what is biodiversity in essay

ENCYCLOPEDIC ENTRY

Biodiversity.

Biodiversity refers to the variety of living species on Earth, including plants, animals, bacteria and fungi. While Earth’s biodiversity is so rich that many species have yet to be discovered, many species are being threatened with extinction due to human activities, putting the Earth’s magnificent biodiversity at risk.

Biology, Ecology

Grasshoppers

Although all of these insects have a similar structure and may be genetic cousins, the beautiful variety of colors, shapes, camouflage, and sizes showcase the level of diversity possible even within a closely-related group of species.

Photograph by Frans Lanting

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Biodiversity refers to all the different kinds of living organisms within a given area, including plants, animals, fungi and other living things. It includes everything from towering redwood trees to tiny, single-cell algae that are impossible to see without a microscope. 

Kinds of Biodiversity

A common way to measure biodiversity is to count the total number of species living within a particular area. Tropical regions—areas that are warm year-round—have the most biodiversity. Temperate regions, which have warm summers and cool winters, have less biodiversity. Regions with cold or dry conditions, such as mountaintops and deserts, have even less biodiversity. 

Generally, the closer a region is to the Equator, the greater the biodiversity. At least 40,000 different plant species live in the Amazon Rainforest of South America, one of the most biologically diverse regions on the planet. By contrast, only around 600 plant species live on the Antarctic continent and in its lakes.

The warm waters of the western Pacific and Indian Oceans tend to have the most diverse marine environments. The Bird’s Head Seascape in Indonesia is home to more than 1,600 species of fish and more than 70 percent of the world’s coral species. Many of the corals build coral reefs, which are home to hundreds more species, from tiny seaweeds to large sharks.

Some regions in the world have a large number of endemic species, meaning species that exist only in that place. The Cape Floristic Region in South Africa is home to about 6,200 plant species found nowhere else in the world. Areas with high numbers of endemic species are called biodiversity hotspots. Scientists and communities are making a special effort to preserve biodiversity in these regions.

Biodiversity can also refer to the variety of ecosystems, or communities of living things and their environments. Ecosystems include deserts, grasslands and rainforests, among others. The African continent is home to tropical rain forests, alpine mountains and dry deserts. It enjoys a high level of biodiversity. Antarctica, covered almost entirely by an ice sheet, has low biodiversity.

Another way to measure biodiversity is through genetic diversity. Genes are the basic units of biological information that are passed on when living things reproduce. Human beings have about 25,000 genes. Some genes are the same for all individuals within a species—they are what make a daisy a daisy and a dog a dog. But some genes within members of the same species are different. This genetic variation is why some dogs are poodles and some are pit bulls, or why some people have brown eyes and some people have blue eyes. 

Greater genetic diversity within a species can make that species more resistant to diseases, and it allows a species to better adapt to a changing environment. 

Importance of Biodiversity

All species are interconnected; they depend on one another. Forests provide homes for animals. Animals eat plants, which need healthy soil to grow. Fungi help decompose organisms to fertilize the soil. Bees and other insects carry pollen from one plant to another, which enables the plants to reproduce. With less biodiversity, these connections weaken, and sometimes break, harming all the species in the ecosystem.

Ecosystems with a lot of biodiversity are generally stronger and more resistant to disease than those with fewer species. For instance, some diseases kill only one kind of tree. In the early 1900s, American chestnut blight killed most of the chestnut trees in the eastern forests of North America. The forest ecosystem was able to survived because other kinds of trees also grew there.

Biodiversity is important to people in many ways. Plants, for instance, help humans by giving off oxygen. They also provide food, shade, construction material, medicines and fiber for clothing and paper. The root system of plants helps prevent flooding. Plants, fungi and animals, such as worms, keep soil fertile and water clean. As biodiversity decreases, these systems break down. 

Hundreds of industries rely on plant biodiversity. Agriculture, construction, medical and pharmaceutical, and fashion industries all depend on plants for their success. When the biodiversity of an ecosystem is interrupted or destroyed, the economic impact on the local community can be enormous.

Biodiversity is especially important to the medical and pharmaceutical industries. Scientists have discovered many chemicals in rainforest plants that are now used in helpful medications. One of the most popular and safe pain relievers, aspirin, was originally made from the bark of willow trees.

Medicines that treat some forms of cancer have been made from rosy periwinkle ( Catharanthus roseus ), a flower that grows on the African island of Madagascar. Traditional medicine practitioners across Africa and Asia have used the flower for centuries to treat diabetes and stomach issues. This led scientists to investigate the chemistry of the plant in the 1950s, leading to the discovery that it could be used to treat cancer.

Indigenous people around the world, particularly those who live in tropical rainforests, have long used plants for medicinal purposes. Scientists have studied only a small percentage of rainforest species in their search for cures. Many important drugs have evolved from field observations of how Indigenous people use certain plants for healing. This kind of research is called ethnobotany. But thousands of species are at risk of becoming extinct before scientists can determine whether they might be useful in medicines.

Decreasing Biodiversity

In the past hundred years, biodiversity around the world has decreased dramatically. Thousands of species are in danger of extinction. Extinction is a natural process; some species naturally die out while new species evolve. But human activity has changed the natural processes of extinction and evolution. Scientists estimate that species are dying out at hundreds of times the natural rate.

Human activity altering and destroying natural habitats is a major reason for the loss of biodiversity. As habitats shrink, fewer species can live there. Those that survive have fewer breeding partners, leading to a decline in genetic diversity.

People and corporations clear and pollute land to plant crops, keep livestock, further develop cities, mine precious metals or build housing and factories. Human-driven climate change and development have destroyed about 35% of the world’s wetlands since 1970, a habitat that 40% of plant and animal species depend on. People cut down forests for lumber and to make space for cattle ranching, which accounts for 80% of deforestation in Amazon countries. Companies have cleared large areas of rainforest in Indonesia and Malaysia to create vast plantations of palm oil trees. Companies use the fruit of the tree to create palm oil for commercial use. This large-scale deforestation is destroying habitats for critically endangered wildlife.

Pollution, overfishing and overhunting have also caused a drop in biodiversity. Global climate change—the latest rise in the average temperature around the globe, linked to human activity—is also a factor. Warmer ocean temperatures damage fragile ecosystems, such as coral reefs. A single coral reef can shelter thousands of fish species and other sea creatures, such as clams and sea stars. Scientific research has linked climate change to human activities, like burning fossil fuels and clearing forests for agriculture.

