA sequencing .

There is even an initiative that aims to create an open-source genetic database for all plants, animals and single-cell organisms on the planet. It argues that by creating commercial opportunities – such as self-driving car algorithms inspired by Amazonian ants – it could provide the incentive to preserve Earth’s biodiversity.

However, some researchers say the dire state of biodiversity is already clear enough and that the missing ingredient is political will.

A global treaty, the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), has set many targets. Some are likely to be reached, for example protecting 17% of all land and 10% of the oceans by 2020. Others, such as making all fishing sustainable by the same date are not. The 196 nations that are members of the CBD next meet in Egypt in November.

In his 1985 text, Prof E O Wilson, concluded: “This being the only living world we are ever likely to know, let us join to make the most of it.” That call is more urgent than ever.

Further reading

The Biological Diversity Crisis (1985). Edward O Wilson. BioScience (Vol 35)

The Sixth Extinction : An Unnatural History (2014). Elizabeth Kolbert (Bloomsbury)

What Has Nature Ever Done for Us? (2013) Tony Juniper (Profile)

The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (2010). Pushpam Kumar et al. (Earthscan)

Illustrations: Frances Marriott

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ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Biodiversity.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of living species on Earth, including plants, animals, bacteria, and fungi. While Earth’s biodiversity is so rich that many species have yet to be discovered, many species are being threatened with extinction due to human activities, putting the Earth’s magnificent biodiversity at risk.

Biology, Ecology

grasshoppers

Although all of these insects have a similar structure and may be genetic cousins, the beautiful variety of colors, shapes, camouflage, and sizes showcase the level of diversity possible even within a closely-related group of species.

Photograph by Frans Lanting

Biodiversity is a term used to describe the enormous variety of life on Earth. It can be used more specifically to refer to all of the species  in one region or ecosystem . Bio diversity refers to every living thing, including plants, bacteria, animals, and humans. Scientists have estimated that there are around 8.7 million species of plants and animals in existence. However, only around 1.2 million species have been identified and described so far, most of which are insects. This means that millions of other organisms remain a complete mystery.

Over generations , all of the species that are currently alive today have evolved unique traits that make them distinct from other species . These differences are what scientists use to tell one species from another. Organisms that have evolved to be so different from one another that they can no longer reproduce with each other are considered different species . All organisms that can reproduce with each other fall into one species .

Scientists are interested in how much biodiversity there is on a global scale, given that there is still so much biodiversity to discover. They also study how many species exist in single ecosystems, such as a forest, grassland, tundra, or lake. A single grassland can contain a wide range of species, from beetles to snakes to antelopes. Ecosystems that host the most biodiversity tend to have ideal environmental conditions for plant growth, like the warm and wet climate of tropical regions. Ecosystems can also contain species too small to see with the naked eye. Looking at samples of soil or water through a microscope reveals a whole world of bacteria and other tiny organisms.

Some areas in the world, such as areas of Mexico, South Africa, Brazil, the southwestern United States, and Madagascar, have more bio diversity than others. Areas with extremely high levels of bio diversity are called hotspots . Endemic species — species that are only found in one particular location—are also found in hotspots .

All of the Earth’s species work together to survive and maintain their ecosystems . For example, the grass in pastures feeds cattle. Cattle then produce manure that returns nutrients to the soil, which helps to grow more grass. This manure can also be used to fertilize cropland. Many species provide important benefits to humans, including food, clothing, and medicine.

Much of the Earth’s bio diversity , however, is in jeopardy due to human consumption and other activities that disturb and even destroy ecosystems . Pollution , climate change, and population growth are all threats to bio diversity . These threats have caused an unprecedented rise in the rate of species extinction . Some scientists estimate that half of all species on Earth will be wiped out within the next century. Conservation efforts are necessary to preserve bio diversity and protect endangered species and their habitats.

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• Review Article
• Published: 06 June 2012

Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity

• Bradley J. Cardinale 1 ,
• J. Emmett Duffy 2 ,
• Andrew Gonzalez 3 ,
• David U. Hooper 4 ,
• Charles Perrings 5 ,
• Patrick Venail 1 ,
• Anita Narwani 1 ,
• Georgina M. Mace 6 ,
• David Tilman 7 ,
• David A. Wardle 8 ,
• Ann P. Kinzig 5 ,
• Gretchen C. Daily 9 ,
• Michel Loreau 10 ,
• James B. Grace 11 ,
• Anne Larigauderie 12 ,
• Diane S. Srivastava 13 &
• Shahid Naeem 14  

Nature volume  486 ,  pages 59–67 ( 2012 ) Cite this article

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• Biodiversity
• Ecosystem services

A Corrigendum to this article was published on 25 July 2012

The most unique feature of Earth is the existence of life, and the most extraordinary feature of life is its diversity. Approximately 9 million types of plants, animals, protists and fungi inhabit the Earth. So, too, do 7 billion people. Two decades ago, at the first Earth Summit, the vast majority of the world’s nations declared that human actions were dismantling the Earth’s ecosystems, eliminating genes, species and biological traits at an alarming rate. This observation led to the question of how such loss of biological diversity will alter the functioning of ecosystems and their ability to provide society with the goods and services needed to prosper.

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Acknowledgements

This work was conceived as a part of the working group, Biodiversity and the Functioning of Ecosystems: Translating Model Experiments into Functional Reality, supported by the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, a Center funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF Grant EF-0553768), the University of California, Santa Barbara, and the State of California. Additional funds were provided by NFS’ DIMENSIONS of Biodiversity program to BJC (DEB-104612), and by the Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services Research Training Network (BESTNet) (NSF Grant 0639252). The use of trade names is for descriptive purposes only and does not imply endorsement by the US Government.

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Bradley J. Cardinale, Patrick Venail & Anita Narwani

Virginia Institute of Marine Science, The College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, 23062, Virginia, USA

J. Emmett Duffy

Department of Biology, McGill University, Montreal, Quebec H3A 1B1, Canada,

Andrew Gonzalez

Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, 98225, Washington, USA

David U. Hooper

School of Life Sciences, Arizona State University, Tempe, 85287, Arizona, USA

Charles Perrings & Ann P. Kinzig

Centre for Population Biology, Imperial College London, Silwood Park SL5 7PY, UK,

Georgina M. Mace

Department of Ecology, Evolution & Behavior, University of Minnesota, Saint Paul, 55108, Minnesota, USA

David Tilman

Department of Forest Ecology and Management, Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, S- 901 83 Umeå, Sweden,

David A. Wardle

Department of Biology and Woods Institute, Stanford University, Stanford, 94305, California, USA

Gretchen C. Daily

Station d’Ecologie Expérimentale, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, 09200 Moulis, France,

Michel Loreau

US Geological Survey, National Wetlands Research Center, Lafayette, 70506, Louisiana, USA

James B. Grace

Museum National d’Histoire Naturelle, 57, Rue Cuvier, CP 41 75231, Paris Cedex 05, France,

Anne Larigauderie

Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada,

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5 reasons why biodiversity matters – to human health, the economy and your wellbeing

Protecting biodiversity is not only good for natural ecosystems, but also for the communities that inhabit them. Image:  REUTERS/Edgar Su

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Stay up to date:, healthy futures.

• Biodiversity is critically important to human health, economies and livelihoods.
• Humans have caused the loss of 83% of all wild animals and half of all plants.
• To mark the International Day for Biodiversity, here are five reasons why biodiversity matters to humans – and why we need to protect it.

Biodiversity is critically important – to your health, to your safety and, probably, to your business or livelihood.

But biodiversity – the diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems – is declining globally, faster than at any other time in human history. The world’s 7.6 billion people represent just 0.01% of all living things by weight, but humanity has caused the loss of 83% of all wild mammals and half of all plants . (Biodiversity loss and ecosystem collapse is one of the top five risks in the World Economic Forum’s 2020 Global Risks Report , too.)

Have you read?

How biodiversity loss is hurting our ability to combat pandemics, why biodiversity is key to our survival.

In celebration of the International Day for Biological Diversity , we break down the five ways in which biodiversity supports our economies and enhances our wellbeing – and has the potential to do even more.

1. Biodiversity ensures health and food security

Biodiversity underpins global nutrition and food security. Millions of species work together to provide us with a large array of fruits, vegetables and animal products essential to a healthy, balanced diet – but they are increasingly under threat.

Every country has indigenous produce – such as wild greens and grains – which have adapted to local conditions, making them more resilient to pests and extreme weather. In the past, this produce provided much-needed micronutrients for local populations. Unfortunately, however, the simplification of diets, processed foods and poor access to food have led to poor-quality diets . As a result, one-third of the world suffers from micronutrient deficiencies .

Three crops – wheat, corn and rice – provide almost 60% of total plant-based calories consumed by humans . This leads to reduced resiliency in our supply chains and on our plates. For example, the number of rice varieties cultivated in Asia has dropped from tens of thousands to just a few dozen; in Thailand, 50% of land used for growing rice only produces two varieties .

People once understood that the conservation of species was crucial for healthy societies and ecosystems. We must ensure this knowledge remains part of our modern agricultural and food systems to prevent diet-related diseases and reduce the environmental impact of feeding ourselves.

2. Biodiversity helps fight disease

Higher rates of biodiversity have been linked to an increase in human health.

First, plants are essential for medicines. For example, 25% of drugs used in modern medicine are derived from rainforest plants while 70% of cancer drugs are natural or synthetic products inspired by nature . This means that every time a species goes extinct, we miss out on a potential new medicine.

Second, biodiversity due to protected natural areas has been linked to lower instances of disease such as Lyme disease and malaria. While the exact origin of the virus causing COVID-19 is still unknown, 60% of infectious diseases originate from animals and 70% of emerging infectious diseases originate from wildlife . As human activities encroach upon the natural world, through deforestation and urbanisation, we reduce the size and number of ecosystems. As a result, animals live in closer quarters with one another and with humans, creating ideal conditions for the spread of zoonotic diseases.

Simply put: more species means less disease .

3. Biodiversity benefits business

According to the World Economic Forum's recent Nature Risk Rising Report , more than half of the world’s GDP ($44 trillion) is highly or moderately dependent on nature. Many businesses are, therefore, at risk due to increasing nature loss. Global sales of pharmaceuticals based on materials of natural origin are worth an estimated $75 billion a year , while natural wonders such as coral reefs are essential to food and tourism.

There is great potential for the economy to grow and become more resilient by ensuring biodiversity. Every dollar spent on nature restoration leads to at least $9 of economic benefits. In addition, changing agricultural and food production methods could unlock $4.5 trillion per year in new business opportunities by 2030 , while also preventing trillions of dollars’ worth of social and environmental harms.

Biodiversity loss and climate change are occurring at unprecedented rates, threatening humanity’s very survival. Nature is in crisis, but there is hope. Investing in nature can not only increase our resilience to socioeconomic and environmental shocks, but it can help societies thrive.

There is strong recognition within the Forum that the future must be net-zero and nature-positive. The Nature Action Agenda initiative, within the Centre for Nature and Climate , is an inclusive, multistakeholder movement catalysing economic action to halt biodiversity loss by 2030.

The Nature Action Agenda is enabling business and policy action by:

Building a knowledge base to make a compelling economic and business case for safeguarding nature, showcasing solutions and bolstering research through the publication of the New Nature Economy Reports and impactful communications.

Catalysing leadership for nature-positive transitions through multi-stakeholder communities such as Champions for Nature that takes a leading role in shaping the net-zero, nature-positive agenda on the global stage.

Scaling up solutions in priority socio-economic systems through BiodiverCities by 2030 , turning cities into engines of nature-positive development; Financing for Nature , unlocking financial resources through innovative mechanisms such as high-integrity Biodiversity Credits Market ; and Sector Transitions to Nature Positive , accelerating sector-specific priority actions to reduce impacts and unlock opportunities.

Supporting an enabling environment by ensuring implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework and mobilizing business voices calling for ambitious policy actions in collaboration with Business for Nature .

4. Biodiversity provides livelihoods

Humans derive approximately $125 trillion of value from natural ecosystems each year . Globally, three out of four jobs are dependent on water while the agricultural sector employs over 60% of the world’s working poor . In the Global South, forests are the source of livelihoods for over 1.6 billion people . In India, forest ecosystems contribute only 7% to India’s GDP yet 57% of rural Indian communities’ livelihoods .

Ecosystems, therefore, must be protected and restored – not only for the good of nature but also for the communities that depend on them.

Although some fear environmental regulation and the safeguarding of nature could threaten businesses, the “restoration economy” – the restoration of natural landscapes –provides more jobs in the United States than most of the extractives sector, with the potential to create even more. According to some estimates, the restoration economy is worth $25 billion per year and directly employs more than the coal, mining, logging and steel industries altogether . Nature-positive businesses can provide cost-effective, robot-proof, business-friendly jobs that stimulate the rural economy without harming the environment.

5. Biodiversity protects us

Biodiversity makes the earth habitable. Biodiverse ecosystems provide nature-based solutions that buffer us from natural disasters such as floods and storms , filter our water and regenerate our soils .

The clearance of over 35% of the world’s mangroves for human activities has increasingly put people and their homes at risk from floods and sea-level rise. If today’s mangroves were lost, 18 million more people would be flooded every year (an increase of 39%) and annual damages to property would increase by 16% ($82 billion).

Protecting and restoring natural ecosystems is vital to fighting climate change. Nature-based solutions could provide 37% of the cost-effective CO2 mitigation needed by 2030 to maintain global warming within 2°C.

What’s the World Economic Forum doing about climate change?

Climate change poses an urgent threat demanding decisive action. Communities around the world are already experiencing increased climate impacts, from droughts to floods to rising seas. The World Economic Forum's Global Risks Report continues to rank these environmental threats at the top of the list.

To limit global temperature rise to well below 2°C and as close as possible to 1.5°C above pre-industrial levels, it is essential that businesses, policy-makers, and civil society advance comprehensive near- and long-term climate actions in line with the goals of the Paris Agreement on climate change.

The World Economic Forum's Climate Initiative supports the scaling and acceleration of global climate action through public and private-sector collaboration. The Initiative works across several workstreams to develop and implement inclusive and ambitious solutions.

This includes the Alliance of CEO Climate Leaders, a global network of business leaders from various industries developing cost-effective solutions to transitioning to a low-carbon, climate-resilient economy. CEOs use their position and influence with policy-makers and corporate partners to accelerate the transition and realize the economic benefits of delivering a safer climate.

Contact us to get involved.

Natural ecosystems provide the foundations for economic growth, human health and prosperity. Our fate as a species is deeply connected to the fate of our natural environment.

As ecosystems are increasingly threatened by human activity, acknowledging the benefits of biodiversity is the first step in ensuring that we look after it. We know biodiversity matters. Now, as a society, we should protect it – and in doing so, protect our own long-term interests.

