Facts about Biodiversity

Before the iPad, before the Blackberry craze, before the innovative and technological breakthroughs – before life began on Earth; Biodiversity exists.

Biodiversity is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of the health of ecosystems. Greater biodiversity implies greater health. Biodiversity is in part a function of climate. In terrestrial habitats, tropical regions are typically rich whereas Polar Regions support fewer species (source: Wikipedia).

Unfortunately, from what we learned from our elementary science, rapid environmental changes typically cause extinctions. One estimate is that less than 1% of the species that have existed on Earth are extant. One of the factors that science pinpoints as the culprit is the growing industrialization globally which brought the extinction of some wildlife species both flora and fauna.

Biodiversity includes all of the Earth’s plants, animals, their habitats, and the natural processes that they are a part of.  It has become clear that biodiversity is the cornerstone of our existence on Earth.

With all the featured news articles from different places on Earth, where there beautiful, virgin ecosystems and forests lies; biodiversity plays an important role on preserving these sceneries.

Lately, biodiversity is not evenly distributed. Flora and Fauna diversity depends on climate, altitude, soils and the presence of other species. Diversity consistently measures higher in the tropics and in other localized regions such as Cape Floristic Province and lower in polar regions generally. In 2006 many species were formally classified as rare or endangered or threatened; moreover, scientists have estimated that millions more species are at risks which have not been formally recognized. About 40 percent of the 40,177 species assessed using the UCN Red List criteria are now listed as threatened with extinction—a total of 16,119. Even though terrestrial biodiversity declines from the equator to the poles, this characteristic is unverified in aquatic ecosystems especially in marine ecosystem.

 A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of endemic species. Hotspots were first named in 1988 by Dr. Norman Myers. Many hotspots have large nearby human populations. Most hotspots are located in the tropics and most of them are forests (source: Wikipedia).

Through biodiversity, it is the life support of our planet - we get fresh air, climate (e.g., CO2 sequestration), water purification, pollination, food and prevention of erosion.

It also plays major role in the agriculture industry, human health, business and industry, leisure culture and aesthetic value and of course a very big factor in the climate change issue.

The known medicines that helped cure many diseases and bacteria a long time ago came from wild species that have saved millions of lives and alleviated tremendous suffering. It came from plants and animals which have been modified by science nowadays. The foods that we eat everyday came from edible plant species that have been in existence since the beginning of the world and fearfully, if we take them for granted - might extinct in the very near future; adding a threat to our food security. Breeding cultivars with their wild counterparts can also confer resistance to diseases and increase crop yield. Wetlands filter pollutants from water, trees and plants which reduce global warming by absorbing carbon, and bacteria and fungi break down organic material and fertilize the soil as well.

However, due to man’s curiosity, sometimes this would put us all in danger. Overexploitation, genetic pollution, over population, and the Holocene extinction are some of the factors on threat to our global Biodiversity.

The cure? Conservation.

Conservation biology matured in the mid-20th century as ecologists, naturalists, and other scientists began to research and address issues pertaining to global biodiversity declines.

The conservation ethic advocates management of natural resources for the purpose of sustaining biodiversity in species, ecosystems, the evolutionary process and human culture and society (source: Wikipedia).

Conservation biology is reforming around strategic plans to protect biodiversity. Preserving global biodiversity is a priority in strategic conservation plans that are designed to engage public policy and concerns affecting local, regional and global scales of communities, ecosystems, and cultures. Action plans identify ways of sustaining human well-being, employing natural capital, market capital and ecosystem services.

While we are enjoying the city life and its perks, we should also keep in mind that the best way perhaps to contribute to our planet is to be aware of the origin of every life form here on Earth and to learn how to preserve our biodiversity which is mainly connected to what our future holds for us in terms of sustainability, efficiency and the power conserving each specie that has a connection with each other.