Biodiversity can also be harmed by non-native species. When people introduce species from one part of the world to another, they typically have no natural predators. These non-native species thrive in their new habitat, often destroying native species in the process. Brown tree snakes, for instance, were accidentally brought into Guam, an island in the South Pacific, in the 1950s. Because brown tree snakes have no natural predators on Guam, they quickly multiplied. The snakes, which prey on birds, have hunted at least 10 of the island’s native forest-dwelling bird species to extinction.

People all over the world are working to maintain the planet’s biodiversity. In the United States, the Endangered Species Act protects over 2,000 organisms that are in danger of extinction. In a historic move in 2021, African Parks relocated 30 white rhinos from South Africa to Rwanda’s Akagera National Park to establish a protected breeding population of white rhinos. Some organizations are working to create sustainably grown mushrooms to satisfy consumers as well as the local ecosystem.

Around the globe, thousands of wilderness areas have been set up to conserve plants, animals and ecosystems. Local, national and international organizations are cooperating to preserve the biodiversity of regions threatened by development or natural disasters. The United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) World Heritage Site program recognizes areas of global importance, such as the enormous wetland region of the Pantanal in South America. Many national parks, such as Glacier National Park in the U.S. state of Montana, protect biodiversity within the park by restricting extractive activities, such as mining and drilling. In Ecuador, the Jocotoco Foundation has purchased land across the country to protect the habitats of threatened wildlife. More than 16 biological reserves have been established, including areas in the Amazon rainforest and the Galapagos Islands. 

Marine protected areas (MPAs) have been established to preserve sea life. In the MPA around Australia’s Great Barrier Reef, no-fishing zones have helped fish populations thrive. People are also working to limit pollution and restore coral reef ecosystems in the area. As ecosystems become healthier, their biodiversity increases.

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Essay on Biodiversity

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Introduction:

Biodiversity also known as biological diversity is the variables that exist among several species living in the ecosystem. These living organisms include marine, terrestrial and aquatic life. Biodiversity aims to understand the positions these organisms occupy in the broader ecosystem.

Importance of Biodiversity:

When there is biodiversity in our ecosystem it translates to a greener environment. This is because plant life thrives in a balanced ecosystem. This invariably affects humans as we consume plants for our survival. Also, a healthy ecosystem can help to reduce the risk of diseases and the way we respond to them.

Increasing Biodiversity:

Some changes could be encouraged to improve biodiversity in our environment.

Some of them are:

1. Stopping penetration of invasive alien species.

2. Using sustainable agricultural methods.

3. Having protected areas for spices to thrive.

4. Having an organic maintenance culture for fertilizers.

Conclusion:

To make the world a safe place for all organisms, we must maintain good health in all the ecosystems. This is the benefit of paying attention to biodiversity.

Diversity is the hallmark of nature. Things exist in different forms which creates diversity. Biodiversity is a significant and desirable variation in plant and animal existence on the surface of the earth. The variation exists due to genetics, species and the ecosystem or the habitat. Biodiversity is an important aspect in the world because it enables the survival and sustainability of living things on earth.

Types of Biodiversity:

The variation in living things has resulted in different types of biodiversity depending on the certain variables. Genetic diversity is due to the genetic components shared by living organisms. The species that have similar genes diverge and they develop differently thus creating biodiversity. Species diversity occurs when a habitat comprises different kinds of living things. Ecological diversity is through the interaction of living things that share common sources of energy in an ecosystem which contributes to biodiversity.

The existence of living things in an ecosystem and the functioning of the ecosystem contribute to the relevance of biodiversity in nature. Through biodiversity, living organisms are able to acquire food and other important resources to sustain their lives. The climate and environmental changes are regulated because of biodiversity. The culture is enriched through biodiversity as it involves existence of several groups of species and people in one environment.

All the three types of biodiversity are important to the existence of living organisms. The ecosystem is the hallmark of diversity because it helps to sustain the lives of diverse living things.

Biodiversity is the variability or the diversity of the different species of life forms. The planet earth is habitat for a wide variety of flora and fauna like plants, animals and other life forms.

What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity or Biological diversity refers to the variety and variability of living beings on planet earth and it is the degree of variation of life. It represents the wealth of biological assets available on earth and encompasses microorganism, plants, animals and ecosystems such as coral reefs, forests, rainforests, deserts etc.

Threats to Biodiversity:

The growing population, industrialization, technology, etc., all are impacting biodiversity. The increased human activities have been reducing the natural area for plants, animals and other living things. A number of plants and animals have gone extinct because of increased deforestation and other factors. Growing pollution, causing global warming and climate change, is a big threat to biodiversity. The decline in biodiversity would in turn lead to imbalance in the ecosystem and would become a threat to the human race as well as other living organisms.

Different plants and animals are dependent on others to live and keep the natural surroundings in a balanced state. For example, human beings are dependent on various plants and animals for their food, shelter, safety, clothes etc. Similarly, every living species is dependent on some other species. It is, therefore, important to preserve biodiversity in our planet in order to maintain the ecological balance.

Protecting Biodiversity:

As we know, the biodiversity loss is a serious threat for human race, we all should work for maintaining biodiversity, and find out solutions to reduce the biodiversity decline. Since, air pollution and deforestation are major threats to biodiversity, these are the first things that need to be controlled. Government should frame stricter laws and organizations should sensitize people to be concerned about it and contribute their bit.

Biodiversity, also referred to as the biological diversity refers to the diversified form of plants and animals that exists in our planet . It also denotes each and every aspect of the ecosystem such as micro-organisms, coral reefs, rainforests, deserts, forests etc.,

A good balance in biodiversity supports human race and humans on the other hand must ensure to save biodiversity. This essay is going to talk about the importance of biodiversity and the role of human beings in safeguarding the ecosystem.

There are more than 300,000 species of flora that has been identified and there should be many more unidentified varieties. Similarly there must be infinite variety of other species in our Earth and these together form a perfect natural protection for the human race. Biodiversity supports human race in different ways.

