What is Biodiversity?

"Simply put, biodiversity means the variety of living things." --(Environment Yukon)


Biodiversity is the amount of and variation in species that are alive. We have an incredibly vast and diverse biosphere here on Earth that is being threatened by many human activities like pollution and the destruction of habitats. The main focus of this blog is climate change and throughout my entries I will explain why we should conserve biodiversity, give examples of what you can do, explain why biodiversity is important to maintaining viable ecosystems, how loss of biodiversity affects human population, how humans affect climate change, how climate change affects the diversity of life, and finally what actions we can take to minimize our impact on global warming.

--(PHOTO OF EARTH)

Why Conserve Biodiversity?

Climate change is seriously affecting and is seriously going to affect the biodiversity on Earth. These questions must be asked... Why should we care about biodiversity? Why should we work to conserve it? There are many reasons why natural biodiversity should be conserved:

-The Essentials

Even the simplest of things that some people think has nothing to do with biodiversity is sustained by life. Through photosynthesis, plants provide Earth with a supply of oxygen that many organisms need in order to survive. Water, the most important ingredient for life as we know it, gets cleaned and sustained by biological processes.

--(SUN OVER THE OCEAN)

For example, the roots of some trees will make their way into water that is nearby and absorb it. If there is a forest near a water system, the water will be filtered and cleaned all year. Also, without these forests, flash floods may occur. (Biodiversity Matters 20 Questions)

-Food

All living things need an energy source to survive. The loss of biodiversity will affect all species because they may lose the species that they get their energy from (eat). Without a process of energy transfer from species to species, more and more will then also become extinct.


-Medicine

"Forty percent of all prescriptions written today are composed from the natural compounds found in different species." --(Why Conserve Biodiversity?)

--(MEDICINE)

Having a variety of species also provides us with a variety of medicine. There are many species in the world that have not been yet discovered by man that may also be beneficial. What if some extremely rare herb was growing in a jungle somewhere that man hadn't studied yet? What if this herb provided extremely useful medicinal properties? The loss of species will directly affect the medicine that we use and the more that go extinct, the less natural medicines we will have.



-Leisure Activities and Recreation

We enjoy going out for a walk and looking at all the different types of trees and the birds in them, we enjoy going for a swim in the lake and watching the fish and the turtles, we enjoy watching the Discovery Channel or Natural Geographic and being astonished by the strange and beautiful life forms that we have on planet Earth. With the loss of biodiversity, Earth will slowly become less and less natural and beautiful.

--(CANOE)

-Earth's Natural Services

Biodiversity provides us with natural services that are essential to continuing life. Biodiversity effects nutrient and water cycles greatly which are very important to maintain. Microorganisms create the soils that we use by breaking down parent materials. Biodiversity also effects the Earth's climate greatly (discussed later in this entry). Life would not be as we know it today without these natural services. (Sandra Diaz)


-Jobs and Lifestyles

Many jobs will be lost and job industries will have to change drastically if biodiversity is not conserved. For example, families or villages that have been fishermen for generations might no have a specific fish type to sell, eat, or use anymore. All industries will be affected as well.

--(FISHERMAN)

-Natural Balance

"But I'll tell you what hermits realize. If you go off into a far, far forest and get very quiet, you'll come to understand that you're connected with everything. "

--Alan Watts

When I think biology (the study of living organisms), the word that comes to my mind first is 'connected'. Every single species is connected in some way to the other. If one species gets affected by something, chances are that it will affect all other species that it is connected with.

-The Help of Wild Animals

Having a diverse amount of wild animals will help in many ways other then the ones previously stated. When carnivores eat herbivores, they are preserving the balance between herbivores and plants. Herbivores are related to the success of vegetation. Insects serve as pollinators for plant species. Birds, frogs, ants, spiders, and dragon flies control pest populations that could threaten forests or crops. There are many other reasons why the act of living makes wild animals so important. (Biodiversity Matters 20 Questions)

--(LION)

-Climate

Photosynthesis is the act of plants, algae, and some species of bacteria producing organic compounds from carbon dioxide in the air. A waste product of photosynthesis is oxygen. Having many different species of plants will put more oxygen into the air and less CO2. If many species of plants were to die because of human action, then there would be less oxygen in the air. This would make matters worse for global warming. Global warming could also kill more plant species, causing a snowball effect of climate change.