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Biodiversity Explained: Facts, Myths, and the Race to Protect It

By MJ Altman on January 4, 2023

A baby sloth hangs in a tree at the Bosque da Ciência in Manaus, Brazil. PHOTO: Michael Dantas/United Nations Foundation

As ecosystems and habitats degrade and disappear worldwide, biodiversity — the interconnectedness of all forms of life on our planet — is in jeopardy. In light of a new global agreement to protect our lands, ocean, and waters, explore what biodiversity really means and what it will take to preserve life on Earth.

From microscopic fungi to mega forests, “biodiversity” is the collective term for the variety of life on Earth in all its forms. It is 4.5 billion years of evolution, embodied.

Biodiversity is responsible for our food, our soil, our water, our weather, even the air we breathe. Yet despite being a crucial foundation for our collective future, biodiversity is often lost amid conversations on climate change — until recently.

In December 2022, leaders from nearly 200 nations adopted a landmark UN agreement to reverse nature’s rapid decline before it’s too late. Known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework , it calls for protecting 30% of the planet’s land, ocean, and inland waters and includes 23 other targets to help restore and protect ecosystems and endangered species worldwide.

Here are 12 things you should know:

1. Biodiversity is more than just the total number of species on Earth.

“It is actually more complex than that,” Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, the late ecologist, told the United Nations Foundation in 2018. “It’s about the genetic diversity within species, the diversity of habitats, and the large biological units known as biomes.”

This includes the interactions that occur between species within ecosystems – primordial relationships that shape our environment in countless, often unseen ways.

“Without biological diversity, there is no other life on Earth — including our own,” he explained. “Even though we are often oblivious to it, this diversity of life is what provides clean water, oxygen, and all other things that end up being part of our diet, as well as clothing and shelter. It provides a lot of psychological benefits too, which are not much appreciated.”

2. We’re only just beginning to understand biodiversity’s influence and importance in our lives.

Earth’s many ecosystems rely on a delicate, complicated, and fascinating tangle of life that, in many ways, remains a mystery. In fact, the term “biological diversity” wasn’t introduced to the scientific community until 1980 in a research paper on species loss by Dr. Lovejoy. Scientists still haven’t identified all forms of life on the planet. New species are discovered every year.

A harbor seal swims through kelp off the coast of Southern California's Channel Islands. Seals are among the thousands of species that rely on kelp forests for food and shelter. PHOTO: Shutterstock/Joe Belanger

Take kelp, for example. These undersea forests provide sustenance and shelter for marine species like chinook salmon, which, in turn, serve as a staple food for orcas. And kelp also absorb excess carbon dioxide, which can help mitigate climate change.

3. The planet’s biodiversity holds enormous, untapped potential for medical and scientific breakthroughs.

Lovejoy described each species on the planet as a unique set of solutions for a particular set of biological problems. “Whoever would have thought a bacterium from a Yellowstone hot spring would revolutionize forensic and diagnostic medicine, make the human genome project possible, and confer benefits in the trillion-dollar range?” he wrote as a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation, citing a previously unknown and seemingly inconsequential microbe discovered in 1966 that revolutionized genetic testing and immunization development, including the COVID-19 vaccine.

A flowering plant grows from a tree in the Amazon Rainforest, near the research station known as Camp 41 north of Manaus, Brazil. PHOTO: Michael Dantas/United Nations Foundation

Today, one-fourth of all modern medicines are derived from tropical plants, and 70% of all cancer drugs are natural or bio-inspired products. In the past decade, researchers in Nova Scotia found a soil fungus that can disarm antibiotic-resistant bacteria — a discovery that could transform the fields of medicine and agriculture. The possibilities for discovery and innovation are monumental.

4. Climate change and biodiversity are interconnected.

Climate change is causing biodiversity loss, and biodiversity loss is causing climate change. Here’s how: Destroying and degrading ecosystems releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than burning fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, the consequences of burning fossil fuels — rising global temperatures, an increase in wildfires, and ocean acidification, to name a few — are threatening habitats and wildlife alike. In late 2019 and early 2020, for example, more than 60,000 koalas were killed by wildfires in Australia so massive that nearly 3 billion animals died or were displaced as a result. Earlier this year, the Australian government officially listed koalas as an endangered species.

At COP 27 last year, world leaders reached a historic agreement to create a “loss and damage” fund to support communities that are already feeling climate change’s disastrous impact, including biodiversity loss and its impact on livelihoods.

More than 60,000 koalas were killed by wildfires in Australia in late 2019 and early 2020. Increased wildfires and subsequent habitat loss are just one of the consequences of climate change. PHOTO: Patrick Kavanagh

5. Biodiversity can help us adapt to climate change.

The UN considers biodiversity our strongest natural defense against climate change. Land and ocean ecosystems currently absorb 60% of human-caused emissions , and they are the planet’s only way of storing massive amounts of carbon dioxide. Coastal wetlands, for example, protect against storm surges and flooding during extreme weather while also storing carbon dioxide and creating oxygen.

According to a joint estimate by the UN Development Programme and the Government of Papua New Guinea, every dollar invested in environmental protection generates more than $2,500 in so-called ecosystem services — water regulation, coastal protection, carbon storage, and other invisible functions that nature provides. It’s one of the reasons that Papua New Guinea launched the first-ever national, independent Biodiversity and Climate Fund to protect its status as one of just 17 “megadiverse” countries.

6. Less biodiversity means a higher risk of disease.

For decades, the scientific community has warned that biodiversity loss increases the spread of infectious disease . Why? Because extinction upsets the ecosystem in unpredictable ways, and the destruction of natural habitats increases interaction between humans and wildlife. Biodiversity essentially acts as a barrier between humans and animal-borne disease.

Species that tend to survive logging, farming, mining, wildlife trade and consumption, and other human activities behind widespread biodiversity loss are often “vectors of disease” like mice and mosquitoes, which host pathogens that are able to make the jump to humans. It’s one of the reasons why cases of Lyme disease in the northeast United States have spiked in recent decades: With fewer mammals to prey on, ticks are increasingly seeking out people. In fact, roughly 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic .

It’s also why researchers like Dr. Alessandra Nava and her team of virus hunters at Brazil’s Fiocruz Amazônia are tracking the spread of disease in bats, monkeys, and rodents in the world’s largest rainforest. Their goal is to stay a step ahead of future pandemics by better understanding the pathogens contained within the jungle’s creatures before they come in contact with humans — encounters that become more likely as the human footprint expands.

A golden-backed squirrel monkey at the Bosque da Ciência, a rainforest park in Manaus, Brazil. PHOTO: Michael Dantas/United Nations Foundation

7. Biodiversity on land depends on biodiversity in water.

Maintaining the ocean’s ecological balance is crucial for protecting biodiversity on land, as well as maintaining our ability to feed future generations. The ocean plays a vital role in regulating the planet’s weather and water and the air we breathe. It is also the planet’s largest source of protein , feeding more than 3 billion people every day who rely on fish as a staple food.

Yet the ocean remains a vastly unexplored ecological frontier. While scientists have identified 200,000 marine species , the actual number is estimated to be in the millions. Unsustainable fishing practices, pollution, climate change, and habitat destruction are threatening creatures that may vanish before we even knew they existed.

8. Our planet’s biodiversity is on the brink.

Some 1 million species are threatened with extinction right now. That’s more than any other time in history, and they’re disappearing at a rate that is 1,000 times the norm. The culprit is the way most humans consume, produce, travel, and live.

A 2019 UN report found that we have altered 75% of the planet’s terrestrial environment, 40% of its marine environment, and 50% of streams and rivers. Nearly three-fourths of our freshwater resources are devoted to crop or livestock production, which often means using pesticides, fertilizers, fuels, and antibiotics that pollute our rivers, streams, seas, and soil. Every day we are destroying habitats and degrading massive amounts of soil and water through industrial manufacturing and agriculture while jeopardizing precious natural resources that could be lost forever in our lifetime; in the past two decades, we’ve lost half of the planet’s coral reefs . Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest hit a record high last year; some 18% is gone already, with scientists warning that we’re approaching a tipping point toward potential collapse .

9. Sustainability is the only way forward.

Such irresponsible production and consumption of our natural resources come at a catastrophic cost. We are destroying our planet at an unprecedented rate and losing a vast number of plants, animals, insects, and marine life in the process — to the detriment of our own future. Humanity’s health and well-being are dependent on a biodiverse planet.

Fortunately, examples are emerging of a greener, more sustainable way of doing business. Circular economic models are becoming more common as companies realize the economic and environmental value of reducing, reusing, and recycling their supply chain. At the same time, more citizens are demanding sustainable sourcing and socially just labor practices from their consumer goods. In 2022, the founder of the outdoor retailer Patagonia announced plans to invest all of the company’s profits toward combating climate change . “If we have any hope of a thriving planet — much less a business — 50 years from now, it is going to take all of us doing what we can with the resources we have,” Yvon Chouinard wrote .

Along Brazil’s Rio Negro, fourth-generation logger Roberto Brito de Mendonça stands in the dining lodge of his community’s ecotourism lodge. He retired from the family business to help start the operation, which includes a newly built classroom named in honor of Dr. Lovejoy. PHOTO: Michael Dantas/United Nations Foundation

10. Indigenous communities are crucial.

For thousands of years, Indigenous communities have served as the planet’s most effective environmental stewards. Today, according to the UN, Indigenous people manage more than 20% of the planet’s land and 80% of its biodiversity. “For us, it is not a passion, or a job,” Hindou Ibrahim of the Mbororo tribe in Chad, an SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) Advocate and Indigenous rights activist, told the UN last year. “It is our way of living. And that’s what we have done for all generations.”

In 2015, the UN created the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform to ensure their formal participation in global negotiations on climate change.

11. Conservation is critical.

One of our most promising solutions is preservation. Restoring degraded ecosystems alone could provide up to one-third of the climate mitigation needed to keep the Earth from warming too far above pre-industrial levels. This means creating protected areas, curbing extractive capitalism, and restoring the planet’s enormous amount of degraded land.

People across the globe are leading efforts to do just that. One inspiring example is Rita Mesquita, who expanded the amount of protected rainforest in Brazil by 76% during her time in the country’s Ministry of the Environment. Today, she oversees programs that encourage residents and visitors alike in Manaus to interact with the surrounding Amazon rainforest.

A Rhinoceros Beetle in Costa Rica’s National Park Tortuguero. The rhino beetle is one of the strongest insects in the world with relation to its body size, but because its tropical lowland habitat has been deforested and overcut, it is struggling to survive. PHOTO: GRID-Arendal/Peter Prokosch

12. We need cooperation — and revolution — at all levels.

We need partnerships among countries, communities, consumers, and corporations. And we’re seeing signs of progress every day. In fact, at COP 27, the Governments of Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia announced an alliance to protect their respective rainforests. Their historic agreement could pave the way for more multilateral action and impact. Coming just a month later, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework represents an enormous and long-awaited step toward halting extinction rates that some scientists are calling an existential crisis akin to climate change.

A huge part of the solution to the biodiversity challenge will be transforming how we approach the natural world and our place within it. As Dr. Lovejoy told the UN Foundation in 2018 , “There needs to be a major shift in perception from thinking of nature as something with a fence around it in the middle of an expansive, human-dominated landscape … to thinking about embedding our aspirations in nature.”

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• School Education /

Essay on Biodiversity in 500 Words for Students

• Updated on  
• Dec 7, 2023

Essay on Biodiversity: Biodiversity refers to the variety of animals and plants in the world or a specific area. Even in today’s modern world where so many technological advances have taken place, we still rely on our natural environment and resources to survive, A healthy and vibrant ecosystem is not disturbed by human activities. We humans are the largest consumers of natural resources, and you know what? We are also a real threat to the natural environment? Biodiversity is not just about a variety of animal and plant species, but, also offers us water, climate, disease control, nutrition cycle, oxygen release, etc. According to one report released by the United Nations, around 10 lakh plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction. The worst thing is that this number is almost at a doubling rate.

Also Read: Essay on 5g Technology

Check out all the latest updates on all board exams 2024

Why is Biodiversity Important?

Biodiversity supports all life forms on earth. To understand the importance of biodiversity, we don’t need to think or act like a biologist. All we need is a holistic understanding. 

• Biodiversity promotes resilience and stability in our ecosystem. If there is any natural disturbance in the environment, a diverse ecosystem will be able to survive and recover better.
• Fields like agriculture, forestry, and medicine completely rely on biodiversity. We get genetic resources from biodiversity, which is essential for agriculture and medicine fields.
• A healthy biodiversity environment means healthy humans. The medicinal drugs we use are derived from plants, animals, and microorganisms.
• In many parts of the world, biodiversity is an integral part of cultural identity. Indigenous tribes are connected with their natural environment and species. 
• Forest areas and oceans play an important role in regulating global temperature and storing carbon dioxide.
• Our environment is constantly changing and the species around it also need to adapt to for to survive. Therefore, genetic diversity within species is also important.
• Natural activities like soil formation, nutrient cycling, water purification, etc, are all dependent on biodiversity.

Also Read: NCERT Solutions Class 9 Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

What is Biodiversity Loss?

Biodiversity loss means the global extinction of various species, resulting in the loss of biological diversity. One of the main factors responsible for biodiversity loss is the conversion of natural habitats into agricultural and urban areas. Cutting down forests and using the land for commercial activities results in destroying the livelihood of all the species in the region. Other factors responsible for biodiversity loss are listed below.

• Overexploitation
• Climate change
• Global trade and transportation
• Emerging diseases
• Pollution 

Also Read: Essay on Save Environment

What is Biodiversity Conservation?

Biodiversity conservation refers to the preservation of species, natural resources, and habitats from the rate of extinction. To achieve the goals of biodiversity conservation, effective management, and sustainable practices are required.

• Biodiversity conservation includes protected areas like biodiversity hotspots, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries.
• One of the most effective ways to conserve biodiversity is rehabilitation and restoring degraded habitats is crucial.
• Promoting sustainable practices in agriculture, forestry, and other resource-dependent activities is essential for the conservation of biodiversity.
• Encouraging the participation of local and indigenous communities can be one solution to achieving the goals of biodiversity conservation. Indigenous and local knowledge can contribute to effective conservation strategies.

Also Read: Essay on Junk Food

Quotes on Biodiversity

Here are some popular quotes on biodiversity. Feel free to add them to your writing topics related to the natural environment.

• ‘Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterclass, exclusively adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived. Who are we to destroy or even diminish biodiversity?’ – E O Wilson
• ‘Biodiversity is our most valuable but least appreciated resource.’ – E O Wilson
• ‘Biodiversity is the greeted treasure we have. It’s diminishment is to be prevented at all cost.’ – Thomas Eisner
• ‘Animal protection is education to humanity.’ – Albert Schweitzer
• ‘Only beautiful animals or ugly people wear fur.’ – Unknown
• ‘Babies and animals are the mirrors of the nature.’ – Epicurus

Also Read: Essay on Globalization

Ans: Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants and animals in our natural environment or a particular region. Biodiversity supports all life forms on earth. To understand the importance of biodiversity, we don’t need to think or act like a biologist. All we need is a holistic understanding. Biodiversity promotes resilience and stability in our ecosystem. If there is any natural disturbance in the environment, a diverse ecosystem will be able to survive and recover better. Fields like agriculture, forestry, and medicine completely rely on biodiversity. We get genetic resources from biodiversity, which is essential for agriculture and medicine fields.