Few of them are listed below:

1. Some of the species capture and stores energy and releases it back in the atmosphere for human consumption.

2. Some biological species help in decomposing organic materials and thus acts as a natural recycling agent.

3. Plants and trees help in reducing pollution and maintain the purity of atmospheric air.

4. It is from the biological resources that humans receive food and shelter.

5. The astonishing beauty of biodiversity is the base for tourism industry to flourish.

Decline in Biodiversity:

The Earth’s biodiversity is undergoing a severe decline and this is a great threat to the human race. There are several factors that lead to the decline in biological species, the most significant one being the behavior of human beings.

1. Human beings destroy forests to build houses and offices. Through deforestation humans are actually destroying the natural habitat of many plants and animals.

2. All new scientific inventions are causing harm to the environment. We cannot even find some species of birds today because of the increase in noise pollution.

3. Global warming is another reason for the decline in biodiversity. Some species require specific climate to survive and when the climatic conditions change continuously these species either migrate or become extinct. Decline in the number of coral reefs are a perfect example.

Steps to Be Taken:

The Government and different voluntary organizations must act upon immediately to create awareness among people on environmental issues and its consequences. It is also the responsibility of every common man to save mother Earth by maintaining a rich biodiversity .

If proper care is not taken, the biodiversity of Earth may become extinct one day and if it happens then, humans have to find another planet to live. It’s better to act now before it gets too late.

Biodiversity can be said to mean the extreme importance of a very wide variety of animals and plants that are resident on the planet earth or in a particular habitat. It is very necessary to maintain the level of biodiversity on the earth so that the environmental harmony can be balanced. Biological diversity is another name for biodiversity and is widely the variability or diversity of all the different species of animals and plants on this planet. Having a very high biodiversity is extremely essential to help maintain the surroundings in a state of harmony. Biodiversity can be loosely defined as a variety of fauna and flora that are available in a specific habitat or the planet earth. Biodiversity is largely originated from the terms – species diversity and species richness.

Biodiversity is mainly a united view of the biological varieties. A lot of other words and terms have been at one time or another used to explain diversity. Some of these terms include taxonomic diversity (this comes from a species diversity point of view), ecological diversity (this comes from an ecosystem diversity point of view), morphological diversity (this comes from a genetic diversity point of view) and functional diversity (this comes from the point of view of the functions of the species). Biodiversity gives quite a uniform view of the above discussed biological varieties.

Biological diversity is quite important because its helps maintain the ecological balance in a system. Different animals and plants depend on one another to fulfill all of their needs. For example, we human beings depend on various animals and plants for our clothes, shelter and food. Other species also do the same and depend on a variety of other species to sustain them and provide them with the basics. Biodiversity and its beautiful richness ensure that the earth is fit enough for the survival of each and every one of the organism living on the earth. However, the ever increasing pollution is negatively affecting biodiversity. Quite a lot of animals and plants have gone into extinction as a result of this pollution and a lot more are going to become extinct if proper care is not taken and the pollution of the environment continues to exponentially and this would cause a sharp decline in the biodiversity.

We human beings have to understand how important the maintenance of the immensely rich biodiversity is. Smokes from vehicles causes a high rate of air pollution and this causes harm to a lot of species. The level of pollution in the atmosphere has to be put under control. Water bodies like seas, oceans and rivers are polluted by the release of industrial wastes into the. These wastes are very harmful to the marine organism and life in the water bodies. There is therefore a need to try as much as possible to dispose industrial wastes through other means and methods that do not harm the environment. The industrial wastes can be primarily treated before being disposed into the water properly and safely.

When you are a biology student biodiversity is one of the most important words you can learn. Not only that but it also becomes your lives calling to maintain it. But let’s not get ahead of ourselves before we can understand why it is important, we need to understand what it is.

This term refers to the many different life forms that inhabit the earth at this moment, this includes bacteria, plants, animals and humans and it also refers to their shared environment. Life has manifested itself in many different forms we do not know why exactly but we are certain that they all exist and depend on each other for survival.

Why is biodiversity important?

The answer to this question is more important than just simply stating what biodiversity is. My personal experience as a student has thought me that I learn best when I have an example so I will give you an example of the importance of biodiversity.

The famous Yellowstone Park is a natural reserve and national park but before it was declared as such it was just another forest that man wanted to hunt in. The geographical region had many wolfs inhabiting its plains, for generations they were hunted until they became extinct in the region. After a while, the coyotes began to reproduce as they hade more space and they started hunting the small mammals, which lead to a decrease in the population of eagles in the area but the most significant change came because of the deer. After fifty years of no wolfs in the park the number of roe deer rose and since they had no natural predators, they no longer feared open grasslands. That’s when they started grazing extensively which depleted the grass on the shore of the Yellow stone river and this, in turn, made the soil loos. The river began to take away a lot of soil and to deposit it in other places flooding certain areas while at the same time causing droughts to happen in other places.

Biologists came to the park with a wish to restore its wolf population and after a decade of planning and working they restored one pack to the park. The pack soon made the deer go back to the forest so they could be harder to hunt, the coyote’s population dropped because they couldn’t compete with the wolf, that led to the increase of small rodents which let to the return of carnivores’ grate birds. But above all the grazing on the river edge stopped and after a few years, the Yellowstone river returned to its natural flow.

This story is completely true and I love to use it as an example of the importance of maintaining biodiversity. There are many regions in the world that have similar problems and if we do not do our best to conserve biodiversity, we could be looking at similar or even worst natural catastrophes.

People tend to mass produce and they do this with most things. They will destroy a forest of many thousands of life forms to make a plantation with one single plant, the same is true of animal farming. With our need to be productive all the time we lose sight of the small things that make the system function as whole. Even though an insignificant thing as a bug or a wolf pack might seem the least important for our daily lives once we take them out of the picture, we see that the balance and wealth biodiversity gives to the planet is not something that can be easily compensated.

The genetic, species and ecosystem variability of flora and fauna on earth are known as Biodiversity. For painting what exactly is Biodiversity, we need a large canvas beyond imagination. Such is the volume of the subject. But, the actual meaning and terms are still not clear.

Keeping it very simple and to the point, the term ‘Biodiversity’ comprises of two words. The first word is Bio, and the other one is Diversity. Bio means the forms of life and Diversity means mixture or variety. So, when both the words combine they form a definition like this ‘Biodiversity means various and mixed forms of life on earth.’ The variety of life forms on earth includes plants and animals and their natural habitat.

