The Importance Of Biodiversity

888 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Explain why biodiversity is important

Biodiversity is the diversity of all living things: plants, animals living in a particular region or area. Many think Biodiversity is just about animals and wildlife we see every day, but a big part of it is microscopic bacteria. Biodiversity is known to many as a totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region. There are three types of Biodiversity, genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity. Genetic diversity is the number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It is used to distinguish one animal or specie from another as they are all genetically different. Species diversity is the number of species and amount of each specie in a particular area. This can also be called Species Richness. …show more content…

In the last 10 years, the global population has increases from 1.6 to 1.7 billion and the worlds economy has increased increases by over seven times. Biodiversity is a major resource for many different industries and companies which govern the world economy (Mondal, 2016). Essentials such as fuel sources, food supplies and medical supplies are provided and supplied as a result of Biodiversity. Forestry, hydropower and almost all vital ecosystem industries and services depend on the conservation of biodiversity. Through natural chemical removal, food distribution and many other processes biodiversity has provided over $2.9 trillion in annual benefits worldwide (Florida, 2011). It is clear that biodiversity is essential and exceptionally benefits for the world and its …show more content…

An American biologist, researcher and a former Harvard professor is known for countless work in biodiversity and the creation of the EO Wilson foundation. E.O Wilson believed that by preserving the biodiversity of an ecosystem it would improve the resilience and functionality of an ecosystem. By doing so this would result in a healthy functioning ecosystem which truly benefits all the life forms in which the ecosystem depends on (Wilson, 2017). One of E. O Wilsons biggest goals was to enhance the public’s understanding and appreciation of Biodiversity. With that he made the “Encyclopedia of Life”, where he informs and inspires people about the importance and significance of conserving and protecting the biodiversity and the natural world (Mission Statement, 2017). In Wilsons recent TED talk on this “Encyclopedia of Life”, he speaks about “HIPPO”. HIPPO stands for Habitat Destruction, Invasive Species, Population, Pollution, Overharvesting. HIPPO is a way of remembering and informing people about the major threats to biodiversity and factors involved in the eroding of earths biosphere (Wilson, 2007). His “Encyclopedia of Life” is his solution for this horrible man-made issue. Most importantly, it benefits the new generation of students and

Show More
Related

  • Of Ants And Men: Film Analysis

    1054 Words  | 3 Pages

    The inspiring documentary film, E.O. Wilson—Of Ants and Men, showcases biologist Edward Osborne Wilson’s passion for preserving the biodiversity of our natural world. E.O. Wilson not only values the fascinating creatures (particularly ants) that he comes across during his research and in his daily life, but he also takes action and participates in the Gorongosa Restoration Project at Gorongosa National Park in Mozambique, Africa. The destruction of Gorongosa demonstrates the call for us—Homo sapiens—to realize how critical it is to concern ourselves with protecting the very ecosystems that have molded us into the complex species that we are; according to E.O. Wilson, “We adapted over millions of years to wild environments…We really need them” (CITE?). The better effort we make to understand that we are a part of this large, interdependent ecological community, the better equipped we become in not only being

    Read More

  • Parking Lot Lab Report

    851 Words  | 2 Pages

    (http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1O7-densityfrequencydominance.html) Biodiversity is the number of richness or the number of species in a local area. This happens when someone can look at a species, in order to indicate a degree of uncertainty. This can happen by calculating the number of species given, where the individual is picked at random from the community. In other words, if the diversity is high, then oneself will have a poorer chance of correctly calculating the species of the next individual picked at random. (http://www.tiem.utk.edu/~gross/bioed/bealsmodules/shannonDI.html) This experiment was a way to find out the diversity of the school parking lot and the possibility to identify the type or model of the student’s, faculties and guest

    Read More

  • Genetic Diversity: Mutations, Sexual Reproduction, Migration, and Population Size

    569 Words  | 2 Pages

    The study of heredity is what is referred to as genetics. Genetic diversity is therefore described as any variation in the genes, chromosomes, nucleotides or sometime change in the whole genomes of an organism. Though genome is not well branded term for many, it is the entire balance of DNA within the cell or organelles of the organism. When one talks of genetic diversity in its most elementary level, it is represented by differentiation in the sequence of nucleotides that form the DNA within the cell of an organism.