Ans: Biodiversity conservation refers to the preservation of species, natural resources, and habitats from the rate of extinction. To achieve the goals of biodiversity conservation, effective management, and sustainable practices are required.

Ans: Some of the popular biodiversity hotspots in India are the Himalayas, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats & Sundaland.

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Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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133 Biodiversity Topics & Examples

🔝 top-10 biodiversity topics for presentation, 🏆 best biodiversity project topics, 💡 most interesting biodiversity assignment topics, 📌 simple & easy biodiversity related topics, 👍 good biodiversity title ideas, ❓ biodiversity research topics.

• Biodiversity loss.
• Global biodiversity conservation.
• The Amazon rainforest.
• Animal ecology research.
• Sub Saharan Africa.
• Marine biodiversity.
• Threats to ecosystems.
• Plant ecology.
• Importance of environmental conservation.
• Evolution of animal species.
• Biodiversity Hotspots: The Philippines The International Conservation has classified the Philippines as one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world. Additionally, the country is said to be one of the areas that are endangered in the world.
• Aspects, Importance and Issues of Biodiversity Genetic diversity is a term used to refer to the dissimilitude of organisms of the same species. Species diversity is used to refer to dissimilitude of organisms in a given region.
• Biodiversity Benefits for Ecology This variation of species in the ecosystem is a very important concept and factor that indeed is the basis for sustaining life on our planet. Moreover, the most important supporter of life, which is soil […]
• Biodiversity Conservation: Tropical Rainforest The forest is not a threat to many species and that, therefore, helps in showing that conserving this forest will be of great benefit to many species. The disadvantage of conserving the Mangrove Forest is […]
• Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions It is estimated that the number of species that have become extinct is greater than the number of species that are currently found on earth.
• Habitat Destruction and Biodiversity Extinctions The instance of extinction is by and large regarded as the demise of the very last character of the genus. Habitat obliteration has played a major part in wiping out of species, and it is […]
• How Biodiversity Is Threatened by Human Activity Most of the marine biodiversity is found in the tropics, especially coral reefs that support the growth of organisms. Overexploitation in the oceans is caused by overfishing and fishing practices that cause destruction of biodiversity.
• Biology Lab Report: Biodiversity Study of Lichens As a consequence of these results, the variety of foods found in forest flora that include lichens may be linked to varying optimum conditions for establishment and development.
• Natural Sciences: Biodiversity and Human Civilisation The author in conjunction with a team of other researchers used a modelling study to illustrate the fact approximately 2 percent of global energy is currently being deployed in the generation of wind and solar […]
• How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity The disturbance of the ecosystem has some effects on the dynamics of vectors and infectious diseases. Change of climate is a contributing factor in the emergence of new species and infectious diseases.
• Biodiversity: Aspects Within the Sphere of Biology Finally, living objects consist of cells, which are the basic units of their function and structure. The viruses’ structure depends on which nucleic acid is included, which denotes that there are DNA and RNA viruses.
• Coral Reef and Biodiversity in Ecosystems Coral reefs are formed only in the tropical zone of the ocean; the temperature limits their life – are from +18 to +29oS, and at the slightest deviation from the boundaries of the coral die.
• Biodiversity and the Health of Ecosystems Various opinions are revealed concerning biodiversity, including the human impact, reversal of biodiversity loss, the impact of overpopulation, the future of biodiversity, and the rate of extinction.
• Wild Crops and Biodiversity Threats However, out of millions of existing types of wild crop cultures, the vast majority have been abandoned and eradicated, as the agricultural companies placed major emphasis on the breeding of domesticated cultures that are easy […]
• Biodiversity, Interdependency: Threatened and Endhangered Species In the above table, humans rely on bees to facilitate pollination among food crops and use their honey as food. Concurrently, lichens break down rocks to provide nutrient-rich soil in the relationship.
• Invasive Processes’ Impact on Ecosystem’s Biodiversity If the invasive ones prove to be more adaptive, this will bring about the oppression of the native species and radical changes in the ecosystem.
• Conserving Biodiversity: The Loggerhead Turtle The loggerhead sea turtle is the species of oceanic turtle which is spread all over the world and belongs to the Cheloniidae family.
• Biodiversity and Dynamics of Mountainous Area Near the House It should be emphasized that the term ecosystem used in this paper is considered a natural community characterized by a constant cycle of energy and resources, the presence of consumers, producers, and decomposers, as well […]
• National Biodiversity Strategy By this decision, the UN seeks to draw the attention of the world community and the leaders of all countries to the protection and rational use of natural resources.
• Rewilding Our Cities: Beauty, Biodiversity and the Biophilic Cities Movement What is the source of your news item? The Guardian.
• Biodiversity and Food Production This paper will analyze the importance of biodiversity in food production and the implications for human existence. Edible organisms are few as compared to the total number of organisms in the ecosystem.
• Restoring the Everglades Wetlands: Biodiversity The Act lays out the functions and roles of the Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District in restoration of the Everglades.
• Biodiversity: Importance and Benefits This is due to the fact that man is evolving from the tendency of valuing long term benefits to a tendency of valuing short terms benefits.
• A Benchmarking Biodiversity Survey of the Inter-Tidal Zone at Goat Island Bay, Leigh Marine Laboratory Within each quadrant, the common species were counted or, in the case of seaweed and moss, proliferation estimated as a percentage of the quadrant occupied.
• Ecological Consequences Due to Changes in Biodiversity The author is an ecologist whose main area of interest is in the field of biodiversity and composition of the ecosystem.
• Biodiversity: Population Versus Ecosystem Diversity by David Tilman How is the variability of the plant species year to year in the community biomass? What is the rate of the plant productivity in the ecosystem?
• Biodiversity Hotspots and Environmental Ethics The magnitude of the problem of losing biodiversity hotspots is too great, to the extend of extinction of various species from the face of the earth.
• The Importance of Biodiversity in Ecosystem The most urgent problem right now is to maintain the level of biodiversity in this world but it has to begin with a more in-depth understanding of how different species of flora and fauna can […]
• Natural Selection and Biodiversity These are featured by the ways in which the inhabiting organisms adapt to them and it is the existence of these organisms on which the ecosystems depend and therefore it is evident that this diversity […]
• Scientific Taxonomy and Earth’s Biodiversity A duck is a domestic bird that is reared for food in most parts of the world. It is associated with food in the household and is smaller than a bee.
• Global Warming: Causes and Impact on Health, Environment and the Biodiversity Global warming is defined in simple terms as the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s surface including the air and oceans in recent decades and if the causes of global warming are not […]
• Loss of Biodiversity in the Amazon Ecosystem The growth of the human population and the expansion of global economies have contributed to the significant loss of biodiversity despite the initial belief that the increase of resources can halt the adverse consequences of […]
• California’s Coastal Biodiversity Initiative The considered threat to California biodiversity is a relevant topic in the face of climate change. To prevent this outcome, it is necessary to involve the competent authorities and plan a possible mode of operation […]
• Biodiversity: American Museum of Natural History While staying at the museum, I took a chance to visit the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life and the Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians.
• Biodiversity and Animal Population in Micronesia This means that in the future, the people living in Micronesia will have to move to other parts of the world when their homes get submerged in the water.
• Urban Plants’ Role in Insects’ Biodiversity The plants provide food, shelter and promote the defensive mechanisms of the insects. The observation was also an instrumental method that was used to assess the behavior and the existence of insects in relation to […]
• Earth’s Biodiversity: Extinction Rates Exaggerated This is because most animals and plants have been projected to be extinct by the end of this century yet the method that is used to forecast this can exaggerate by more than 160%.
• Biodiversity Markets and Bolsa Floresta Program Environmentalists and scholars of the time led by Lord Monboddo put forward the significance of nature conservation which was followed by implementation of conservation policies in the British Indian forests.
• Brazilian Amazonia: Biodiversity and Deforestation Secondly, the mayor persuaded the people to stop deforestation to save the Amazon. Additionally, deforestation leads to displacement of indigenous people living in the Amazonia.
• Defining and Measuring Biodiversity Biodiversity is measured in terms of attributes that explore the quality of nature; richness and evenness of the living organisms within an ecological niche.
• Biodiversity, Its Importance and Benefits Apart from that, the paper is going to speculate on the most and least diverse species in the local area. The biodiversity can be measured in terms of the number of different species in the […]
• Biodiversity, Its Evolutionary and Genetic Reasons The occurrence of natural selection is hinged on the hypothesis that offspring inherit their characteristics from their parents in the form of genes and that members of any particular population must have some inconsiderable disparity […]
• Climate Change’s Negative Impact on Biodiversity This essay’s primary objective is to trace and evaluate the impact of climate change on biological diversity through the lens of transformations in the marine and forest ecosystems and evaluation of the agricultural sector both […]
• Biodiversity Hotspots: Evaluation and Analysis The region also boasts with the endangered freshwater turtle species, which are under a threat of extinction due to over-harvesting and destroyed habitat.
• Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Impure Public Goods The fact that the issue concerning the global marine biodiversity and the effects that impure public goods may possibly have on these rates can lead to the development of a range of externalities that should […]
• Biodiversity and Business Risk In conclusion, biodiversity risk affects businesses since the loss of biodiversity leads to: coastal flooding, desertification and food insecurity, all of which have impacts on business organizations.
• Measurement of Biodiversity It is the “sum total of all biotic variation from the level of genes to ecosystems” according to Andy Purvus and Andy Hector in their article entitled “Getting the Measure of Diversity” which appeared in […]
• Introduced Species and Biodiversity Rhymer and Simberloff explain that the seriousness of the phenomenon may not be very evident from direct observation of the morphological traits of the species.
• Ecosystems: Biodiversity and Habitat Loss The review of the topic shows that the relationship between urban developmental patterns and the dynamics of ecosystem are concepts that are still not clearly understood in the scholarly world as well as in general.
• When Human Diet Costs Too Much: Biodiversity as the Ultimate Answer to the Global Problems Because of the unreasonable use of the natural resources, environmental pollution and inadequate protection, people have led a number of species to extinction; moreover, due to the increasing rates of consumerist approach towards the food […]
• The Impact of Burmese Pythons on Florida’s Native Biodiversity Scientists from the South Florida Natural Resource Center, the Smithsonian institute and the University of Florida have undertaken studies to assess the predation behavior of the Burmese pythons on birds in the area.
• Essentials of Biodiversity At the same time, the knowledge and a more informed understanding of the whole concept of biodiversity gives us the power to intervene in the event that we are faced by the loss of biodiversity, […]
• Threat to Biodiversity Is Just as Important as Climate Change This paper shall articulate the truth of this statement by demonstrating that threats to biodiversity pose significant threat to the sustainability of human life on earth and are therefore the protection of biodiversity is as […]
• Cold Water Coral Ecosystems and Their Biodiversity: A Review of Their Economic and Social Value
• Benchmarking DNA Metabarcoding for Biodiversity-Based Monitoring and Assessment
• Prospects for Integrating Disturbances, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning Using Microbial Systems
• Enterprising Nature: Economics, Markets, and Finance in Global Biodiversity Politics
• Institutional Economics and the Behaviour of Conservation Organizations: Implications for Biodiversity Conservation
• Fisheries, Fish Pollution and Biodiversity: Choice Experiments With Fishermen, Traders and Consumers
• Last Stand: Protected Areas and the Defense of Tropical Biodiversity
• Hardwiring Green: How Banks Account For Biodiversity Risks and Opportunities
• Governance Criteria for Effective Transboundary Biodiversity Conservation
• Marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas for Penguins in Antarctica: Targets for Conservation Action
• Ecological and Economic Assessment of Forests Biodiversity: Formation of Theoretical and Methodological Instruments
• Environment and Biodiversity Impacts of Organic and Conventional Agriculture
• Food From the Water: How the Fish Production Revolution Affects Aquatic Biodiversity and Food Security
• Biodiversity and World Food Security: Nourishing the Planet and Its People
• Climate Change and Energy Economics: Key Indicators and Approaches to Measuring Biodiversity
• Conflicts Between Biodiversity and Carbon Sequestration Programs: Economic and Legal Implications
• Models for Sample Selection Bias in Contingent Valuation: Application to Forest Biodiversity
• Optimal Land Conversion and Growth With Uncertain Biodiversity Costs
• Internalizing Global Externalities From Biodiversity: Protected Areas and Multilateral Mechanisms of Transfer
• Combining Internal and External Motivations in Multi-Actor Governance Arrangements for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
• Balancing State and Volunteer Investment in Biodiversity Monitoring for the Implementation of CBD Indicators
• Differences and Similarities Between Ecological and Economic Models for Biodiversity Conservation
• Globalization and the Connection of Remote Communities: Household Effects and Their Biodiversity Implications
• Shaded Coffee and Cocoa – Double Dividend for Biodiversity and Small-Scale Farmers
• Spatial Priorities for Marine Biodiversity Conservation in the Coral Triangle
• One World, One Experiment: Addressing the Biodiversity and Economics Conflict
• Alternative Targets and Economic Efficiency of Selecting Protected Areas for Biodiversity Conservation in Boreal Forest
• Analysing Multi Level Water and Biodiversity Governance in Their Context
• Agricultural Biotechnology: Productivity, Biodiversity, and Intellectual Property Rights
• Renewable Energy and Biodiversity: Implications for Transitioning to a Green Economy
• Agricultural Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of Major Farming Systems
• Integrated Land Use Modelling of Agri-Environmental Measures to Maintain Biodiversity at Landscape Level
• Changing Business Perceptions Regarding Biodiversity: From Impact Mitigation Towards New Strategies and Practices
• Forest Biodiversity and Timber Extraction: An Analysis of the Interaction of Market and Non-market Mechanisms
• Poverty and Biodiversity: Measuring the Overlap of Human Poverty and the Biodiversity Hotspots
• Protecting Agro-Biodiversity by Promoting Rural Livelihoods
• Maintaining Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability
• Landscape, Legal, and Biodiversity Threats That Windows Pose to Birds: A Review of an Important Conservation Issue
• Variable Mating Behaviors and the Maintenance of Tropical Biodiversity
• Species Preservation and Biodiversity Value: A Real Options Approach
• What Is Being Done to Preserve Biodiversity and Its Hotspots?
• How Are Argentina and Chile Facing Shared Biodiversity Loss?
• Are Diverse Ecosystems More Valuable?
• How Can Biodiversity Loss Be Prevented?
• Can Payments for Watershed Services Help Save Biodiversity?
• How Can Business Reduce Impacts on the World’s Biodiversity?
• Are National Biodiversity Strategies Appropriate for Building Responsibilities for Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Policy Sectors?
• How Does Agriculture Effect Biodiversity?
• Are There Income Effects on Global Willingness to Pay For Biodiversity Conservation?
• How Does the Economic Risk Aversion Affect Biodiversity?
• What Are the Threats of Biodiversity?
• How Has the Increased Usage of Synthetic Pesticides Impacted Biodiversity?
• What Does Drive Biodiversity Conservation Effort in the Developing World?
• How Does the Plantation Affect Biodiversity?
• What Does Drive Long-Run Biodiversity Change?
• How Does the United Nations Deal With Biodiversity?
• What Factors Affect Biodiversity?
• How Are Timber Harvesting and Biodiversity Managed in Uneven-Aged Forests?
• When Should Biodiversity Tenders Contract on Outcomes?
• Who Cares About Biodiversity?
• Why Can Financial Incentives Destroy Economically Valuable Biodiversity in Ethiopia?
• What Factors Affect an Area’s Biodiversity?
• In What Ways Is Biodiversity Economically Valuable?
• Which Human Activities Threaten Biodiversity?
• How Can Biodiversity Be Protected?
• In What Ways Is Biodiversity Ecologically Value?
• In Which Countries Is Biodiversity Economically Valuable?
• Does Species Diversity Follow Any Patterns?
• How Is Biodiversity Measured?
• What Is a Biodiversity Hotspot?
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Reversing biodiversity loss

The Royal Society has worked with leading experts in the field to answer key questions about biodiversity, along with a video from Sir David Attenborough to explain the importance of it. Watch Sir David Attenborough on why we need nature.