Facts about Biodiversity:

Digging into the term ‘Biodiversity’ more generously makes us realize that we have over 10,000 species of birds on earth. The amazing number blows everyone’s mind. Insects have a different counting, and their species are in millions. Plants are also a part of this biological system, and hence there are more than 20,000 species of plants.

Even after so many species of plants, animals and insects have specified there are still over millions of species which are not known by anyone. These species cannot be counted under any head as they don’t pursue an identity. The actual picture says that earth is home to almost 50 million species or even more than that. These facts do not conclude the point because one or the other day there may be many new species evolving.

Biodiversity is essential for survival. The importance of Biodiversity not only related to plants, animals and natural habitat. But it also provides us so many natural products such as fibre and timber and the fresh water to carry out our daily lives. Therefore we need to understand the importance of Biodiversity.

1.   The natural and organic resources:

In the happiness of living our lives, we often forget that Biodiversity is a part of nature. We should protect it no matter whatever be the limitations. Mother Nature has provided us with enough resources which are the Biological Resources. These include wood, medicines, food, etc., which are direct blessings of Biological System or by-product of the Biological Systems. Herbs and plants play a vital role in producing medicines. They may get their final touch from the pharmaceutical companies, but the original source is plants which are again a part of Biodiversity.

2. Biodiversity provides fibres:

It is important to know that wool, jute, palms, etc., use to produce various types of fibres after processing which are again part of the Biological Systems. So, if biodiversity does not persist how people will have access to these fibres? Flax plants use for the production of linen, which is extensively using for making clothes. Similarly, Corchorus plants and Agave plants are using for the production of Jute and sisal respectively. These fibres are no doubt essential for the cloth industry. Therefore it becomes our duty to maintain the Biodiversity.

3. Powerful benefits of Biodiversity:

People may not be aware of the importance, but there are many spiritual benefits of biodiversity. Our folk dances, mythology, and history have a deep link with the Biodiversity in one or the other way. Everyone enjoys or experience the Biodiversity in a different format. Biological diversity also contributes to attracting tourists, especially flora and fauna, which is a rare phenomenon in cities. Therefore it is our ethical duty to preserve Biodiversity.

Preserve Biodiversity:

There are different ways in which we can preserve our Biological environment. Biodiversity should be protected by following these ways.

i. People should stop the process of hunting and poaching the animals. They are a part of Biodiversity.

ii. Protection of endangered species and their surroundings.

iii. We need to curb pollution for protecting Biodiversity.

iv. The explosive growth of population is a threat to Biodiversity. So, to maintain the biological balance, we need to have the population growth under control. Otherwise, people will be exploiting natural resources unethically for survival.

All steps must be taken to protect biodiversity. Things may seem difficult in the initial stages but practicing them will lead to genuine results. Creating awareness on environmental issues and the negative impact of the loss of biodiversity will let people understand the inevitable need for biodiversity conservation.

It is our responsibility to protect the endangered species of plant and animals. If one wants to reach their destination, then it is imperative to take the first step. Without taking a step forward, things will never change on their own. To make a better tomorrow, we need to take steps for preserving our very own Biodiversity.

Biodiversity is a term used to refer the different forms of life on the Earth. It also includes the variety of species in the ecosystem. There is an uneven distribution of the biodiversity on the Earth due to the extreme variation of temperatures in different regions. For instance, it is more in regions near the equator due to warm climatic conditions. However, near the pole, the extreme cold and unfavourable weather conditions do not support a majority of life forms. Additionally, changes in climatic conditions on the Earth over a period of time have also led to the extinction of a number of species.

Biodiversity is often defined at different levels depending upon the category of species. For example, taxonomic diversity is used to measure the species diversity level of different forms of life on the Earth. Ecological diversity is a broader term used for the ecosystem diversity. Similarly, functional diversity is a type used to measure diversity based on their feeding mechanisms along with other functions of species within a population.

Distribution:

There is an uneven distribution of biodiversity on the Earth. In fact, it increases from pole to equator. The climatic conditions of a region decide the presence of different species in an area. Not all species can survive in all weather conditions. Moreover, lower altitudes have a high concentration of species as compared to higher altitudes.

The importance of biodiversity does not only lie in the survival of various species of the earth. There is social, cultural as well as the economic importance of it as well. Biodiversity is of extreme importance to maintain the balance of nature. It is vital to maintaining the food chain as well. One species may be the food for another species and various species are linked to each other through this food chain. Apart from this, there is scientific importance of the biodiversity as well. The research and breeding programmes involve the variety of species. If these species cease to exist then such programmes shall not be possible.

Also, most of the drugs and medicine which are vital for the cure of many diseases are also made from many plants and animals. For instance, penicillin is a fungus through which the penicillin antibiotic is extracted.

Another important importance of biodiversity is that it provides food to all including human beings. All the food we consume is either derived from plants or animals such as fishes and other marine animals. They are also the source of new crops, pesticides and source material for agricultural practices.

Biodiversity is also important for industrial use. We get many products such as fur, honey, leather and pearls from animals. Moreover, we get timber for plants which are the basis of the paper we use in our everyday life. Tea, coffee and other drinks along with dry fruits and our regular fruits and vegetables, all are obtained from the various plants.

There is cultural and religious importance of many species as well. Many plants and animals are worshipped in different cultures and religions such as Ocitnum sanctum (Tulsi) which is a plant worshipped by Hindus.

Biodiversity in India:

India ranks among the top 12 nations which have a rich heritage of biodiversity. There are about 350 different species of mammals along with 12000 different species of birds which are found in India. Additionally, there are around 50000 species of insects which have their habitat in our country. There are a wide variety of domestic animals such as cows and buffaloes along with marine life which is found in India. Moreover, India is a land of 10 different biographical regions which include islands, Trans Himalayas, Desert, Western Ghats, Gangetic Plain, Semi-arid zone, Northeastern zone, Deccan Plateau, Coastal islands and the Western Ghats.

