Simply put, biodiversity refers to variety of all life on Earth (“biological diversity”). There are different levels to biodiversity, ranging from the differences in genes within a single species to interactions between species across an ecosystem and everything in between. It’s a broad, all-encompassing term used to describe something very fundamental to our human lives. We share the planet with about 1.7 million other species and it’s the interactions between them and the Earth which has allowed humanity to flourish. Though this number may seem large, it only refers to those species which have been documented. Likely there are many, many species we haven’t discovered yet.
We exist in a web of connectedness, with each species playing its part to support the ecosystem processes we rely on to provide us with food, drinkable water, a livable climate, and breathable air. At a first glance, small mammals may not seem like they have anything to do with air quality. However, trees – which take up carbon dioxide and produce oxygen – rely on these animals to move their seeds around so new trees may grow. Food-crop diversity and the animals which pollinate them are crucial to the agriculture which support us. When a food crop is plagued by disease, diversity can save the system from collapse. Plant and animal diversity also support the medical industry with many pharmaceuticals using natural compounds which cannot be artificially created. Beneath the surface, fish transport and redistribute important nutrients between different habitats.
Biodiversity is valued for both utilitarian and intrinsic reasons; we benefit from the goods and processes biodiversity supports, but it is also recognized to be valuable regardless of if it can turn a profit. Unfortunately, biodiversity is declining worldwide. Extinction is a natural occurrence. However, across Earth’s history, extinctions tended to be balanced out by the evolution of new species. The extinction rates observed today are about 1000 times faster than historic levels. When species go extinct faster than new species can evolve, there is an overall loss in biodiversity which in turns impacts the ecosystem goods and services we rely on.
Written by S. Beal, August 2022