• Why is biodiversity important?

Biodiversity matters. At its simplest, biodiversity is about living nature or life on Earth - different genes, species and ecologies and, as a consequence, the varying landscapes, regions and habitats in which they exist. 

Biodiversity provides food, water and shelter; influences climate; controls disease; and regulates nutrient and water cycles. Biodiversity is integral to spiritual, cultural, psychological and artistic well-being. Biodiversity also has its own intrinsic worth distinct from human life. Humans are embedded in the natural world, and so are a part of biodiversity.

Acting against biodiversity loss

Today, however, the Earth is losing biodiversity at rates not seen in the modern era. Human responses to stop biodiversity decline have been woefully inadequate – with targets missed at both the international and national levels. 

The Royal Society has produced a range of resources to help stimulate debate among policy makers and the public:

• Our short film, Why do we need nature? is voiced by Sir David Attenborough and explores some of the key themes on biodiversity loss
• Our Q&A  looks at some of the most commonly asked questions about biodiversity and draws on the expertise of our Fellows to answer them as accurately and dispassionately as possible
• To strengthen the scientific evidence base on biodiversity and make this available to policymakers, the Royal Society has commissioned a series of essays from global experts in fields as diverse as conservation, ecology, environmental change, economics and population. 

Find answers to 16 key questions about biodiversity

• Introduction
• What is biodiversity?
• How do we measure biodiversity?
• What is the scale of biodiversity loss?
• Do new species offset the loss of existing species?
• Where is the most biodiversity loss happening and why?
• Is the rate of biodiversity loss increasing or decreasing?
• What is the state of biodiversity in the UK?
• How do humans affect biodiversity?
• How does the growing global population and increasing consumption affect biodiversity?
• How does climate change affect biodiversity?
• How does deforestation affect biodiversity?
• What can we do to protect biodiversity?
• What can I do as an individual to protect biodiversity?
• Can we allow nature to regenerate without intervention?
• How do we decide what is worth saving or putting our efforts into protecting? 
• Acknowledgements

Further reading

• Biodiversity and climate change: interlinkages and policy options
• The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review commissioned by the UK Treasury and led by Partha Dasgupta FRS
• Classroom resources for schools
• Statement on biodiversity loss  by the Science Academies of the G7

Scientific essays about biodiversity 

• The economics of biodiversity: The Dasgupta review By Partha Dasgupta Read the essay
• Plural valuation of nature matters for environmental sustainability and justice By Berta Martín-López Read the essay
• Why efforts to address climate change through nature-based solutions must support both biodiversity and people By Nathalie Seddon Read the essay
• Past and future decline and extinction of species By Christopher N. Johnson Read the essay
• Amazonia’s future: Eden or degraded landscapes? By Thomas E Lovejoy Read the essay
• Behaviours for conserving biodiversity By R M Cowling Read the essay
• Consumption patterns and biodiversity By Jianguo Liu Read the essay
• Demographic trends and policy options By John Bongaarts Read the essay
• Emergent and vanishing biodiversity, and evolutionary suicide By Simon A Levin Read the essay
• Preserving global biodiversity requires rapid agricultural improvements By David Tilman and David R. Williams Read the essay
• Biodiversity - evidence for action

Climate change and biodiversity

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Biodiversity

Key concepts.

After completing this chapter, you will be able to

• Outline the concept of biodiversity and explain its constituent elements.
• Explain the reasons why biodiversity is important and should be preserved.
• Define the classification of life in terms of species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, and kingdom.
• Describe the five kingdoms of life.

Biodiversity is the richness of biological variation. It is often considered to have three levels of organization:

• genetic variation within populations and species
• numbers of species (also known as species richness)
• and the variety and dynamics of ecological communities on larger scales, such as landscapes and seascapes

Genetic Variation

In almost all species, individuals differ genetically – that is, in terms of information encoded in their DNA. This variation constitutes genetic biodiversity at the level of populations, and ultimately of the species.

However, there are exceptions to this generalization. Some plants, for example, have little or no genetic variability, usually because the species relies on asexual (vegetative) means of propagation. In such species, genetically uniform clones can develop, which consist of plants that, although discrete, nevertheless constitute the same genetic “individual.” For example, clones of trembling aspen (Populus tremuloides) can develop through vegetative propagation, in some cases covering more than 40 ha and consisting of thousands of trees. Such aspen clones may be the world’s largest “individual” organisms (in terms of total biomass). Similarly, the tiny plant known as duckweed (Lemna minor), which grows on the surface of fertile waterbodies, propagates by developing small vegetative buds on the edge of its single leaf. These break off to produce “new” plants, resulting in a genetically uniform population. These interesting cases are exceptions, however, and most populations and species contain a great deal of genetic variation.

Image 7.1. Species are a familiar element of biodiversity. The jaguar (Panthera onca) is a widespread large predator in South and Central America. This one was photographed in Tambopata National Park, Peru. Source: B. Freedman.

A high level of genetic diversity in a population is generally considered a desirable attribute. With greater genetic diversity, populations are more likely to have resistance to new diseases and to be more adaptable to changes in environmental conditions. In general, small populations with little genetic diversity are thought to be at risk because of inbreeding and low adaptability. Examples of such populations-at-risk include the several hundred beluga whales (Delphinapterus leucas) living in the estuary of the St. Lawrence River and the population of only about 150 panthers (Felis concolor coryi) in Florida.

Richness of Species

Species richness is the number of species in a particular ecological community or in another specified area, such as a park, province, country, or, ultimately, the biosphere. Species richness is the aspect of biodiversity that people can most easily relate to and understand.

It is well known that many tropical countries support a greater species richness than do temperate countries (such as Canada). In fact, tropical rainforest supports more species than any other kind of ecosystem. Unfortunately, species-rich rainforest in tropical countries is being rapidly destroyed, mostly by conversion into agricultural land-uses and other disturbances. These changes are causing the endangerment or extinction of many species and are the overwhelming cause of the modern-day biodiversity crisis (see Chapter 26). The magnitude of this crisis is much smaller in Canada. Nevertheless, many of our native species have become extinct or otherwise at risk because of over-harvesting or habitat loss (Chapter 26).

A total of about 1.9 million species have been identified and given a scientific name. About 35% of these “known” species live in the tropics, 59% in the temperate zones, and 6% in boreal or polar latitudes. However, it is important to recognize that the identification of species is very incomplete. This is especially true of tropical ecosystems, which have not yet been thoroughly explored and characterized. According to some estimates, the global richness of species could range as high as 30–50 million, with 90% of them living in the tropics, particularly in rainforests.

Most of the species that biologists have named are invertebrates, with insects making up the bulk of that total, and beetles (order Coleoptera) comprising most of the insects (Table 7.1). The scientist J.B.S. Haldane (1892–1964) was once asked by a theologian to succinctly tell, based on his deep knowledge of biology, what he could discern of God’s purpose. Haldane reputedly said that God has “an inordinate fondness of beetles.” This reflects the fact that, in any random sampling of all the known species on Earth, there is a strong likelihood that a beetle would be the chosen specimen.

Table 7.1. Numbers of Species in Various Groups of Organisms. The numbers of identified species are based on recent tallies, while the estimated numbers are based on the opinions of biologists about how many species will eventually be discovered in the major groups of organisms.

*This is a conservative number. Some estimates suggest more than 30 million species of insects living in tropical forests alone (see text). Sources: Modified from Groombridge (1992), Heywood (1995), Environment Canada, (1997), Chapman (2009), and United Nations Environment Program (2001), and Bernhardt (n.d.).

Furthermore, it is believed that many tropical insects have not yet been described by biologists – perhaps more than another 30 million species, with many of them being small beetles. This remarkable conclusion initially emerged from research by T.L. Erwin, an entomologist who was studying tropical rainforest in South America. Erwin treated small areas of forest canopy with a fog of insecticide, which resulted in a “rain” of dead arthropods that was collected in sampling trays laid on the ground. In the trays were large numbers of unknown species of insects, most of which had a highly localized distribution, being limited to only a single type of forest or even to a particular species of tree.

Clearly, biologists know remarkably little about the huge numbers of relatively small, unobtrusive species that occur in poorly explored habitats in the tropics and elsewhere, such as the deep ocean. However, even in a relatively well-prospected country like Canada, many species of invertebrates, lichens, microbes, and other small organisms have not yet been discovered. Of course, larger plants and animals are relatively well known, partly because, for most people (including scientists), these have greater “charisma” than small beetles, microbes, and the like. Still, even in Canada and other relatively well-studies countries, new species of vascular plants and vertebrate animals are being discovered.

Compared with invertebrates and microbes, the species richness of other groups of tropical-forest organisms is better known. For example, a survey of rainforest in Sumatra, Indonesia, found 80 species of tree-sized plants (with a diameter greater than 20 cm) in an area of only 0.5 hectare. A study in Sarawak, Malaysia, found 742 woody species in a 3-ha plot of rainforest, with half of the species being represented by only a single individual. A similar study in Amazonian Peru found 283 tree species in a 1 ha plot, with 63% represented by only one individual and 15% by only two. In marked contrast, temperate forest in North America typically has fewer than 9-12 tree species in plots of this size. The richest temperate forest in the world, in the Great Smokies of the eastern United States, contains 30–35 tree species, far fewer than occur in tropical forest. More northern boreal forest, which covers much of Canada, has only 1-4 species of trees present.

A few studies have been made of the richness of bird species in tropical rainforest. A study of Amazonian forest in Peru found 245 resident bird species, plus another 74 migrants, in a 97-ha plot. Another study found 239 species of birds in a rainforest in French Guiana. In contrast, temperate forest in North America typically supports 30-40 species of birds. Not many comprehensive studies have been made of other kinds of biota in tropical ecosystems. In one study, a 108 km 2  area of dry tropical forest in Costa Rica was found to contain about 700 species of plants, 400 vertebrate species, and 13,000 species of insects, including 3,140 kinds of moths and butterflies.

Image 7.2. Community-level biodiversity. This intertidal community in Pacific Rim National Park on the west coast of Vancouver Island sustains various algae, barnacles, mussels, starfish, and other species that vary in their tolerance of environmental stress associated with tidal cycles. Source: B. Freedman.

Richness of Communities

Biodiversity at the level of landscape (or seascape; collectively these are referred to as ecoscapes) is associated with the number of different communities that occur within a specified region, as well as their relative abundance, size, shape, connections, and spatial distribution. An area that is uniformly covered with a single kind of community would be judged as having little biodiversity at the level, compared with an ecoscape having a rich and dynamic mosaic of different communities.

Because natural ecoscapes contain many species and communities that have evolved together, it is as important to conserve this level of biodiversity as it is to protect genetic and species diversity. Natural communities, landscapes, and seascapes are being lost in all parts of the world, with the worst damages involving the destruction of tropical forest and coral reefs. However, dramatic losses of this level of biodiversity are also occurring in Canada:

• Only about 0.2% of the original area of tall-grass prairie remains, the rest having been converted to agricultural use.
• Almost all of the Carolinian forest of southern Ontario has been destroyed, mostly by conversion to agricultural and urbanized landscapes.
• The survival of old-growth forest in coastal British Columbia is at risk, with the dry coastal Douglas-fir type being especially depleted. The loss of old-growth forest is mostly due to timber harvesting, which converts the ecosystem into a younger, second-growth forest (see Chapter 23).
• Throughout southern Canada, wetlands of all kinds have been destroyed or degraded by pollution, in-filling, and other disturbances.
• Natural fish populations have been widely decimated, including mixed-species communities in the Great Lakes, populations of salmonids (salmon and trout) in western Canada, and cod and redfish off the Atlantic Provinces.
• The habitats of various bottom types have been obliterated by the extensive practice of bottom-dragging in fisheries on the continental shelves, with great consequences for dependent types of ecological communities.

In all of these Canadian examples, only remnant patches of endangered natural communities and ecoscapes remain. These are at great risk because they are no longer components of robust, extensive, naturally organizing ecosystems.

The Value of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is important for many reasons. The value of biodiversity provides credence for its conservation. The reasons why biodiversity is important can be categorized into several groups.

Utilitarian Value

Humans are not isolated from the rest of the biosphere, in part because our survival depends upon having access to products of certain elements of biodiversity. Because of this requirement, humans must exploit species and ecosystems as sources of food, biomaterials, and energy—in other words, for their utilitarian value (also known as instrumental value).

For instance, all foods that we eat are ultimately derived from biodiversity. Moreover, about one-quarter of the prescription drugs dispensed in North America contain active ingredients extracted from plants. In addition, there is a wealth of additional, as yet undiscovered products of biodiversity that are potentially useful to people. Research on wild species of plants, animals, and microorganisms has discovered many new bio-products that are useful as food, medicines, materials, or other purposes. Like many of the species already known to be useful, some of the newly discovered ones have a potentially large economic value.

To illustrate the importance of medicinal plants, consider the case of the rosy periwinkle (Catharantus roseus), a small herbaceous plant that is native to Madagascar, a large island off northeastern Africa. One method used in the search for anti-cancer drugs involves screening large numbers of wild plants for the presence of chemicals that have an ability to slow the growth of tumours. During one study of that kind, an extract of rosy periwinkle was found to counteract the reproduction of cancer cells. Further research identified the active chemicals to be several alkaloids, which are probably synthesized by the rosy periwinkle to deter herbivores. These natural biochemicals are now used to prepare the drugs vincristine and vinblastine, which have proved to be extremely useful in chemotherapy to treat childhood leukemia, a cancer of the lymph system known as Hodgkin’s disease, and several other malignancies.