The Gradual Decrease:

Not all species which existed in the ancient times exist today as well. For example, dinosaurs used to exist on our planet in older times. But they were not able to adapt to the changing environmental conditions which led to their extinction from the Earth. Similarly, there are many other species which are on the verge of extinction due to the urbanisation and modernisation of the world. With the increase in population, there has been a constant need to reduce the forest areas and make way for new cities. This has led to the reduction in forests which are the natural habitat for many wild animals and plants. Due to this many wild plants have become extinct and there has been an increase in the man-animal conflict as well. Hence there has been a need to conserve the biodiversity so as to maintain the balance of nature.

Initiatives for the Conservation of Biodiversity:

There have been initiatives by the governments all over the world to conserve the existing biodiversity on the earth. For example, there are dedicated national parks which earmark the area for wild animals and plants and reduce human intervention in their lives. There are various wildlife conservation programmes in place to protect the vulnerable and endangered species. For example, Project Tiger is one such measure in place to increase the population of tigers in our country.

There are also many laws in place which make the hunting of endangered and vulnerable animals a punishable offence. At the international level, UNESCO (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization) and IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources) have also initiated many programmes in order to preserve various species.

It is not possible for the human to live all alone on the Earth. Various other life forms are equally important and play their roles in the mutual survival of the various species on the Earth. Each one of species has its own set of contribution for the environment. Already many species have become extinct as they were not able to survive in the changing weather conditions. Hence it is our duty to ensure that our activities do not affect the other flora and fauna on the planet. Although there are a number of steps taken by the government so as to preserve the various life forms, we should also contribute individually towards this cause. If we do not act today, we may yet again witness the extinction of the vulnerable biodiversity which may further disturb the balance of nature.

Biodiversity , Ecosystem , Environment

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Biodiversity includes not only species we consider rare, threatened, or endangered but also every living thing—from humans to organisms we know little about, such as microbes, fungi, and invertebrates.

At the Center for Biodiversity and Conservation, we include humans and human cultural diversity as a part of biodiversity. We use the term “ biocultural ” to describe the dynamic, continually evolving and interconnected nature of people and place, and the notion that social and biological dimensions are interrelated. This concept recognizes that human use, knowledge, and beliefs influence, and in turn are influenced, by the ecological systems of which human communities are a part. This relationship makes all of biodiversity, including the species, land and seascapes, and the cultural links to the places where we live—be right where we are or in distant lands—important to our wellbeing as they all play a role in maintaining a diverse and healthy planet.

How do we study biodiversity?

Exploration and monitoring.

To study biodiversity, scientists conduct expeditions to survey and monitor species, habitats, and their interactions. On these expeditions, scientists ask questions about, measure, and collect data on various dimensions, such as population sizes and trends, distribution and habitat use, and impacts of management or other human activities. From primates in Southeast Asia to flamingos in the Andes, the CBC is engaged in numerous monitoring projects across the globe.

Tools of the trade 

Biodiversity scientists use a variety of tools for collecting and analyzing data at various scales. Landscape monitoring techniques , for instance, use imaging systems such as remote sensing and drones to capture images across an area. Machine learning can be used to identify and count species or classify landscape types captured in these images or in video or audio clips. Mathematical modeling with software such as Maxent enables scientists to model species niches and distributions across these landscapes and predict how they will respond to climate change. New technological advances enhance our ability to monitor biodiversity and implement conservation and management activities.

Read more about the CBC’s Biodiversity Informatics Program to learn how information technology can be used to collect, organize, and analyze biodiversity data.

Synthesizing evidence

The vast knowledge collected through these various methods forms the evidence that decision-makers need to enact effective and sustainable conservation approaches.

Learn more about our evidence-informed practice by reading about the CBC’s Evidence Initiative .

Building capacity

By strengthening the ability of community leaders, educators, managers, and other professionals to study biodiversity, we improve our ability to effectively manage and conserve the variety of life.

The CBC’s program in Southeast Asia develops capacity for conservation science through multidisciplinary research training of Vietnames graduate and undergraduate students, direct training of protected area staff in survey techniques, and co-leading training workshops on improving wildlife trade management.

The CBC’s Network of Conservation Educators and Practitioners (NCEP) improves training, teaching, and learning in biodiversity conservation with up-to-date, open-access resources for teaching and learning on a range of conservation topics, and by leading training and research initiatives to advance the field of conservation education.

Why is biodiversity important?

Biodiversity is important to most aspects of our lives. We value biodiversity for many reasons, some utilitarian, some intrinsic. This means we value biodiversity both for what it provides to humans, and for the value it has in its own right. Utilitarian values include the many basic needs humans obtain from biodiversity such as food, fuel, shelter, and medicine. Further, ecosystems provide crucial services such as pollination, seed dispersal, climate regulation, water purification, nutrient cycling, and control of agricultural pests. Biodiversity also holds value for potential benefits not yet recognized, such as new medicines and other possible unknown services. Biodiversity has cultural value to humans as well, for spiritual or religious reasons for instance. The intrinsic value of biodiversity refers to its inherent worth, which is independent of its value to anyone or anything else. This is more of a philosophical concept, which can be thought of as the inalienable right to exist. Finally, the value of biodiversity can also be understood through the lens of the relationships we form and strive for with each other and the rest of nature. We may value biodiversity because of how it shapes who we are, our relationships to each other, and social norms. These relational values are part of peoples’ individual or collective sense of wellbeing, responsibility for, and connection with the environment. The different values placed on biodiversity are important because they can influence the conservation decisions people make every day.

Developing community-based partnerships are crucial for supporting communities in the management and conservation of biodiversity that are vital to their wellbeing.

Threats to Biodiversity

Over the last century, humans have come to dominate the planet, causing rapid ecosystem change and massive loss of biodiversity across the planet. This has led some people to refer to the time we now live in as the “anthropocene.” While the Earth has always experienced changes and extinctions, today they are occurring at an unprecedented rate. Major direct threats to biodiversity include habitat loss and fragmentation, unsustainable resource use, invasive species, pollution, and global climate change. The underlying causes of biodiversity loss, such as a growing human population and overconsumption are often complex and stem from many interrelated factors.

