Definition:
Biodiversity
refers to the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and microbiological organisms
that dwell on Earth, as well as the ecosystems in which they live. According to
scientists, Earth is home to about 10 million diverse species.
Explanation:
Everything
from food production to medical research is based on biodiversity. Daily,
humans use at least 40,000 different plant and animal species. Many people
still rely on wild species for some or all of their food, shelter, and clothing
around the world. All of our tamed plants and animals descended from wild
relatives. Furthermore, nearly 40% of medications used in the United States are
derived from or manufactured from natural chemicals found in plants, animals,
or microorganisms.
An ecosystem is the collection of living
species existing in a given environment, as well as the physical and
environmental conditions that influence them. Ecosystems are essential to
existence because they manage many of the chemical and climatic systems that
provide us with clean air, clean water, and plenty of oxygen. For example,
forests manage carbon dioxide levels in the atmosphere, create oxygen as a
consequence of photosynthesis, and regulate rainfall and soil erosion.
Ecosystems, in turn, rely on the health and vitality of the individual
creatures that make up their composition. Even removing one species from an
ecosystem can prevent it from functioning efficiently.
Perhaps
biodiversity's greatest value has yet to be discovered. Only 1.75 million
species have been identified and named by scientists, accounting for less than
20% of all species predicted to exist. Only a small percentage of those found
have been investigated for potential medicinal, agricultural, or industrial
value. Much of Earth's rich variety is rapidly vanishing, even before we realize
it. Most biologists agree that life on Earth is currently experiencing the most
severe extinction event since the demise of the dinosaurs 65 million years ago.
Plants, animals, fungus, and minute species like bacteria are all disappearing
at frightening rates. The research focuses on biodiversity preservation and
monitoring environmental quality and change.
BIODIVERSITY'S BENEFITS
Biodiversity
is crucial to the functioning of ecosystems and the services they provide. The
following is a list of some of the biodiversity's benefits or services:
1.
Food, clean water, lumber, fiber,
and genetic resources are examples of provisioning services.
2.
Climate, floods, illness,
water quality, and pollination are all regulated services.
3.
Recreational, artistic, and
spiritual benefits are all provided through cultural services.
4.
Soil formation and nutrient
cycling are examples of supporting services.
BIODIVERSITY
TYPES:
There are
three types of biodiversity: genetic diversity within species, species
diversity across species, and ecological diversity between habitats (ecosystem
diversity).
Genetic Variation
Every species
on the planet is genetically linked to every other species. The closer two
species are genetical, the more genetic information they share and the more
similar they appear. Members of an organism's species, or organisms with which
it has the potential to mate and have children, are its closest relatives.
Members of a species share genes, which are biological information bits that
affect how animals look, act, and live.
For example,
whether they live in the same location or thousands of miles apart, one eastern
grey squirrel shares the great majority of its genes with other eastern grey
squirrels. Members of a species have intricate mating activities that allow
them to recognize one another as possible mates.
In almost
every ecosystem, there is a species that is comparable and closely related to
it. Gray squirrels are located west of the Rocky Mountains, not east of them.
Although western grey squirrels are more similar to their eastern counterparts
than distinct, they do not share a common mating behavior. Eastern and western
grey squirrels do not mate even when brought close together, hence there are
two species.
Each species
has other, distantly related species with which it has a common set of
features. Gray squirrels, chipmunks, marmots, and prairie dogs are all members
of the squirrel family because they have similar tooth numbers and shapes, as
well as the similar skull and muscular architecture. All of these creatures are
rodents, a wide group of animals with chisel-like incisor teeth that develop
continually. All rodents are members of the mammalian family. Mammals have
hair, milk-fed babies, and three bones in their middle ear.
All rodents
are members of the mammalian family. Mammals have hair, milk-fed babies, and
three bones in their middle ear. All mammals, in turn, are more distantly
related to other vertebrates, or animals with backbones. These species are all
mammals, but they all have the same cell structure as plants, fungi, and some
microorganisms. Finally, ribonucleic acid (RNA) is found in all living
organisms, and most also have deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) (DNA).
While all
species descend from a single common ancestor, species diverge over time and
develop their unique characteristics, contributing to biodiversity.
Diverse Species
The diversity
of species within a habitat or region is referred to as species diversity.
Species are the fundamental units of biological taxonomy and, as such, the
standard unit of biological diversity measurement. The word "species
richness" refers to the number of different species found in a specific
location. The total number of species on the planet is estimated to be between
five and ten million, while only 1.75 million have been scientifically named.
Many species
can be found in some ecosystems, such as rainforests and coral reefs. Tropical
North and South America, for example, has over 85,000 blooming plant species,
tropical and subtropical Asia has over 50,000, and tropical and subtropical
Africa has approximately 35,000. Europe, on the other hand, has 11,300 vascular
plants.
There are
fewer species in some places, such as salt flats or dirty streams. Species are
classified into families based on shared traits.
Ecological Variation:
The intricate
network of diverse species present in particular ecosystems, as well as the
dynamic interplay between them, is referred to as ecological variety. An
ecosystem is made up of organisms from various species living nearby in a given
area, as well as their interactions through the exchange of energy, nutrients,
and matter. Interactions between organisms of different species result in these
links. The sun is the ultimate source of energy in practically every ecosystem.
Plants
transform the sun's light energy into chemical energy. When animals eat plants
and are then devoured by other creatures, that energy travels through the
system. Decomposing creatures provide energy to fungi, which release nutrients
back into the soil. As a result, an ecosystem is a collection of living
(microbes, plants, animals, and fungi) and nonliving (climate and chemicals)
components linked by energy flow. Because each of Earth's ecosystems dissolves
into the ecosystems around it, measuring ecological variety is challenging.