The exploitation of wild biodiversity can be conducted in ways that allow the renewal of harvestable stocks. Unfortunately, many potentially renewable biodiversity resources are overharvested, which means they are managed as if they were non-renewable resources (they are being “mined”; see Chapters 12 and 14). This results in biological resources becoming degraded in quantity and quality.

Sometimes, over-exploited species become locally extirpated or are even rendered globally extinct, and when this happens their unique values are no longer available for use by humans. The great auk and passenger pigeon are examples of Canadian species that were made extinct by over-harvesting. Local and regional extirpations have been more numerous and include the cougar, grizzly bear, timber wolf, and wild ginseng over most of their former ranges (see Chapters 14 and 26).

Image 7.3. Many elements of biodiversity provide products useful to people as food, materials, and medicines. In the 1990s, a chemical called taxol extracted from species of yews was found to be helpful in treating certain malignancies, particularly ovarian cancer. Commercial harvests were made of two yews native to Canada to supply biomass from which taxol can be extracted. These are the Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) of British Columbia and the Canada yew (Taxus canadensis) of eastern Canada. The wild harvest is less now, because the taxol can be synthesized in laboratories. This image is of Canada yew growing in Prince Edward Island. Source: B. Freedman.

Canadian Focus 7.1. Medicinal Plants Plants and products derived from them have always been vital to human survival, being used as sources of food, medicine, material, and energy. For instance, most foods eaten by people are the biomass of plants; the rest is animal or microbial products, but even these are produced indirectly from plants. Moreover, useful products are derived from a great richness of plant species—about 1,800 medicinal plants are commercially available in North America, and perhaps 20,000 worldwide. All of these bio-products are potentially renewable resources that can be harvested and managed on a sustainable basis (see Chapter 12). Studies by anthropologists have repeatedly shown that Aboriginal peoples are intimately aware of useful medicinal plants that grow within their local ecosystems. This “traditional ecological knowledge” is helpful in identifying useful plants for further investigation by scientists. Nevertheless, only a small fraction of the enormous richness of biodiversity has been investigated by scientists for its potential to supply us with useful products. Because of the likelihood of discovering new bio-products, it is imperative that we continue to engage in “bio-prospecting” research. Work of this sort is ongoing in many countries, including Canada. Canada supports about 3,200 species of native plants, of which as many as 1,000 have been used for medicinal purposes, mostly by Aboriginal peoples. Of this relatively large number, several tens of species have become widely enough used that they are of significant commercial value. Some of them are being cultivated to supply the emerging herbal medicine markets, while others are still harvested from the wild. A few examples of Canadian species that are of interest as medicinal plants include the following: Yarrow (Achillea millefolium) is a widespread perennial herb of disturbed habitats and meadows that can be taken (often in capsule form) to treat the common cold, diarrhea, fever, and some other maladies, or used as a poultice to stanch the flow of blood from wounds. It is easily cultivated or may be gathered from the wild. Purple coneflower (Echinacea pallida var. angustifolia) is a perennial herb of prairie habitats that is widely drunk as a root extract. The root may also be chewed or taken in other forms to prevent or treat the common cold, sore throat, bacterial infections, and other ills. It is easily cultivated and is one of the most widely used herbal medicines in North America. Evening primrose (Oenothera biennis) is a widespread biennial herb of disturbed habitats and meadows that may be taken as a whole-plant infusion to treat asthma and gastrointestinal disorders, or as a pressed-oil product as a nutritional supplement. It is easily cultivated or can be gathered from the wild. Ginseng (Panax quinquefolius) is a perennial understorey plant of eastern hardwood forest that may be taken as a root infusion as a general tonic or to treat headache, cramps, fever, rheumatism, and other maladies. It is cultivated on a five- to seven-year rotation, and may be the most widely used herbal medicine in the world. It should not be gathered from the wild because past over-harvesting has rendered it endangered. Pacific yew (Taxus brevifolia) is a tree-sized plant of the humid of the west coast, and Canada yew (T. canadensis) a shrub of eastern forest. An extract of bark or leaves containing the chemical taxol has proven useful in the treatment of certain malignancies, particularly ovarian and breast cancers. Biomass for processing is gathered from wild plants, but local over-harvesting has been an issue in some areas. Plantations of Pacific yew and other yews are being established to relieve the pressure on slow-growing populations of wild plants. Cranberry (Vaccinium macrocarpon) is a widespread trailing shrub of bog wetlands that may be taken as a pressed juice as a source of vitamin C, to treat urinary tract infections and kidney ailments, and for other purposes for which its diuretic properties are useful. The species is extensively cultivated and is also gathered from wild habitats. Reference and Additional Information Small, E. and P.M. Catling. 1999. Canadian Medicinal Plants. Ottawa, ON: NRC Research Press. Deur, D. and N. Turner (editors). 2005. Keeping It Living: Traditions of Plant Use and Cultivation on the Northwest Coast of North America. Seattle, WA: University of Washington Press.

Provision of Ecological Services

Biodiversity provides many ecological services that are critical to the stability and integrity of ecosystems as well as the welfare of humans. They include nutrient cycling, biological productivity, control of erosion, provision of oxygen, and removal of carbon dioxide and its storage as organic carbon. All of these services are critical to the welfare of people and other species, but they are not usually assigned economic value. In part, this is because we do not yet have sufficient understanding and appreciation of the “importance” of ecological services and of the particular species and communities that provide them. According to Peter Raven, a famous botanist and advocate of biodiversity, “In the aggregate, biodiversity keeps the planet habitable and ecosystems functional.”

Intrinsic Value

Biodiversity has its own intrinsic value (or inherent value), regardless of any direct or indirect worth in terms of the needs or welfare of humans. This value is fundamental to all elements of biodiversity, and is irreplaceable. This intrinsic value raises certain ethical questions about actions that threaten biodiversity. Do humans have the “right” to impoverish or exterminate unique and irretrievable elements of biodiversity, even if our species is technologically able to do so? Is the human existence somehow impoverished by extinctions caused by our actions? These are philosophical issues, and they cannot be resolved by science alone. However, enlightened people or societies would not facilitate the endangerment or extinction of species or natural communities.

Biodiversity Is Worthwhile

Many people firmly believe that wild biodiversity and natural ecosystems are worthwhile and important. They cite the utilitarian and intrinsic values of biodiversity, but may also mention less tangible opinions, such as the charisma of many species (such as wolves, pandas, and baby harp seals) and the spirituality of natural places (such as towering old-growth forest and other kinds of wilderness). Because this belief is becoming increasingly widespread and popularized, it is having a major influence on politicians, who are including biodiversity issues in their agendas for action—threats to biodiversity have become politically important.

Undoubtedly, there is an undiscovered wealth of products of biodiversity that are potentially useful to humans. Many of these bio-products will be found in tropical species that have not yet been “discovered” by biologists. Clearly, the most important argument in favour of preserving biodiversity is the need to maintain natural ecosystems so they can continue to provide their vast inventory of useful products and their valuable ecological services. In addition, biodiversity must also be preserved for its intrinsic value.

Image 7.4. Landscapes and seascapes are spatial mosaics of various communities occurring at a large scale. This landscape in Nova Scotia is characterized by a mosaic of conifer-dominated (dark green) and hardwood (bright colours) stands of forest, plus lakes, streams, and wetlands. Source: B. Freedman.

Classification of Organisms

Biologists classify species into higher-order groupings on the basis of their relatedness and similarities. Similarity is judged using information about anatomy, development, biochemistry, behaviour, and habitat selection. These classifications are made by systematists (biologists who study the evolutionary relationships among groups of organisms) and taxonomists (who focus on naming groups of organisms).

The systematics of life is organized hierarchically, with levels ranging through subspecies, species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, and kingdom. This system is illustrated in Table 7.2.

Table 7.2. Biological Classification. The hierarchical, systematic classification of organisms is illustrated by three representative species.

A species is described using two Latinized words, known as a binomial. If a subspecies is also recognized, the name has three Latin words (such as Pseudotsuga menziesii glauca, the interior form of the Douglas-fir).

Many species also have a scientifically recognized “common name,” and they may also have informal common names. For example, the scientifically recognized common name of the widespread tree Populus tremuloides is trembling aspen, but this species is also known as aspen, golden aspen, mountain aspen, poplar, quaking asp, quaking aspen, trembling poplar, and that old-time favourite, “popple.” Some of the common names have only a local use and are unknown in other parts of the range of the species. Common names may also overlap among species—for instance, both the balsam poplar (Populus balsamifera) and large-toothed aspen (P. grandidentata) are often called “poplar.”

To avoid the ambiguities associated with common names, species are assigned a globally recognized binomial and sometimes a “proper” common name. Because of this system, biologists working in Canada, the United States, Germany, Turkey, Russia, China, and other countries where the animal Ursus arctos occurs all know it by its binomial. In English, this animal is known as the grizzly or brown bear, and in other languages by other common names. But no one is confused by its scientific binomial name.

The Organization of Life

Most biologists divide all of Earth’s species into five major groups, known as kingdoms. Although somewhat controversial and subject to ongoing refinement, this systematic organization is believed to reflect the evolutionary relationships among groups of organisms. The kingdoms and their major characteristics are briefly described below.

Monerans are the simplest of single-celled microorganisms and include bacteria and blue-green bacteria, the latter being photosynthetic. They are prokaryotes, because their genetic material is not contained within a membrane-bounded organelle called a nucleus. Organisms in the other kingdoms have nuclei within their cells and are called eukaryotes. Prokaryotes also do not have other kinds of organelles, such as chloroplasts, flagella, or mitochondria. They were the first organisms to evolve, about 3.5 million years ago. It was not until 1.5 billion years ago that the first eukaryotes appeared.

At least 7,643 species of bacteria have been named (Table 7.1), but there are many additional species that have not yet been described by microbiologists. The diversity of bacteria includes species capable of exploiting a phenomenal range of ecological and metabolic opportunities. Many are decomposers, found in “rotting” biomass. Some species are photosynthetic, others are chemosynthetic, and still others can utilize virtually any organic substrate for their nutrition, either in the presence or absence of oxygen. Some bacteria can tolerate extreme environments, living in hot springs as torrid as 78°C, while others are active as deep as 400 m in glacial ice.

Many bacterial species live in mutually beneficial symbioses (mutualisms) with more-complex organisms. For example, some live as a community in the rumens of cows and sheep, and others live in the human gut, in both cases aiding in the digestion of food. Other bacteria, known as Rhizobium, live in the roots of leguminous plants (such as peas and clovers), where they fix atmospheric nitrogen gas into a form (ammonia) that plants can use as a nutrient (see Chapter 5).

Many bacteria are parasites of other species, causing various diseases. For example, Bacillus thuringiensis is a pathogen of moths, butterflies, and blackflies and has been used as a biological insecticide against certain pests in agriculture and forestry. Species of bacteria also cause important diseases of humans, including cholera, diphtheria, gonorrhea, Legionnaire’s disease, leprosy, pneumonia, scarlet fever, syphilis, tetanus, tooth decay, tuberculosis, whooping cough, most types of food poisoning, and the “flesh-eating disease” caused by a virulent strain of Streptococcus.

Protists include a wide range of simple, eukaryotic organisms, comprising both unicellular and multicellular species. Protists include foraminifera, protozoans, slime moulds, and single-celled and multicellular algae. The latter group includes the large seaweeds known as kelps, some of which are over 10 m long. The kingdom Protista consists of 14 phyla and about 60,000 named species, which vary enormously in their genetics, morphology, and function. Many biologists believe that the Protista is a catch-all group of not-so-closely related groups. It is likely that the protists will eventually be divided into several kingdoms because of accumulating evidence of key differences among groups and recognition that the other, more-complex eukaryotic kingdoms (fungi, plants, and animals) evolved from different protistan ancestors.

Several phyla of protists, broadly known as algae, are photosynthetic. These groups include the diatoms (Bacillariophyta), green algae (Chlorophyta), dinoflagellates (Dinoflagellata), euglenoids (Euglenophyta), red algae (Rhodophyta), and brown algae such as kelps (Phaeophyta). Algae are important primary producers in marine and freshwater ecosystems. Some seaweeds are harvested to extract chemicals known as alginates, which are important additives to many foods and cosmetics. Uncommon marine phenomena known as “red tides” are blooms of certain dinoflagellates that produce extremely toxic metabolites.

Other phyla of protists are heterotrophic in their nutrition. These groups include the ciliates (Ciliophora), forams (Foraminifera), slime moulds (Myxomycota), amoebae (Rhizopoda), and unicellular flagellates (Zoomastigina). Forams are unicellular microorganisms that form an architecturally complex shell of calcium carbonate, the remains of which may accumulate over geological time to form a mineral known as chalk- the white cliffs of Dover in southern England are made of foram remains. Trypanosomes are unicellular flagellates that are responsible for sleeping sickness, a disease of humans and other vertebrate animals. Certain species of amoebae are parasites of animals, including amoebic dysentery in humans. The ciliate Giardia causes a water-borne disease known as hiker’s diarrhea (or beaver fever), the risk of which is a reason why even the cleanest-looking natural water should be boiled or otherwise disinfected before drinking.

This kingdom consists of yeasts, which are single-celled microorganisms, and fungi, which are multicellular and filamentous. Fungi evolved at least 400 million years ago, but they may be much older than that because their remains do not fossilize well. Fungal cells excrete enzymes into their surroundings, which then externally digest complex organic materials. The fungus then ingests the resulting simple organic compounds. All fungi are heterotrophic—most are decomposers of dead organic matter, while others are parasitic on plants or animals. There are three major divisions (phyla) of fungi, distinguished mainly by their means of sexual reproduction. Asexual reproduction is also common.

The zygomycetes (division Zygomycota) achieve sexual reproduction by the direct fusion of hyphae (the thread-like tissues of fungi), which form resting spores known as zygospores. There are about 600 named species, the most familiar of which are the bread moulds, such as Rhizopus, with their fluffy mycelium (a loosely organized mass of hyphae).

The ascomycetes (division Ascomycota) include about 30,000 named species, some of which are commonly known as a cup fungus or morel. During sexual reproduction, ascomycetes form numerous microscopic, cup-shaped bodies known as asci, which are located in specialized fleshy structures called ascocarps. Familiar species include yeasts, morels, and truffles, as well as the pathogens that cause chestnut blight and Dutch elm disease (see below).

The basidiomycetes (division Basiodiomycota) include about 16,000 named species. Sexual reproduction involves a relatively complex spore-producing structure known as a basidium, which depending on its shape may be called a mushroom, puffball, toadstool, or shelf fungus. In Canada, the largest of these structures is developed by the giant puffball (Calvatia spp.), which has a ball-like basidium with a diameter up to 50 cm.

Lichens are mutualisms between a fungus and either an alga or a blue-green bacterium. Most of the lichen biomass is fungal tissue, which provides habitat and inorganic nutrients for the photosynthetic partner, which in turn provides organic nutrition to the fungus. Another type of mutualism, known as a mycorrhiza, involves a relationship between plant roots and certain fungi. This relationship is beneficial to the plant because it allows more efficient absorption of inorganic nutrients from the soil, especially phosphate. About 80% of plant species develop mycorrhizae.