The good news is that it is within our power to change our actions to help ensure the survival of species and the health and integrity of ecological systems. By understanding threats to biodiversity, and how they play out in context, we can be best prepared to manage conservation challenges. The conservation efforts of the last decades have made a significant difference in the state of biodiversity today. Over 100,000 protected areas—including national parks, wildlife refuges, game reserves, and marine protected areas, managed both by governments and local communities—provide habitat for wildlife, and help keep deforestation in check. Other types of conservation actions such as restoration, reintroduction, and the control of invasive species, have also had positive impacts on conservation efforts And these efforts have been bolstered by continuous efforts to improve environmental policies at local, regional, and global scales. It is vitally important that these policies recognize and center local values, needs, and realities to sustainably manage resources for healthy ecological as well as human communities.  By acknowledging the interconnections and feedbacks between people and nature, assessing our existing knowledge, and applying evidence to our conservation decisions, we can develop effective approaches for conservation and sustainability for all life on Earth.

Learn more about what we do and what you can do to make a difference today.

Biodiversity 101: Why it matters and how to protect it

The Earth is undergoing a mass extinction that could see up to a million species disappear in the coming decades – and humans are contributing heavily to this.

The numbers are staggering: the population sizes of vertebrate species, which include mammals, reptiles, birds and fish, dropped by around half between 1970 and 2010 . A quarter of mammals, 40 percent of amphibians, and 30 percent of sharks and rays are currently endangered .

During the 20th century, extinction rates were about 100 times higher than they would have been without humans significantly altering most of the planet’s surface .

What does this loss of biodiversity mean for the future of the planet and its inhabitants – and what can we do about it? The first step is understanding the basics, unraveled in easy-to-digest terms here in this explainer:

What is biodiversity?

How is biodiversity measured, what are the benefits of biodiversity, what are the main threats to biodiversity, how can we protect biodiversity.

Coined by biologists in the 1980s as a contraction of biological diversity , the term usually refers to the variety of life on Earth as a whole . The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) breaks it down as follows :

“Biological diversity” means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part.

But the CBD makes it clear that measuring biodiversity is no simple feat:

This includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Let’s start with biodiversity between species, or species diversity . Arguably the simplest measure is ‘species richness’ – a count of how many species live in a community.

But species richness does not consider the relative abundance of each species, or its importance to an ecosystem or landscape, or its value to people. As such, biologists have invented diversity indices, such as the Simpson index and the Shannon index , to take these factors into account.

When talking about biodiversity loss, we often focus on losses in species diversity, as it is crucial to maintain the balance of ecosystems, nutritional value of food, and enhance resilience of ecosystems and landscapes to the threats of climate change and other risks like weeds and pests.

Yet genetic diversity – the characteristics of a species’ genetic makeup – is equally important, as it ensures resilience to change and stressors on a more individual level.

Consider the following analogy: in investing, a diversified portfolio minimizes risk and usually provides the most reliable returns. Likewise, genetic diversity protects a species from being wiped out by an external shock like a natural disaster or disease outbreak.

At the largest scale is the concept of ecosystem diversity , which measures how many different ecosystems exist within a geographical area or wider landscape. The more ecosystems exist within a landscape, the more resilient that landscape is, and the more services it has to offer its inhabitants. 

These include wetlands , which contain over 40 percent of the value of the world’s ecosystems ; peatlands , which store a third of the planet’s soil carbon; and lesser-known tropical forests such as monsoon and karst forests , which are among our best natural defenses against climate change.

You might have also heard of ‘biodiversity hotspots.’ These are landscapes with exceptionally high concentrations of biodiversity. 43 percent of bird, mammal, reptile and amphibian species are only found in areas that make up just 2.4 percent of the Earth’s surface .

Healthy and functional ecosystems play a crucial role in sustaining human livelihoods through providing necessities and benefits such as food, water, energy sources and carbon sequestration, known as ‘ecosystem services.’

One study estimates that each year, the goods and services provided by the planet’s ecosystems contribute over USD 100 trillion to the global economy , more than double the world’s gross domestic product (GDP). But much debate remains over how to factor in non-monetary values, such as natural beauty, regulating functions, and providing homes for humans and animals.

Underpinning ecosystem services are genetic diversity and biodiversity. Genetic diversity supports agriculture by building resilience and protecting against environmental stresses such as pests, crop diseases and natural disasters . This provides a source of income and safeguards the food security of much of the world’s poor.

Biodiversity also plays a role in some ‘ nature-based solutions ’ to climate change and problems caused by changes in the environment. These solutions could provide up to a third of the carbon emissions reductions needed to meet the Paris Agreement goals .

Including biodiversity in nature-based solutions, though, must be a conscious choice. Tree planting , for instance, can come in the form of monocultures (planting just a single species in a landscape) or agroforestry, which mixes species of agricultural crops and trees in a single landscape to enhance the sustainability of both.

While each of these cases offers a different set of financial and environmental benefits, most experts will sing the praises of nature-based solutions that take into account biodiversity over those that don’t.

And, let us not forget: the planet’s various ecosystems and landscapes also hold considerable intrinsic value to humans, whether for their recreational opportunities, their cultural importance to Indigenous communities , or their contributions to physical and mental health . Without biodiversity, these values will be lost.

In a seminal report published last year, the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) identified five direct drivers of biodiversity loss: changes in land and sea use, overexploitation, climate change, pollution, and invasive species.

These five drivers, it argues , are in turn driven by increasing demand for natural resources, as well as governance structures that prioritize economic growth over conservation and restoration.

Land and sea use

The most widespread form of land-use change has been the expansion of agriculture : according to the IPBES report, over a third of the Earth’s land surface is now used for cropping or livestock, mainly at the expense of forests , wetlands and grasslands.

The tropics , which are home to the highest levels of biodiversity on Earth, are now seeing their ecosystems replaced by cattle ranching in Latin America and plantations in Southeast Asia .

Other key land-use changes include logging, mining and urbanization. Coastal and marine ecosystems have also been significantly affected by activities such as offshore aquaculture, bottom trawling, coastal development and ocean mining .

Overexploitation

The IPBES suggests that fishing has had a larger impact on marine ecosystems than any other human activity: 33 percent of marine fish stocks are currently overfished, and 60 percent are being fished to their sustainable limits. Poaching and hunting , too, are driving many mammals to the brink of extinction.

Climate change

Humans have caused the planet to warm by around 1 degree Celsius since pre-industrial times – and biodiversity is already bearing the brunt of that warming. Climate change is reducing the distribution of many species (the geographical area in which they can survive), including almost half of all endangered mammals.