    Read More

  • The Endangered Species Act

    1890 Words  | 4 Pages

    Long-term survival of a species depends on its ability to adapt to changing environmental conditions (Murphy, 1994). Genetic diversity within a species, which has taken 3.5 billion years to evolve, makes adaptations to these changing environments possible. Unfortunately, the rate of extinction of genetically diverse organisms is rapidly increasing, thus reducing this needed biodiversity, largely due to the human impacts of development and expansion. What was an average of one extinction per year before is now one extinction per hour and extinct species numbers are expected to reach approximately one million by the year 2000 (WWW site, Bio 65). As a result governmental and societal action must be taken immediately!

    Read More

  • The Importance Of Diversity In Health Care

    772 Words  | 2 Pages

    There are many aspects to include when defining diversity. Diversity is understanding biological variations, space, social organization, communication, time and environmental control of a culture. The first aspect is understanding the different biological variations within different cultures of people. Biological variations include: body structure,

    Read More

  • The Diversity of Life by Edward O. Wilson

    2055 Words  | 5 Pages

    The first section of the book is titled “Violent Nature, Resilient Life.” In the beginning of this section, Wilson recalls one of his trips to the Amazon rainforest, during which an electric thunderstorm in the middle of the night created an incredible display of biodiversity. He says that he has kept going back to this area for almost forty years, as the amount of diversity there almost guarantees that he will discover new species upon each visit. Wilson then states the importance of biodiversity: “It is diversity by which life builds and saturates the rain forest. And diversity has carried life beyond, to the harshest environments on Earth” (Wilson 11). He later adds that biodiversity is the key to the survival of the world as we know it. In order to back up these claims, he cites Krakatau, an island near Indonesia that was bombarded by a series of volcanic eruptions in 1883. Although much of the life seemed to disappear at the time, it soon grew back, and today there are not many visible clues that a disturbance of that magnitude ever occurred. In the following chapter, Wilson discusses extreme disturbances (such as the meteor that killed all the dinosaurs), saying that although they have the potential to drive many species extinct, the level of diversity in affected areas always recovers, as they allow other species to fl...

    Read More

  • Deforestation and Biodiversity

    2666 Words  | 6 Pages

    Deforestation, defined by biologist Charles Southwick as "the destruction of forests; may involve clear-cutting or selective logging" (p. 365), is a predominantly human-driven process that is dramatically altering ecosystems worldwide. "Clear-cutting" involves the indiscriminant removal of every single plant and tree species from within a selected area. The other major process of deforestation, "selective logging," focuses removal efforts on only specific, predetermined tree species within a chosen area. The statistics gathered about human deforestation over time are considerable, and they can be somewhat controversial. Depending on the source and the location selected, the magnitude of deforestation varies. Southwick estimates that, approximately 10,000 years ago, 6.2 billion hectares (23.9 million square miles) of forest existed on earth (p. 117). That figure is equivalent to 45.5% of the earth's total land. He further estimates that, by 1990, this amount had declined 30%, with only 4.3 billion hectares of forest remaining (p. 117). Southwick also acknowledges other estimates that place the total amount of deforestation between 50% and 75% (p. 117). NASA has similar deforestation statistics that confirm these trends. According to their website, 16.5% of the Brazilian Amazon forests have been destroyed. They also note similar magnitudes of deforestation in Southeast Asia (Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam), despite the significantly smaller total area of forest within these countries. These grim figures are somewhat tempered by the NASA finding that, over the past ten years, the deforestation rate has declined from 6,200 square miles per year to 4,800 square miles per year. Though this trend is n...

    Read More

  • We Must Protect Our Environment

    1004 Words  | 3 Pages

    According to World WildLife Fund, many ecosystems around the world are being destroyed, eliminating many plant and animal species that inhabit them (“Pollution”).