Fungi are ecologically important because they are excellent decomposers, allowing nutrients to be recycled and reducing the accumulation of dead biomass.

Various kinds of fungi are economically important because they spoil stored grain and other foods, are parasites of agricultural or forestry plants, or cause diseases in humans and other animals. Ringworm is a disease of the skin, usually the scalp, which is caused by various fungi. The chestnut blight fungus (Endothia parasitica) was accidentally introduced to North America and wiped out the native chestnut (Castanea dentata), which used to be a prominent and valuable tree in eastern forests. The Dutch elm disease fungus (Ceratocystis ulmi) is another introduced pathogen that is killing elm trees (especially white elm, Ulmus americana).

Economically useful fungi include a few species of yeast that can ferment sugars under anaerobic (O 2 -deficient) conditions, yielding gaseous CO 2  and ethanol. The CO 2  raises bread dough prior to baking, while brewers take advantage of the alcohol production to make beer and wine. Other fungi are used to manufacture cheese, soy sauce, tofu, food additives such as citric acid, and antibiotics such as penicillin.

Some mushroom-forming fungi are cultivated as a food, while other edible species are collected from natural habitats. The most commonly cultivated species is the meadow mushroom (Agaricus campestris), while the most prized wild mushroom is the extremely flavourful truffle (Tuber melanosporum). Some wild mushrooms contain chemicals that induce hallucinations, feelings of well-being, or other pleasurable mental states, and are sought by people for religious or recreational use. These include the fly agaric (Amanita muscaria), a species widespread in Canada and elsewhere, and psilocybin (Psilocybe spp.) of more southern regions of North America and Central America. Some wild mushrooms are deadly poisonous even when eaten in tiny quantities. The most toxic species in Canada are the destroying angel (Amanita virosa) and deathcap (A. phalloides).

Plants are photosynthetic organisms that manufacture their food by using the energy of sunlight to synthesize organic molecules from inorganic ones. Plants evolved from multicellular green algae about 430 million years ago, and the first tree-sized ones appeared 300 million years ago. Plants are different from algae in that they are always multicellular, have cell walls rich in cellulose, synthesize a variety of photosynthetic pigments (including chlorophylls and carotenoids), and use starch as their principal means of storing energy. Plants are extremely important as photosynthetic fixers of CO 2  into organic carbon, and they are dominant in terrestrial ecosystems, where algae and blue-green bacteria are sparse. Plants can be separated into 12 divisions, which are aggregated into two functional groups.

Bryophytes  are relatively simple plants that lack vascular tissue and do not have a waxy cuticle covering their foliage, a characteristic that restricts these plants to moist habitats. The bryophytes consist of the following:

• liverworts (division Hepaticophyta), of which there are about 6,500 species
• mosses (Bryophyta), including about 10,000 species, which are prominent in some wetlands, especially in bogs, where the dead biomass of peat mosses (species of Sphagnum) accumulates as a partially decayed material known as peat, which is mined as a soil conditioner and a source of energy
• hornworts (Anthocerophyta), with 100 species

Vascular plants  are relatively complex and have specialized, tube-like, vascular tissues in their stems for conducting water and nutrients. There are nine divisions of vascular plants:

• whisk ferns (division Psilophyta), containing several species
• club mosses and quillworts (Lycophyta), about 1,000 species
• horsetails or scouring rushes (Sphenophyta), 15 species
• ferns (Pterophyta), 12,000 species
• cycads or sago palms (Cycadophyta), 100 species
• gnetums (Gnetophyta), 70 species
• ginkgo (Ginkgophyta), with one relict species (Ginkgo biloba)
• conifers (Coniferophyta), including about 550 species of firs, hemlocks, pines, redwoods, spruces, yews, and others
• flowering plants (Anthophyta), containing a diverse assemblage of about 235,000 species

The flowering plants are also known as angiosperms, because their ovules are enclosed within a specialized membrane, and their seeds within a seedcoat. The conifers, ginkgo, and gnetums lack these structures and are referred to as gymnosperms. Together, the angiosperms and gymnosperms are known as seed plants. Their seeds develop from a fusion between specialized haploid cells known as pollen and ovules, in a process called pollination.

The seed plants are extremely diverse in their form and function. The tallest species are redwood trees (Sequoia sempervirens), which can exceed 100 m in height. The smallest is an aquatic plant known as watermeal (Wolffia spp.), only the size of a pinhead. Many seed plants live for less than one year (these are “annual” plants), while the age of others can exceed 4,500 years—for example, the oldest bristlecone pines (Pinus aristata).

Many flowering plants grow as shrubs or trees. Rigid, woody tissues in their stems provide mechanical strength that allows these plants to grow tall against the forces of gravity and wind. Other angiosperms lack rigid stem tissues and grow as herbaceous plants that die back to the ground at the end of the growing season.

Species of angiosperms are important crops in agriculture, while both conifer and angiosperm trees are prominent in forestry. Plants are also economically important as sources of biochemicals in industry and medicine, and because they provide the food and habitat required by so many other organisms, including many animals that are used by people as food.

Animals are multicellular organisms, and most are mobile during at least some stage of their life history, having the ability to move about to search for food, to disperse, or to reproduce. Animals are heterotrophs: they must ingest their food, ultimately consuming the photosynthetic products of plants or algae.

Most animals (except the sponges) have their cells organized into specialized tissues that are further organized into organs. Almost all animals reproduce sexually, a process that involves the joining of haploid gametes from a male and female to produce a fertilized egg. Animals comprise the bulk of identified species of organisms, with insects being the most diverse group. Apart from these broad generalizations, animals are extremely diverse in their form and function. They range in size from the largest blue whales (Balaenoptera musculus), which can reach 32 m in length and 136 tonnes of weight, to the smallest beetles and soil mites, which are less than 1 mm long and weigh a few milligrams.

The animal kingdom includes about 35 phyla. The majority occur in marine habitats, with a smaller number in freshwater and on land. All animals in all the phyla except one are considered to be invertebrates (with no backbone), while the phylum Chordata includes the vertebrates – animals with a backbone. The most prominent phyla are described below.

Sponges  (phylum Porifera) include a marine group of about 5,000 species plus 150 freshwater ones. Sponges are simple animals, sessile (non-mobile) as adults, with no differentiation of tissues into organs. They filter-feed on organic matter suspended in their watery habitat. The slow flow of water through sponges is driven by surface cells that use flagella, tiny whip-like structures, to move water over their surface.

Cnidarians  (phylum Cnidaria) include about 9,000 species, almost all of which are marine. Familiar groups include corals, hydroids, jellyfish, and sea anemones. Cnidarians have a simple, gelatinous body structure. They display radial symmetry, meaning a cross-section in any direction through their central axis yields two parts that are mirror images. Jellyfish are weakly swimming or floating animals, with a body form known as a medusa. Most other cnidarians are sessile as adults, being attached to a bottom substrate. Cnidarians are carnivores that use tentacles ringing their mouth opening to capture prey, often after subduing the victim by stinging it with specialized cells. Corals develop a protective casement of calcium carbonate and are important reef-building organisms.

Flatworms and tapeworms  (phylum Platyhelminthes) include about 12,000 species of soft-bodied, ribbon-shaped animals. Many flatworms are free-living scavengers or predators of small animals, while tapeworms and flukes are internal parasites of larger animals, including humans.

Nematodes  (phylum Nematoda) include 12,000 species of small, worm-like creatures. These animals are round in cross-section and are abundant in almost all habitats that contain other forms of life, ranging from aquatic habitats to desert. Many species are parasites, living in or on their hosts. Virtually all plants and animals are parasitized by one or more species of nematodes, which are often specialized to a particular host. Species of hookworms, pinworms, and roundworms are important parasites of humans. The Trichinella roundworm causes a painful disease known as trichinosis, while Filaria causes filariasis, a tropical disease.

True worms  (phylum Annelida) include about 12,000 species of tubular, segmented, soft-bodied animals. Most worms are marine, but others occur in freshwater and moist terrestrial habitats. Worms are divided into three major groups: bristleworms or polychaetes, typical worms or oligochaetes (including earthworms), and leeches or hirudineans. Most feed on dead organic matter, but leeches are blood-sucking parasites of larger animals. Earthworms provide an important service by helping to recycle dead biomass in many terrestrial habitats.

Molluscs  (phylum Mollusca) comprise about 85,000 species of clams, cuttlefish, octopuses, oysters, scallops, slugs, snails, and squids. Many have a hard shell of calcium carbonate that protects the soft body parts. Other molluscs, such as squid and octopus, lack this hard shell. Molluscs are most abundant in marine and freshwater habitats, with relatively few terrestrial species. Most are herbivores or scavengers, but some are predators. Various species are used by humans as food, and several produce pearls, used for making jewellery. Some slugs and snails are pests in agriculture, while others are alternative hosts for certain parasites, such as the tropical fluke that causes schistosomiasis in humans.

Arthropods  (phylum Arthropoda) comprise the largest group of organisms. There are more than a million named species and likely millions of others that have not yet been described. Arthropods have an exterior skeleton (exoskeleton) made of a polysaccharide known as chitin, with their body parts segmented to allow movement. They have at least three pairs of legs. The most abundant groups are the spiders and mites (class Arachnida), crustaceans (Crustacea), centipedes (Chilopoda), millipedes (Diplopoda), and insects (Insecta). Insects alone make up more than half of all named species. Arthropods are of great economic importance, with some species being used by people as food (such as lobster), and others used to produce food (such as the honey of certain bees). Termites damage buildings by eating wood, while various insects are pests in agriculture. Species of mosquitoes, blackflies, fleas, and ticks spread diseases of humans and other animals, including malaria, yellow fever, encephalitis, and plague.

Echinoderms  (phylum Echinodermata) include about 6,000 species of marine animals, such as brittle stars, sand dollars, sea stars, sea cucumbers, and sea urchins. Echinoderms have radial symmetry as adults. Most have an exoskeleton of calcium carbonate, some are covered with spiny projections, and some move about using large numbers of small, tube-feet. Sea urchins and sea cucumbers are harvested as a minor source of food, popular in some Asian countries.

Chordates  (phylum Chordata) are the most familiar group of animals. Distinctive characters (in at least the embryonic phase) include a hollow nerve cord that runs along the dorsal (top) surface and a flexible, rod-like dorsal structure (the notochord), which is replaced by the vertebral column in adults. There are about 63,000 species of chordates, divided among three subphyla. The tunicates (Urochordata) are composed of about 1,000 species of marine animals, including sea grapes and sea peaches. Tunicates have a small notochord and adults are sessile filter-feeders. The lancets (Cephalochordata) consist of 23 species of filter-feeding marine animals, which have a long, laterally compressed body. The vertebrates (Vertebrata) comprise almost all species in the group, most of which have a vertebral column as adults. The major classes of living vertebrates are the following.

The jawless fishes  (class Agnatha) include 63 species of lampreys and hagfishes, which first evolved 470 million years ago. These marine or freshwater animals have a notochord and a skeleton of cartilage.

The cartilaginous jawed fishes  (class Chondrichthyes) consist of 850 species of dogfish, rays, sharks, and skates, all of which occur in marine habitats. Cartilaginous fishes evolved more than 410 million years ago.

The bony fishes  (class Osteichthyes) include about 30,500 species of typical fish, such as cod, salmon, tuna, and guppies. The first bony fishes evolved about 390 million years ago.

The amphibians  (class Amphibia) consist of 6,515 species of frogs, salamanders, toads, and legless caecilians. The first amphibians evolved about 330 million years ago. Early stages in the life history (egg and larva) are aquatic, but adult stages of many species can live in terrestrial habitats.

The reptiles  (class Reptilia) include 8,734 species of crocodilians, lizards, snakes, and turtles. Reptiles first evolved about 300 million years ago. Extinct groups include the dinosaurs, plesiosaurs, and pterosaurs, the last of which became extinct about 65-million years ago. Reptiles were the first fully terrestrial animals, capable of completing all stages of their life history on land (although some species, such as turtles, are highly aquatic as adults). Reptiles have a dry skin and lay eggs on land. Their young are miniature versions of the adults.

The birds  (class Aves) consist of 9.990 species, which first evolved about 225 million years ago from small, dinosaurian ancestors. Birds are homeothermic (warm-blooded), are covered in feathers, lay hard-shelled eggs, and have a horny covering of the jaws known as a beak. Most species can fly, the exceptions being the largest birds, penguins, and many species that evolved on islands lacking predators.

The mammals  (class Mammalia) consist of 5,487 species, which first evolved about 220 million years ago (the earliest fossil mammals are difficult to distinguish from reptiles). Mammals became prominent after the extinction of the last dinosaurs, about 65 million years ago. Mammals are homeotherms, have at least some hair on their body, feed their young with milk, and have a double circulation of the blood (i.e., a four-chambered heart and fully separate circulatory systems for oxygen-poor and oxygen-rich blood). There are three major groups of mammals:  Monotremes  are a few species of egg-laying mammals that live in Australia and New Guinea—the platypus and several species of echidnas.  Marsupials  bear live young that at birth are at an extremely early stage of development. After birth, the tiny young migrate to a special pouch (the marsupium) on the mother’s belly where they develop further while feeding on milk. Examples of marsupials include kangaroos, koala, and wallabies, which live only in Australia, New Guinea, and nearby islands, and the opossum of the Americas.  Placental mammals include many familiar species of the Americas, Africa, and Eurasia. Placental mammals give birth to live young that are suckled by the mother. Humans are a species of placental mammal.

Image 7.5. Humans and dogs are species of mammals. Humans (Homo sapiens), along with other great apes, are in the family Hominidae. Dogs (Canis lupus familiaris) are a domesticated subspecies of the wolf and are in the family Canidae. Source: B. Freedman.

Conclusions

Biodiversity is the richness of biological variation—it exists at the levels of genetics, species richness, and community diversity on landscapes and seascapes. Biodiversity is important to the survival of humans and their economy, and also to all other species. Biodiversity also has inherent value. Human activities have resulted in the extinction of many elements of biodiversity, and the survival of many others is being placed at grave risk (Chapter 26). Damage to biodiversity is a principal aspect of the environmental crisis.

Questions for Review

• What are the major components of biodiversity? Provide an example of each.
• Pick any species in which you are interested. Illustrate the hierarchical classification of life by giving the scientific names of its species, genus, family, order, class, phylum, and kingdom.
• What are the five kingdoms of life? Identify several groups within each of the kingdoms.

Questions for Discussion

• Why is biodiversity important? Outline several reasons.
• Discuss the notion that all species are similarly “advanced” in the evolutionary sense but may vary greatly in their complexity.
• All elements of biodiversity are considered to have intrinsic value. What does this mean? Can it be fully justified in a strictly scientific context?
• Choose an economically important “pest,” such as the house mouse (Mus musculus), a disease-carrying mosquito (such as an Anopheles species), or the groups A and B Streptococcus bacteria that cause deadly infections. Now suppose that a new method has been discovered to eradicate that pest, which would cause its global extinction. Based on ideas about intrinsic value and other considerations, could you mount a logical defence of the pest to argue against its extinction?