Changes in the ecological balance can also result in species that can beneficial turning into pests and plagues once their natural enemies are reduced or disappear: think locusts, mosquitos, algae.

Many plants and animals are also experiencing disruptions to their phenology , which refers to seasonal life cycle events such as flowering, migration and hibernation.

Mining, agriculture, industry and other pervasive changes in human’s land-use are contributing to air, water and soil pollution. The IPBES notes that coastal waters contain the highest levels of metals and organic pollutants, such as industrial discharge and fertilizers.

Similarly, marine plastic pollution has increased tenfold since 1980, primarily affecting marine turtles, seabirds and marine mammals, as well as humans indirectly through the food chain.

Invasive species

An invasive alien species is a species that has been introduced to a new location and starts to disrupt its new habitat. These species can threaten native biodiversity by out-competing them for resources, and they’re spreading ever more quickly as international travel and trade expands. A recent study found that one-sixth of the Earth’s land surface is highly vulnerable to invasion , including many biodiversity hotspots.

Humanity’s ecological footprint is about 70 percent larger than the planet can sustain – and in the world’s richest countries, that figure is as much as four or five times larger. Given these huge inequalities in both living standards and ecological impact, residents of industrialized nations can – and should – do their part to preserve biodiversity by helping contribute to more sustainable global systems.

At the individual level, that could include reducing air travel, buying organic , eating less red meat, avoiding fast fashion , and turning your backyard into a carbon sink .

At the international and policy level , we need commitments to restore the Earth’s ecosystems , following the examples set by the Everglades and farmers in the African Sahel .

Indigenous and local communities are deep and rich sources of traditional knowledge of how best to care for increasingly fragile landscapes. Technological innovation is a crucial tool too.

And with biodiversity worth more in monetary terms than the entire global economy , there’s a clear business case to be made for investing in restoring the planet .

• agriculture , alien species , biodiversity , biodiversity loss , carbon sequestration , climate change , Convention on Biological Diversity , ecosystem restoration , ecosystem services , ecosystems , endangered species , farming , food security , invasive species , land use , landscape restoration , landscapes , mitigation , nature-based solutions , pollution , restoration , species loss , tree planting

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Essay on Biodiversity in 500 Words for Students

• Updated on  
• Dec 7, 2023

Essay on Biodiversity: Biodiversity refers to the variety of animals and plants in the world or a specific area. Even in today’s modern world where so many technological advances have taken place, we still rely on our natural environment and resources to survive, A healthy and vibrant ecosystem is not disturbed by human activities. We humans are the largest consumers of natural resources, and you know what? We are also a real threat to the natural environment? Biodiversity is not just about a variety of animal and plant species, but, also offers us water, climate, disease control, nutrition cycle, oxygen release, etc. According to one report released by the United Nations, around 10 lakh plant and animal species are on the verge of extinction. The worst thing is that this number is almost at a doubling rate.

Also Read: Essay on 5g Technology

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Why is Biodiversity Important?

Biodiversity supports all life forms on earth. To understand the importance of biodiversity, we don’t need to think or act like a biologist. All we need is a holistic understanding. 

• Biodiversity promotes resilience and stability in our ecosystem. If there is any natural disturbance in the environment, a diverse ecosystem will be able to survive and recover better.
• Fields like agriculture, forestry, and medicine completely rely on biodiversity. We get genetic resources from biodiversity, which is essential for agriculture and medicine fields.
• A healthy biodiversity environment means healthy humans. The medicinal drugs we use are derived from plants, animals, and microorganisms.
• In many parts of the world, biodiversity is an integral part of cultural identity. Indigenous tribes are connected with their natural environment and species. 
• Forest areas and oceans play an important role in regulating global temperature and storing carbon dioxide.
• Our environment is constantly changing and the species around it also need to adapt to for to survive. Therefore, genetic diversity within species is also important.
• Natural activities like soil formation, nutrient cycling, water purification, etc, are all dependent on biodiversity.

Also Read: NCERT Solutions Class 9 Natural Vegetation and Wildlife

What is Biodiversity Loss?

Biodiversity loss means the global extinction of various species, resulting in the loss of biological diversity. One of the main factors responsible for biodiversity loss is the conversion of natural habitats into agricultural and urban areas. Cutting down forests and using the land for commercial activities results in destroying the livelihood of all the species in the region. Other factors responsible for biodiversity loss are listed below.

• Overexploitation
• Climate change
• Global trade and transportation
• Emerging diseases
• Pollution 

Also Read: Essay on Save Environment

What is Biodiversity Conservation?

Biodiversity conservation refers to the preservation of species, natural resources, and habitats from the rate of extinction. To achieve the goals of biodiversity conservation, effective management, and sustainable practices are required.

• Biodiversity conservation includes protected areas like biodiversity hotspots, national parks, and wildlife sanctuaries.
• One of the most effective ways to conserve biodiversity is rehabilitation and restoring degraded habitats is crucial.
• Promoting sustainable practices in agriculture, forestry, and other resource-dependent activities is essential for the conservation of biodiversity.
• Encouraging the participation of local and indigenous communities can be one solution to achieving the goals of biodiversity conservation. Indigenous and local knowledge can contribute to effective conservation strategies.

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Quotes on Biodiversity

Here are some popular quotes on biodiversity. Feel free to add them to your writing topics related to the natural environment.

• ‘Look closely at nature. Every species is a masterclass, exclusively adapted to the particular environment in which it has survived. Who are we to destroy or even diminish biodiversity?’ – E O Wilson
• ‘Biodiversity is our most valuable but least appreciated resource.’ – E O Wilson
• ‘Biodiversity is the greeted treasure we have. It’s diminishment is to be prevented at all cost.’ – Thomas Eisner
• ‘Animal protection is education to humanity.’ – Albert Schweitzer
• ‘Only beautiful animals or ugly people wear fur.’ – Unknown
• ‘Babies and animals are the mirrors of the nature.’ – Epicurus

Also Read: Essay on Globalization

Also Read: How to Prepare for UPSC in 6 Months?