--(DNA)
-Genetic Material


The vast amount of species that we know of all took millions of years of evolution to become what they are today. When a species dies, its unique genetic material dies out with it. This unique DNA could have went on in the species through future generations and then this species would have continued to evolve. Every time a species dies out because of human activity, we are wasting genetic material.

What can I do to help preserve biodiversity?

At school

-Join clubs or organizations that work towards being environmentally friendly. Simply being around people with similar interests can make amazing things happen. The Green Team at E.C. Drury is just such a club.

-If there isn't a environmental team at your school...then make one.

-Raise awareness. Talk to your friends about the importance of biodiversity. Start class discussions. Make a poster. Anything!

In the community

-Participate in local environment activities. Go with some friends a have some fun while you help out. Milton has the Ontario Forest Week.

-Buy local, environmentally friendly goods.

-Use the local environmental services like the Green Bin.

In your own life

-Learn more about biodiversity and different species. :-) Some good places to do this are:

http://redpath-museum.mcgill.ca/Qbp/2.About%20Biodiversity/importance.html

http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/english/theory/index.htm

-Do NOT use disposable items like plastic bags.

-Know where to dispose of e-waste. (batteries, computers, etc.)

-Recycle, reuse, and conserve.

-Don't buy souvenirs that seem to be made from animals. They could be made out of an endangered animal.

Why Biodiversity is vital for maintainig viable ecosystems

Biodiversity is very important for maintaining viable ecosystems because all species help the ecosystem in some way. Everything from insect species to large mammals. They all do something positive for the ecosystem that they live in. For example, insects and other organisms that break down plant and animal matter are making it easier for more plant species to grow. Animals act as pollinators for plant species as well. So it can then be said that biodiversity is vital for having a viable and varied ecosystem.

--(TURTLE)

How does the loss of Biodiversity affect human populations?

Many jobs will slowly be lost with the loss of biodiversity. Jobs that depend on biodiversity first hand like farmers will feel the effects quickly. What a lot of people don't think about is that the industrial products that we use are all made of compounds from nature. Every single job industry depends on biodiversity in some way, no matter how far off. Food, fuel, and medicine industries, as well as construction material industries all benefit from the various life on Earth. People in poorer countries that cannot do anything except for hunt and gather will start losing opportunities for jobs as well. There will have to be a major shift in where certain goods and materials are obtained if biodiversity continues to be lost.

--(FARMER)

How human actions affect global climate change...

So it's not breaking news that planet Earth's climate is getting warmer. Climate change happens and has happened naturally throughout Earth's history but what is different about what is happening today is that it is mostly caused by human action. Ever since the industrial revolution, we have been releasing incredible amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. Factories and automobiles are the main causes of this CO2. Factories and cars let out incredible amounts of CO2 together.

--(POLLUTION)

Some people may ask, "So who cares if there's this gas in the atmosphere? What could happen?" Well the answer is that more people should care and that a lot could happen. Usually, energy from the sun enters the Earth and then a lot of it gets reflected back into space and out of our atmosphere. With all the excess CO2 being released, the atmosphere thickens. The energy has less chances to escape and gets trapped inside Earth's atmosphere and then global temperatures rise. This is known as The Greenhouse Effect. This is the main cause of today's Global Warming crisis.

--(Graph of Greenhouse gasses)

Many people are worried about what might happen if Global Warming keeps going at this rate. A big part of the problem is how our biosphere is being affected.

How climate change impacts the diversity of living things

Climate change impacts biodiversity because a global rise in temperature will change the habitats that life uses and cause many species to become extinct. This is going to be very drastic if global warming continues at this rate. For example, "new analyses suggest that 15–37% of a sample of 1,103 land plants and animals would eventually become extinct as a result of climate changes expected by 2050." (Nature)

--(Polar bear and melting ice.)

Living things are used to a certain type of climate and usually are able to adapt to slow changes in climate but many species will not be able to adapt quickly enough to the quick rise in temperatures with Global Warming. For example, a certain climate might be perfectly suitable for a plant species but if that climate were to quickly change, the plant species might not be able to adapt and survive. If plant species were to die out, the animals of that ecosystem would also be affected. Also, physical changes in the environment might make species die out. An example of this is the loss of ice in places where polar bears live. This loss of space is affecting the polar bears because they are having less and less room to live.

Climate change impacts the diversity of living things because, if the species cannot adapt, they will become extinct.