Exploring Issues

• You are a biodiversity specialist, and a group of politicians has asked why it should spend public money to protect an endangered species occurring within their jurisdiction. You know that these people are sceptical, and that if you do not convince them to preserve the species and its habitat, it may become extinct. What information and arguments would you include in your presentation to the politicians?
• Make a comprehensive list of products of biodiversity that you use in a typical day. The list can include raw and processed foods, medicines, materials, and sources of energy.

References Cited and Further Reading

Begon, M., R.W. Howorth, and C.R. Townsend. 2014. Essentials of Ecology. 4th ed. Wiley, Cambridge, UK.

Bernhardt, T. n.d. The Canadian Biodiversity Website. Heritage Canada and the Redpath Museum, McGill University, Montreal, PQ.  http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/

Bolandrin, M.F., J.A. Klocke, E.S. Wurtele, and W.H. Bollinger. 1985. Natural plant chemicals: Sources of industrial and medicinal materials. Science, 228: 1154-1160.

Boyd, R. 1988. General Microbiology. Mosby Year Book, St. Louis, MO.

Chapman, A.D. 2009. Numbers of Living Species in Australia and the World, 2nd ed. Australian Biological Resources Study, Department of the Environment, Canberra.  http://www.environment.gov.au/node/13875

Ehrlich, P.R., and A. Ehrlich. 1981. Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of the Disappearance of Species. Ballantine, New York, NY.

Environment Canada. 1997. The State of Canada’s Environment. Ottawa: State of the Environment Reporting Organization, Environment Canada, Ottawa, ON.

Erwin, T.L. 1991. How many species are there? Revisited. Conservation Biology, 5: 330-333.

Freedman, B. 1995. Environmental Ecology. 2nd ed. Academic Press, San Diego, CA.

Freedman, B., J. Hutchings, D. Gwynne, J. Smol, R. Suffling, R. Turkington, R. Walker, and D. Bazeley. 2014. Ecology: A Canadian Context. 2nd ed. Nelson Canada, Toronto, ON.

Gaston, K.J. (ed.). 1996. Biodiversity: A Biology of Numbers and Difference. Blackwell Science, Cambridge, UK.

Gaston, K.J. and J.I. Spicer. 2004. Biodiversity: An Introduction. 2nd ed. Blackwell Science, Cambridge, UK.

Groombridge, G. 1992. Global Biodiversity. World Conservation Monitoring Center. Chapman & Hall, London, UK.

Groombridge, B. and M.D. Jenkins. 2002. World Atlas of Biodiversity: Earth’s Living Resources in the 21st Century. University of California Press, Berkeley, CA.

Heywood, V.H. (ed.). 1995. Global Biodiversity Assessment. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, UK.

Janzen, D.H. 1987. Insect diversity in a Costa Rican dry forest: Why keep it, and how. Biological Journal of the Linnaean Society, 30: 343-56.

Miller, K. and L. Tangley. 1991. Trees of Life. Beacon, Boston, MA.

Myers, N. 1983. A Wealth of Wild Species. Westview, Boulder, CO.

Perlman, D.L. and G. Adelson. 1997. Biodiversity: Exploring Values and Priorities in Conservation. Blackwell Science Publishers, Cambridge, UK.

Pough, F.H., C.M. Jans, and J.B. Hirser. 2012. Vertebrate Life. 9th ed. Prentice Hall, Upper Saddle River, NJ.

Raven, P.H., G.B. Johnson, K.A. Mason, and J. Losos. 2013. Biology. 10th ed. McGraw-Hill, Columbus, OH.

Reaka-Kudla, M.L., D.E. Wilson, and E.O. Wilson (eds.). 1997. Biodiversity II: Understanding and Protecting Our Biological Resources. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

Terborgh, J., S.K. Robinson, T.A. Parker, C.A. Muna, and N. Pierpont. 1990. Structure and organization of an Amazonian forest bird community. Ecological Monographs, 60: 213-238.

United Nations Environment Program. 2001. Global Biodiversity Outlook. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal, PQ.

Wilson, E.O. (ed.). 1988. Biodiversity. National Academy Press, Washington, DC.

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Essay on Biodiversity

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Introduction:

Biodiversity also known as biological diversity is the variables that exist among several species living in the ecosystem. These living organisms include marine, terrestrial and aquatic life. Biodiversity aims to understand the positions these organisms occupy in the broader ecosystem.

Importance of Biodiversity:

When there is biodiversity in our ecosystem it translates to a greener environment. This is because plant life thrives in a balanced ecosystem. This invariably affects humans as we consume plants for our survival. Also, a healthy ecosystem can help to reduce the risk of diseases and the way we respond to them.

Increasing Biodiversity:

Some changes could be encouraged to improve biodiversity in our environment.

Some of them are:

1. Stopping penetration of invasive alien species.

2. Using sustainable agricultural methods.

3. Having protected areas for spices to thrive.

4. Having an organic maintenance culture for fertilizers.

Conclusion:

To make the world a safe place for all organisms, we must maintain good health in all the ecosystems. This is the benefit of paying attention to biodiversity.

Diversity is the hallmark of nature. Things exist in different forms which creates diversity. Biodiversity is a significant and desirable variation in plant and animal existence on the surface of the earth. The variation exists due to genetics, species and the ecosystem or the habitat. Biodiversity is an important aspect in the world because it enables the survival and sustainability of living things on earth.

Types of Biodiversity:

The variation in living things has resulted in different types of biodiversity depending on the certain variables. Genetic diversity is due to the genetic components shared by living organisms. The species that have similar genes diverge and they develop differently thus creating biodiversity. Species diversity occurs when a habitat comprises different kinds of living things. Ecological diversity is through the interaction of living things that share common sources of energy in an ecosystem which contributes to biodiversity.

The existence of living things in an ecosystem and the functioning of the ecosystem contribute to the relevance of biodiversity in nature. Through biodiversity, living organisms are able to acquire food and other important resources to sustain their lives. The climate and environmental changes are regulated because of biodiversity. The culture is enriched through biodiversity as it involves existence of several groups of species and people in one environment.

All the three types of biodiversity are important to the existence of living organisms. The ecosystem is the hallmark of diversity because it helps to sustain the lives of diverse living things.

Biodiversity is the variability or the diversity of the different species of life forms. The planet earth is habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna like plants, animals and other life forms.

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity or Biological diversity refers to the variety and variability of living beings on planet earth and it is the degree of variation of life. It represents the wealth of biological assets available on earth and encompasses microorganism, plants, animals and ecosystems such as coral reefs, forests, rainforests, deserts etc.

Threats to Biodiversity:

The growing population, industrialization, technology, etc., all are impacting biodiversity. The increased human activities have been reducing the natural area for plants, animals and other living things. A number of plants and animals have gone extinct because of increased deforestation and other factors. Growing pollution, causing global warming and climate change, is a big threat to biodiversity. The decline in biodiversity would in turn lead to imbalance in the ecosystem and would become a threat to the human race as well as other living organisms.

Different plants and animals are dependent on others to live and keep the natural surroundings in a balanced state. For example, human beings are dependent on various plants and animals for their food, shelter, safety, clothes etc. Similarly, every living species is dependent on some other species. It is, therefore, important to preserve biodiversity in our planet in order to maintain the ecological balance.

Protecting Biodiversity:

As we know, the biodiversity loss is a serious threat for human race, we all should work for maintaining biodiversity, and find out solutions to reduce the biodiversity decline. Since, air pollution and deforestation are major threats to biodiversity, these are the first things that need to be controlled. Government should frame stricter laws and organizations should sensitize people to be concerned about it and contribute their bit.

Biodiversity, also referred to as the biological diversity refers to the diversified form of plants and animals that exists in our planet . It also denotes each and every aspect of the ecosystem such as micro-organisms, coral reefs, rainforests, deserts, forests etc.,

A good balance in biodiversity supports human race and humans on the other hand must ensure to save biodiversity. This essay is going to talk about the importance of biodiversity and the role of human beings in safeguarding the ecosystem.

There are more than 300,000 species of flora that has been identified and there should be many more unidentified varieties. Similarly there must be infinite variety of other species in our Earth and these together form a perfect natural protection for the human race. Biodiversity supports human race in different ways.

Few of them are listed below:

1. Some of the species capture and stores energy and releases it back in the atmosphere for human consumption.

2. Some biological species help in decomposing organic materials and thus acts as a natural recycling agent.

3. Plants and trees help in reducing pollution and maintain the purity of atmospheric air.

4. It is from the biological resources that humans receive food and shelter.

5. The astonishing beauty of biodiversity is the base for tourism industry to flourish.

Decline in Biodiversity:

The Earth’s biodiversity is undergoing a severe decline and this is a great threat to the human race. There are several factors that lead to the decline in biological species, the most significant one being the behavior of human beings.

1. Human beings destroy forests to build houses and offices. Through deforestation humans are actually destroying the natural habitat of many plants and animals.

2. All new scientific inventions are causing harm to the environment. We cannot even find some species of birds today because of the increase in noise pollution.

3. Global warming is another reason for the decline in biodiversity. Some species require specific climate to survive and when the climatic conditions change continuously these species either migrate or become extinct. Decline in the number of coral reefs are a perfect example.

Steps to Be Taken:

The Government and different voluntary organizations must act upon immediately to create awareness among people on environmental issues and its consequences. It is also the responsibility of every common man to save mother Earth by maintaining a rich biodiversity .

If proper care is not taken, the biodiversity of Earth may become extinct one day and if it happens then, humans have to find another planet to live. It’s better to act now before it gets too late.

Biodiversity can be said to mean the extreme importance of a very wide variety of animals and plants that are resident on the planet earth or in a particular habitat. It is very necessary to maintain the level of biodiversity on the earth so that the environmental harmony can be balanced. Biological diversity is another name for biodiversity and is widely the variability or diversity of all the different species of animals and plants on this planet. Having a very high biodiversity is extremely essential to help maintain the surroundings in a state of harmony. Biodiversity can be loosely defined as a variety of fauna and flora that are available in a specific habitat or the planet earth. Biodiversity is largely originated from the terms – species diversity and species richness.

Biodiversity is mainly a united view of the biological varieties. A lot of other words and terms have been at one time or another used to explain diversity. Some of these terms include taxonomic diversity (this comes from a species diversity point of view), ecological diversity (this comes from an ecosystem diversity point of view), morphological diversity (this comes from a genetic diversity point of view) and functional diversity (this comes from the point of view of the functions of the species). Biodiversity gives quite a uniform view of the above discussed biological varieties.

Biological diversity is quite important because its helps maintain the ecological balance in a system. Different animals and plants depend on one another to fulfill all of their needs. For example, we human beings depend on various animals and plants for our clothes, shelter and food. Other species also do the same and depend on a variety of other species to sustain them and provide them with the basics. Biodiversity and its beautiful richness ensure that the earth is fit enough for the survival of each and every one of the organism living on the earth. However, the ever increasing pollution is negatively affecting biodiversity. Quite a lot of animals and plants have gone into extinction as a result of this pollution and a lot more are going to become extinct if proper care is not taken and the pollution of the environment continues to exponentially and this would cause a sharp decline in the biodiversity.

We human beings have to understand how important the maintenance of the immensely rich biodiversity is. Smokes from vehicles causes a high rate of air pollution and this causes harm to a lot of species. The level of pollution in the atmosphere has to be put under control. Water bodies like seas, oceans and rivers are polluted by the release of industrial wastes into the. These wastes are very harmful to the marine organism and life in the water bodies. There is therefore a need to try as much as possible to dispose industrial wastes through other means and methods that do not harm the environment. The industrial wastes can be primarily treated before being disposed into the water properly and safely.

When you are a biology student biodiversity is one of the most important words you can learn. Not only that but it also becomes your lives calling to maintain it. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves before we can understand why it is important, we need to understand what it is.

This term refers to the many different life forms that inhabit the earth at this moment, this includes bacteria, plants, animals and humans and it also refers to their shared environment. Life has manifested itself in many different forms we do not know why exactly but we are certain that they all exist and depend on each other for survival.

Why is biodiversity important?

The answer to this question is more important than just simply stating what biodiversity is. My personal experience as a student has thought me that I learn best when I have an example so I will give you an example of the importance of biodiversity.

The famous Yellowstone Park is a natural reserve and national park but before it was declared as such it was just another forest that man wanted to hunt in. The geographical region had many wolfs inhabiting its plains, for generations they were hunted until they became extinct in the region. After a while, the coyotes began to reproduce as they hade more space and they started hunting the small mammals, which lead to a decrease in the population of eagles in the area but the most significant change came because of the deer. After fifty years of no wolfs in the park the number of roe deer rose and since they had no natural predators, they no longer feared open grasslands. That’s when they started grazing extensively which depleted the grass on the shore of the Yellow stone river and this, in turn, made the soil loos. The river began to take away a lot of soil and to deposit it in other places flooding certain areas while at the same time causing droughts to happen in other places.

Biologists came to the park with a wish to restore its wolf population and after a decade of planning and working they restored one pack to the park. The pack soon made the deer go back to the forest so they could be harder to hunt, the coyote’s population dropped because they couldn’t compete with the wolf, that led to the increase of small rodents which let to the return of carnivores’ grate birds. But above all the grazing on the river edge stopped and after a few years, the Yellowstone river returned to its natural flow.

This story is completely true and I love to use it as an example of the importance of maintaining biodiversity. There are many regions in the world that have similar problems and if we do not do our best to conserve biodiversity, we could be looking at similar or even worst natural catastrophes.

People tend to mass produce and they do this with most things. They will destroy a forest of many thousands of life forms to make a plantation with one single plant, the same is true of animal farming. With our need to be productive all the time we lose sight of the small things that make the system function as whole. Even though an insignificant thing as a bug or a wolf pack might seem the least important for our daily lives once we take them out of the picture, we see that the balance and wealth biodiversity gives to the planet is not something that can be easily compensated.

The genetic, species and ecosystem variability of flora and fauna on earth are known as Biodiversity. For painting what exactly is Biodiversity, we need a large canvas beyond imagination. Such is the volume of the subject. But, the actual meaning and terms are still not clear.

Keeping it very simple and to the point, the term ‘Biodiversity’ comprises of two words. The first word is Bio, and the other one is Diversity. Bio means the forms of life and Diversity means mixture or variety. So, when both the words combine they form a definition like this ‘Biodiversity means various and mixed forms of life on earth.’ The variety of life forms on earth includes plants and animals and their natural habitat.

Facts about Biodiversity:

Digging into the term ‘Biodiversity’ more generously makes us realize that we have over 10,000 species of birds on earth. The amazing number blows everyone’s mind. Insects have a different counting, and their species are in millions. Plants are also a part of this biological system, and hence there are more than 20,000 species of plants.