    Read More

  • Biological Diversity Convention

    781 Words  | 2 Pages

    The Convention on Biological Diversity (hereafter: “CBD”) is an international treaty adopted by United Nations Conference on Environment and Development, held at Rio de Janeiro in June 1992 and came into force on December 29, 1993. Initially when it came into force there were 168 members now it is 193 in total. The aim to protect biodiversity and the dramatic steps taken for conservation, sustainable use and the fair and equitable sharing of benefits attracted the world communities to become members (History of the Convention, n.d). In principle the convention on biological diversity changed the ownership concept of biodiversity protection i.e. (“common heritage of humankind”) to the “sovereign right” of each member country (Hirsch, 2012). It is the responsibility of the each member to develop and implement policies in a way that helps in the conservation and sustainable use of biological resources. It also recognizes the knowledge of local and indigenous people for conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity (Brahmi et al., 2004).The article 8(j) of CBD has an important provision which gives the member state rights to “respect, preserve and maintain” traditional style and knowledge about the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. The protection must promote the wider application of such knowledge and stimulate innovation and also ensure that the benefits are shared in fair and equitable manner to the communities.

    Read More

  • Biodiversity Hotspots Essay

    518 Words  | 2 Pages

    The most interesting thing that I have learned about Biological Geography this semester is biodiversity hotspots. Before taking this class I had no clue what biodiversity hotspots where and how big of a role they play on humans. Biodiversity hotspot is biogeographic region with a significant reservoir of biodiversity that it is under threat from humans. The idea of biodiversity first was introduced by Norman Myers and many scientist have contributed on this idea.

    Read More

  • Biodiversity Loss and Extinction

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    Biodiversity loss can lead to extinction, and hurt human life. It is our responsibility to take care of the environment. We bring in machines that harm the environment and destroy animal life. We need to limit ourselves on how much land and resources we consume. There are major issues that are causing species to become extinct and hurt our way of life and other animals do to the change in food chain.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Biodiversity Conservation Essay

    1569 Words  | 4 Pages

    The United Nations designated 2011-2020 as the United Nations Decade on Biodiversity. In biodiversity, each species, no matter how big or small has an important role to play in ecosystem. Various plant and animal species depend on each other what each offers and these diverse species ensures natural sustainability for all life forms. A healthy and solid biodiversity can recover itself from variety of disasters. It is estimated that the current species extinction rate is between 1,000 and 10,000

    Read More

  • Importance Of Conservation Of Biodiversity Essay

    897 Words  | 2 Pages

    NEED AND PURPOSE FOR CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY:         Biodiversity, a contraction of “biological diversity,” generally refers to the variety and variability of life on Earth. The very existence of human species and sustainable development depend on biodiversity conservation, therefore the need for conservation of biodiversity is basically for this reason that all living creatures need other creatures and plants in one way or the other. At least 40 per cent of the world’s economy and 80 per cent of the needs of the poor are mainly derived from biological resources. Biodiversity is necessary for our existence as well as valuable in its own right as it provides the fundamental building blocks for the many goods and services which are essential

    Read More

  • Amazon Rainforest Extinction

    1204 Words  | 3 Pages

    The Earth is far and away the most biodiverse planet in our solar system, with about 8.7 million more unique species than the other 8 planets (UNEP). However, the Earth’s commanding lead is shrinking; not because the other planets are increasing biodiversity, but because Earth’s is decreasing. According to the World Wildlife Fund, we as a planet are losing 1,000 to 10,000 more species than the natural rate. Since the total number of species is hard to pin down, this can mean anywhere from 200 to 10,000 species going extinct per year (World Wildlife Fund). This obscenely high extinction rate is dangerous not just to ecosystems directly affected by the loss, but also creates a domino effect that circles around the globe and up and down the food

    Read More

  • Loss of Biodiversity

    998 Words  | 2 Pages

    Nowadays it is common to read articles in newspapers and magazines regarding biodiversity issues. Human beings have been knowingly and unknowingly destroying biodiversity since their existence. Biodiversity is the measure of the variety of species of animals living in an area. Forests are usually areas with high biodiversity while deserts are the opposite. Human beings have always destroyed biodiversity either by deforestation, or by some other means. Biodiversity depletion is a natural phenomenon. But the present levels of biodiversity depletion are many times higher than the natural rate. Recently the levels of loss in biodiversity have started causing global concern. Some of the main causes for loss in biodiversity are alteration of habitats, increasing levels of pollution and human population growth.

    Read More

More about The Importance Of Biodiversity

Open Document