ISSUES CONNECTED
Agreements on Biodiversity
Concerns about
environmental damage prompted various national and international agreements to
be signed. The United Nations Conference on the Human Environment 1972 decided
to create the UN Environment Programme. Several regional and worldwide
agreements have been signed by governments to address specific issues such as
wetlands protection and the regulation of international commerce in endangered
species. These accords, together with limitations on harmful chemicals and
pollutants, have slowed but not stopped the flood of destruction.
In 1975, the
Convention on International Trafficking in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and
Flora was signed into law, making the trade of endangered animals and animal
parts illegal. The Endangered Species Act was passed in 1973 in the United
States to protect endangered or vulnerable species and their habitats.
The Brundtland
Commission on Environment and Progress stated in 1987 that economic development
must become less environmentally harmful. Then, in 1992, at the United Nations
Conference on Environment and Development in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, the
Convention on Biological Diversity signed a set of legally binding accords.
It was the
first global accord on biological diversity protection and sustainable usage.
At that summit, more than 150 states signed the document, and more than 187
countries have ratified it since then. The treaty has three basic goals:
biodiversity protection, sustainable use of biodiversity components, and
equitable sharing of benefits emerging from commercial and other uses of
genetic resources.
CONSIDERATIONS OF ETHICS AND SOCIETY
Human Effects
Most
scientists agree with American evolutionary biologist Edward O. Wilson's
estimate that Earth loses 27,000 species per year. His prediction is based on
the rate at which ecosystems, particularly tropical forests and grasslands, are
disappearing, as well as our understanding of the species that dwell in these
environments. Only five times in Earth's history has there been such a high
rate of extinction. Catastrophic physical calamities, such as climate change or
meteorite impacts, devastated and changed global ecosystems, causing mass
extinctions in the past.
The sixth
extinction is similarly predominantly caused by ecological disruption, but this
time the destroying agent is people rather than the physical environment. The
human change of the Earth's surface has the potential to be as catastrophic as
any previous great natural event.
The underlying
cause of biodiversity loss is the human population growth, which has now
reached seven billion people and is anticipated to double by 2050. Nearly half
of all food, crops, medicines and other useful goods created by Earth's
creatures are consumed by humans, yet more than one billion people lack access
to sufficient fresh water. The issue is not just the sheer number of people; it
is also the unequal allocation and utilization of resources.
Consumption of
resources and other types of wealth on the globe must also be considered.
According to some estimates, the average middle-class American consumes 30
times as much as someone in a developing country. To obtain an appropriate
comparative evaluation of the influence of such industrialized nations on the
world's ecosystems, the impact of the almost 300 million Americans must be
multiplied by 30.
Human loss of
natural habitats is the single greatest threat to global biodiversity. The
human population has grown from roughly five million to six billion people
since the introduction of agriculture about 10,000 years ago. Humans have
drastically altered Earth during that time, particularly in the last several
centuries.
The physical
alteration of ecosystems has resulted from the conversion of forests,
grasslands, and wetlands for agricultural reasons, as well as the expansion and
growth of urban centers, the construction of dams and canals, highways, and
railways.
Conservation
Positive
approaches to stem the tide of the sixth mass extinction have been proposed
and, to some extent, embraced as the scale and severity of biodiversity loss have
been increasingly known. Several countries have passed legislation to safeguard
endangered species.
In the last
three decades, attention has turned from individual species preservation to the
protection of broad swaths of habitat connected by corridors that allow animals
to migrate between them. Thus, a campaign to rescue the spotted owl of the
Pacific Northwest has evolved into a campaign to safeguard enormous swaths of
old-growth forest.
However, no
matter how promising these ideas are, conservation efforts will never succeed
in the long run if the local economic demands of people living in and around
threatened ecosystems are ignored. This is especially true in emerging
countries, which contain the majority of the world's remaining undeveloped
territory. International institutions such as the World Bank and the World
Wildlife Fund initiated a drive at the end of the twentieth century to
encourage all developing countries to set aside 10% of their forests as
protected areas. However, for thousands of years, many populations living in
those protected areas have relied on the rainforest for food and firewood. With
few economic options, those communities may be left without enough food.
Conservation
biology emphasizes interaction with individuals who are directly impacted by
conservation efforts to address the problem. These biologists support these
individuals to find sustainable economic alternatives to damaging land use and
harvesting. Harvesting and marketing renewable rainforest products, such as
tagua nuts and Brazil nuts (vegetable ivory seeds from palms), is one option.
Rain forest communities may engage in sustainable rain forest logging
operations, in which carefully selected trees are removed with minimal
influence on the forest ecology, where protective measures allow. Others are
looking into medicinal plants for drug development as a method to diversify and
enhance their economies.
Conservation
biologists also collaborate with established industries to create procedures
that ensure the health and long-term viability of the resources they rely on.
Conservation biologists, for example, collaborate with anglers to figure out
how many fish they can catch without harming the population or the ecosystem as
a whole. Trees, plants, animals, and other natural resources are harvested
using the same techniques.
The
conservation of genetic variation is another way of preserving biodiversity at
the molecular level.
Around the
world, efforts are being done to gather and conserve the DNA of endangered
organisms. These collections, often known as gene banks, may contain frozen
blood or tissue samples or, in certain situations, live organisms. Biologists
use gene banks to expand a species' gene pool, improving the possibility that
it will adapt to the environmental difficulties it faces. Many zoos, aquariums,
and botanical gardens collaborate to ensure the genetic variety of endangered
animals and plants in captivity, such as the giant panda, orangutan, and rose
periwinkle. Captive animals are bred with wild populations or periodically
released to enhance genetic variety by breeding freely with members of the wild
population. These gene banks are also critical for replenishing crop genetic
variety, allowing plant breeders and bioengineers to improve their stocks'
resistance to disease and changing climate conditions.