Even after so many species of plants, animals and insects have specified there are still over millions of species which are not known by anyone. These species cannot be counted under any head as they don’t pursue an identity. The actual picture says that earth is home to almost 50 million species or even more than that. These facts do not conclude the point because one or the other day there may be many new species evolving.

Biodiversity is essential for survival. The importance of Biodiversity not only related to plants, animals and natural habitat. But it also provides us so many natural products such as fibre and timber and the fresh water to carry out our daily lives. Therefore we need to understand the importance of Biodiversity.

1.   The natural and organic resources:

In the happiness of living our lives, we often forget that Biodiversity is a part of nature. We should protect it no matter whatever be the limitations. Mother Nature has provided us with enough resources which are the Biological Resources. These include wood, medicines, food, etc., which are direct blessings of Biological System or by-product of the Biological Systems. Herbs and plants play a vital role in producing medicines. They may get their final touch from the pharmaceutical companies, but the original source is plants which are again a part of Biodiversity.

2. Biodiversity provides fibres:

It is important to know that wool, jute, palms, etc., use to produce various types of fibres after processing which are again part of the Biological Systems. So, if biodiversity does not persist how people will have access to these fibres? Flax plants use for the production of linen, which is extensively using for making clothes. Similarly, Corchorus plants and Agave plants are using for the production of Jute and sisal respectively. These fibres are no doubt essential for the cloth industry. Therefore it becomes our duty to maintain the Biodiversity.

3. Powerful benefits of Biodiversity:

People may not be aware of the importance, but there are many spiritual benefits of biodiversity. Our folk dances, mythology, and history have a deep link with the Biodiversity in one or the other way. Everyone enjoys or experience the Biodiversity in a different format. Biological diversity also contributes to attracting tourists, especially flora and fauna, which is a rare phenomenon in cities. Therefore it is our ethical duty to preserve Biodiversity.

Preserve Biodiversity:

There are different ways in which we can preserve our Biological environment. Biodiversity should be protected by following these ways.

i. People should stop the process of hunting and poaching the animals. They are a part of Biodiversity.

ii. Protection of endangered species and their surroundings.

iii. We need to curb pollution for protecting Biodiversity.

iv. The explosive growth of population is a threat to Biodiversity. So, to maintain the biological balance, we need to have the population growth under control. Otherwise, people will be exploiting natural resources unethically for survival.

All steps must be taken to protect biodiversity. Things may seem difficult in the initial stages but practicing them will lead to genuine results. Creating awareness on environmental issues and the negative impact of the loss of biodiversity will let people understand the inevitable need for biodiversity conservation.

It is our responsibility to protect the endangered species of plant and animals. If one wants to reach their destination, then it is imperative to take the first step. Without taking a step forward, things will never change on their own. To make a better tomorrow, we need to take steps for preserving our very own Biodiversity.

Biodiversity is a term used to refer the different forms of life on the Earth. It also includes the variety of species in the ecosystem. There is an uneven distribution of the biodiversity on the Earth due to the extreme variation of temperatures in different regions. For instance, it is more in regions near the equator due to warm climatic conditions. However, near the pole, the extreme cold and unfavourable weather conditions do not support a majority of life forms. Additionally, changes in climatic conditions on the Earth over a period of time have also led to the extinction of a number of species.

Biodiversity is often defined at different levels depending upon the category of species. For example, taxonomic diversity is used to measure the species diversity level of different forms of life on the Earth. Ecological diversity is a broader term used for the ecosystem diversity. Similarly, functional diversity is a type used to measure diversity based on their feeding mechanisms along with other functions of species within a population.

Distribution:

There is an uneven distribution of biodiversity on the Earth. In fact, it increases from pole to equator. The climatic conditions of a region decide the presence of different species in an area. Not all species can survive in all weather conditions. Moreover, lower altitudes have a high concentration of species as compared to higher altitudes.

The importance of biodiversity does not only lie in the survival of various species of the earth. There is social, cultural as well as the economic importance of it as well. Biodiversity is of extreme importance to maintain the balance of nature. It is vital to maintaining the food chain as well. One species may be the food for another species and various species are linked to each other through this food chain. Apart from this, there is scientific importance of the biodiversity as well. The research and breeding programmes involve the variety of species. If these species cease to exist then such programmes shall not be possible.

Also, most of the drugs and medicine which are vital for the cure of many diseases are also made from many plants and animals. For instance, penicillin is a fungus through which the penicillin antibiotic is extracted.

Another important importance of biodiversity is that it provides food to all including human beings. All the food we consume is either derived from plants or animals such as fishes and other marine animals. They are also the source of new crops, pesticides and source material for agricultural practices.

Biodiversity is also important for industrial use. We get many products such as fur, honey, leather and pearls from animals. Moreover, we get timber for plants which are the basis of the paper we use in our everyday life. Tea, coffee and other drinks along with dry fruits and our regular fruits and vegetables, all are obtained from the various plants.

There is cultural and religious importance of many species as well. Many plants and animals are worshipped in different cultures and religions such as Ocitnum sanctum (Tulsi) which is a plant worshipped by Hindus.

Biodiversity in India:

India ranks among the top 12 nations which have a rich heritage of biodiversity. There are about 350 different species of mammals along with 12000 different species of birds which are found in India. Additionally, there are around 50000 species of insects which have their habitat in our country. There are a wide variety of domestic animals such as cows and buffaloes along with marine life which is found in India. Moreover, India is a land of 10 different biographical regions which include islands, Trans Himalayas, Desert, Western Ghats, Gangetic Plain, Semi-arid zone, Northeastern zone, Deccan Plateau, Coastal islands and the Western Ghats.

The Gradual Decrease:

Not all species which existed in the ancient times exist today as well. For example, dinosaurs used to exist on our planet in older times. But they were not able to adapt to the changing environmental conditions which led to their extinction from the Earth. Similarly, there are many other species which are on the verge of extinction due to the urbanisation and modernisation of the world. With the increase in population, there has been a constant need to reduce the forest areas and make way for new cities. This has led to the reduction in forests which are the natural habitat for many wild animals and plants. Due to this many wild plants have become extinct and there has been an increase in the man-animal conflict as well. Hence there has been a need to conserve the biodiversity so as to maintain the balance of nature.

Initiatives for the Conservation of Biodiversity:

There have been initiatives by the governments all over the world to conserve the existing biodiversity on the earth. For example, there are dedicated national parks which earmark the area for wild animals and plants and reduce human intervention in their lives. There are various wildlife conservation programmes in place to protect the vulnerable and endangered species. For example, Project Tiger is one such measure in place to increase the population of tigers in our country.

There are also many laws in place which make the hunting of endangered and vulnerable animals a punishable offence. At the international level, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) have also initiated many programmes in order to preserve various species.

It is not possible for the human to live all alone on the Earth. Various other life forms are equally important and play their roles in the mutual survival of the various species on the Earth. Each one of species has its own set of contribution for the environment. Already many species have become extinct as they were not able to survive in the changing weather conditions. Hence it is our duty to ensure that our activities do not affect the other flora and fauna on the planet. Although there are a number of steps taken by the government so as to preserve the various life forms, we should also contribute individually towards this cause. If we do not act today, we may yet again witness the extinction of the vulnerable biodiversity which may further disturb the balance of nature.

Biodiversity , Ecosystem , Environment

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Biodiversity Essay

Broadly speaking, biodiversity, also known as biological diversity, refers to various types of plants and animals on Earth. The process of continuous biodiversity conservation is essential right now. A greater level of biodiversity is necessary to maintain the harmony of the natural environment. Here are a few sample essays on biodiversity.

100 Words Essay On Biodiversity

200 words essay on biodiversity, 500 words essay on biodiversity.

The term "biodiversity" is used to describe the variety of plants, animals, and other species found in an environment. All of them have a significant impact on preserving the planet's healthy ecosystem. In order to sustain the health of the ecosystem and human life, it is critical to maintain a high degree of biodiversity.

However, maintaining biodiversity is getting more challenging due to the increasing air, water, and land pollution on our planet. A number of plant and animal species have gone extinct as a result of the quick environmental changes brought on by the aforementioned causes of biodiversity loss.

By encouraging individuals to adopt more environmentally friendly behaviours and practises and to build a more peaceful and sympathetic relationship with the environment, it is possible to preserve biodiversity.

‘Bio’, which stands for life, and ‘diversity’, which means variety, make up the phrase "biodiversity." The diversity of life on Earth is referred to as biodiversity. Living species include all types of plants, animals, microorganisms, and fungus.

Benefits Of Biodiversity

Community engagement to protect biodiversity is crucial. Biodiversity has several economic advantages.

Many parts of the world benefit economically from biodiversity. The tourism and recreation industries are facilitated by biodiversity. National Parks and Natural Reserves gain a lot from it.

The best locations for ecotourism, photography, art, cinematography, and literary works are in forests, animal reserves, and sanctuaries.

Biodiversity is essential for maintaining the gaseous composition of the atmosphere, breaking down waste, and removing contaminants.

Biodiversity helps in improving soil quality.

Types Of Biodiversity

Genetic Biodiversity | Genetic diversity refers to the variance in genes and genotypes within a species, such as how each individual human differs from the others in appearance.

Species Biodiversity | The variety of species found in a habitat or an area is known as species diversity. It is the diversity of life that is seen in a community. Ecosystem Biodiversity | The diversity of plant and animal species that coexist and are linked by food webs and food chains is referred to as ecological biodiversity.

The biological diversity of many plants and animals is essential to everything. However, biodiversity is declining daily for a number of causes. Our planet could no longer be a place to live if it doesn't stop. Thus, several strategies help in boosting the earth's biodiversity. The three main threats to biodiversity today are habitat loss, hunting, and poaching. At an alarming rate, humans are destroying forests, grasslands, reefs and other natural areas.

Hundreds of species that live in these habitats are therefore vanishing every year. Due to population decline caused by illegal hunting and poaching, several species are put under even more stress.

Importance Of Biodiversity

Maintaining biodiversity is crucial for the health of the ecological system. Many species of plants and animals are dependent on each other. As a result, if one becomes extinct, the others will begin to become vulnerable. Additionally, as both plants and animals are necessary for human existence, it is crucial for us as well. For instance, in order to exist, humans require food, which we obtain from plants. We cannot produce any crops if the soil does not provide a conducive climate. As a result, we won't be able to live sustainably on this planet.

Biodiversity in both flora and fauna is essential today. Therefore, to prevent the decrease in species in danger, we need to implement a number of interventions. Furthermore, vehicle pollution should decrease. So that both humans and animals can get fresh air to breathe. Moreover, it will also decrease global warming which is the major cause of the extinction of the species.

How To Preserve Biodiversity

The basic goal of biodiversity conservation is to protect life on earth, all species, the ecosystem, and a healthy environment for all time so that it will continue to be healthy for future generations. The maintenance of the food chain, the provision of a healthy habitat for many animals, including people, and the promotion of our sustainable development all depend heavily on biodiversity conservation.

Here are some ways you can preserve biodiversity:

Set Up Gardens | The simplest approach to increase biodiversity is to build gardens inside of homes. In the yard or even on the balcony, you may grow a variety of plants. Additionally, this would contribute to bringing in more fresh air within the house.

Plant Local Flowers, Fruits And Vegetables | Plant a variety in your backyard or a hanging garden using the native plants, fruits, and vegetables of your region. Nurseries are excellent places to learn about caring for and preserving plants.

3 R’s | Reduce your consumption, reuse what you can, recycle before throwing away.

Since humans consume the majority of biodiversity resources, it is primarily their duty to maintain and safeguard biodiversity in order to save the environment. The diversity of species, the health of the ecosystem, the state of the environment, and the continued viability of life on earth are crucial. By maintaining and safeguarding species, ecosystems, and natural resources, biodiversity conservation can be achieved for the sustainability of a healthy planet. Some rare species can be saved with the help of law enforcement.

All living species are interconnected and can be negatively impacted by one disturbance and therefore maintaining biodiversity is crucial for human survival. Inadequate biodiversity protection puts human life, as well as the lives of plants, animals, and the environment, at danger. As a result, we must make every effort to preserve our biodiversity.

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Why Biodiversity Is Good for Your Mental Health

By the time you have finished reading this article, at least one species on our planet will be lost forever.

Humans rely on a wide range of animals, plants, and microorganisms for healthy living environments. Research has shown that the continuing decline in biodiversity—the variety of life on Earth—is a threat to humanity’s existence. A study my colleagues and I conducted takes this knowledge further. We have shown that biodiversity can also play a critical role for people’s mental well-being.

Previous studies have demonstrated that contact with nature benefits mental well-being, especially for those who live in cities. For example, the risk of developing the two most prevalent mental disorders in the world, depression and anxiety, is 71% lower in urban dwellers who live near green spaces. Most of these studies, however, haven’t considered the extent to which these benefits depend on natural diversity.

To address this gap in research, we examined whether environments with a wealth of natural features, such as trees, plants, waterways, and wildlife, would bring greater mental health benefits than those with a smaller range of natural features.

Between April 2018 and September 2023, we gathered data through the Urban Mind app , which measures user experience of urban and rural living. Nearly 2,000 people submitted 41,000 assessments of their environment and mental well-being throughout the day.

We found that green spaces with high natural diversity have more mental health benefits than those with low natural diversity . Participants attributed nearly a quarter of this positive impact to natural diversity—and reported that the benefits can last for up to eight hours.

Wilding and well-being

The results of our study suggest that the benefits of nature for mental well-being can maximized by protecting and promoting biodiversity in our natural environments. This means moving away from heavily curated pockets of greenery—such as landscaped gardens and parks of mown grass, which are typically associated with low biodiversity—towards spaces such as wild meadows and waterways that provide a more attractive habitat for a range of plants and animals.

Our findings are consistent with other studies on the beneficial impacts of diverse natural habitats for mental health. A recent survey of 15,000 households found that those who lived near natural areas rich in plant and bird species report lower rates of mental health issues—even after accounting for social and economic differences between participants.

Our study expands this evidence by showing that, to experience the mental health benefits of biodiversity, we do not have to live near a diverse green space over a long period of time. In fact, benefits can be experienced through daily brief incidental encounters with biodiverse nature.

Stimulation for the senses

There are many ways that nature, particularly biodiversity, can benefit mental health.

Biodiverse nature offers more stimulation for the senses, which may improve concentration, reduce mental fatigue, and restore cognitive resources—such as memory and attention span. Also, people living in or near a natural space tend to spend more time exercising or socializing outdoors, both of which promote the release of endorphins and other mood-boosting hormones.

Diverse natural environments also play essential roles in reducing pollutants and moderating temperatures. This helps protect against chronic physical conditions such as allergies and asthma, while decreasing stress levels and enhancing mental well-being.

The science, then, is clear: Biodiversity is critical not only for the health of our planet, but also for human mental health. Our research shows biodiversity must be considered part of the vital infrastructure of our cities.

This article is republished from The Conversation under a Creative Commons license. Read the original article .

About the Author

Andrea Mechelli

Andrea Mechelli, Ph.D. , is a professor of early intervention in mental health at King's College London.

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