Ans: Biodiversity refers to the variety of plants and animals in our natural environment or a particular region. Biodiversity supports all life forms on earth. To understand the importance of biodiversity, we don’t need to think or act like a biologist. All we need is a holistic understanding. Biodiversity promotes resilience and stability in our ecosystem. If there is any natural disturbance in the environment, a diverse ecosystem will be able to survive and recover better. Fields like agriculture, forestry, and medicine completely rely on biodiversity. We get genetic resources from biodiversity, which is essential for agriculture and medicine fields.

Ans: Biodiversity conservation refers to the preservation of species, natural resources, and habitats from the rate of extinction. To achieve the goals of biodiversity conservation, effective management, and sustainable practices are required.

Ans: Some of the popular biodiversity hotspots in India are the Himalayas, Indo-Burma, Western Ghats & Sundaland.

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Shiva Tyagi

With an experience of over a year, I've developed a passion for writing blogs on wide range of topics. I am mostly inspired from topics related to social and environmental fields, where you come up with a positive outcome.

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What Is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity.

Biodiversity is the extraordinary variety of life on Earth — from genes and species to ecosystems and the valuable functions they perform. E.O. Wilson, the noted biologist and author who coined the term “biodiversity,” explains it as “the very stuff of life.”

For at least 3.8 billion years, a complex web of life has been evolving on Earth. Millions of species inhabit land, freshwater, and ocean ecosystems. All species, including human beings, are intricately linked by their interactions with each other and the environments they live in.

Biodiversity — short for biological diversity — is the variety of all living things and their interactions. Biodiversity changes over time as extinction occurs and new species evolve.

Scientists often speak of three levels of diversity: species, genetic, and ecosystem diversity. In fact, these levels cannot be separated. Each is important, interacting with and influencing others. Changes at one level can cause changes at other levels.

What Is a Species?

Species come in all shapes and sizes, from organisms so small they can only be seen with powerful microscopes to huge redwood trees. They include bacteria, protozoa, fungi, flowering plants, ants, beetles, butterflies, birds, fishes, and large animals such as elephants, whales, and bears. Each species is a group of organisms with unique characteristics. An individual of a species can reproduce successfully, creating viable offspring, only with another member of that species.

We are still learning about how many species exist and how they relate to each other and their environment. Current estimates are of about 10 million species on Earth, of which only about 1.9 million have been named and catalogued. Scientists race to catalog species before they go extinct. An "endemic" species occurs in a particular area and nowhere else.

New species are still being discovered, for example by scientists from the Smithsonian National Museum of Natural History. Entomologist Dr. Jonathan Coddington and colleagues published the discovery of the largest web-spinning spider ( Nephila komaci ) in the world in 2009. In 2012, Dr. Terry Erwin and colleagues discovered 177 species of parasitic wasps . Using submersibles to study deep coral reefs, Icthyologist Dr. Carole Baldwin continues to encounter new species of fish . The study of fossils reveals new species from the past that are now extinct. For example, Paleobiologist Dr. Nick Pyenson and colleagues discovered that the diversity of sea cow species used to be higher on Earth.

When a new species is discovered, it is given a name. Scientific naming follows certain rules or conventions. A new species is assigned to a genus based on its relatedness to other organisms. Its unique species name may be related to one characteristic that makes the species different from others, the place it was found, or can have the name of a colleague.

In 2013, Smithsonian Mammalogist Dr. Kristofer Helgen and colleagues named the first new species of carnivorous mammal recorded from the Americas in 35 years. Its relatedness to "olingos" placed it in the genus Bassaricyon , while its species name, neblina , refers to the Andean cloud forests (neblina = "fog") in which it was found. A new species of jellyfish discovered by Dr. Allen Collins  was given the scientific name of Tamoya ohboya , thanks to a teacher's claim that people said "oh boy" when they saw it.

What Is Genetic Diversity?

Biodiversity includes the genes that every individual inherits from its parents and passes on to the next generation. Genetic diversity is found everywhere, from the variety of songs and feather colors of birds to the colors, tastes, and textures of apples and other foods. Genetic variation, which determines the extent to which individuals can adapt to their environments, is extremely important to their survival.

A genome is the complete set of genetic material (i.e., DNA) of an organism. To preserve Earth’s genomic diversity, scientists at the National Museum of Natural History are collecting and freezing hundreds of thousands of DNA samples. The collection will be used for the new field of genomics , a discipline that sequences, assembles, and analyzes the function and structure of genomes, providing information into the future about plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, and protists, even those that are extinct. The Smithsonian's repository of DNA is just one of many that together make up the Global Genome Project that seeks to preserve genetic samples from every species on Earth.

What Is Ecosystem Diversity?

Genes determine the traits of individuals that form populations of a species. Individuals from different species interact to form communities. These interact dynamically with non-living environmental components, such as water or minerals, to form an ecosystem. Some ecosystems such as tropical forests and coral reefs are especially complex and host a large number of species. Other ecosystems such as deserts and Arctic regions have less complexity and thus a lower number of species, but all those species are ecologically important and some are endemic to that ecosystem.

Monitoring Biodiversity

Many Smithsonian scientists are working on ways to monitor and measure biodiversity over time. Smithsonian Conservation Biology Institute scientists Dr. Francisco Dallmeier  and Dr. Alfonso Alonso  developed a Framework for the Assessment and Monitoring of Biodiversity. The framework provides guidance about how to go about designing and implementing assessments and monitoring programs, how to report the information gathered, and how to use the gathered scientific information to track the conditions of ecosystems and the species that inhabit them.

For more than three decades, Smithsonian scientists and institutional collaborators with the Forest Global Earth Observatory (ForestGEO) have been studying forest biodiversity and function at more than 60 sites around the world. A newer initiative, the Marine Global Earth Observatory (Marine GEO), brings together Smithsonian marine scientists from the U.S., Belize, and Panama to collaborate with colleagues from around the world to monitor ocean ecosystems.

Botanist Dr. John Kress  took a leadership role in 2006 when the Smithsonian and five other international scientific organizations founded what is now Consortium of Scientific Partners on Biodiversity and has grown to include 24 major scientific organizations as partners. The Consortium looks for innovative ways to investigate biodiversity and explore solutions to loss of biodiversity as humans continue to interact with the biosphere.

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• Biodiversity Essay

Essay on Biodiversity

Biodiversity is a term made up of two words - Bio meaning Life, and Diversity meaning Variety. The term biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth. Plants, animals, microbes, and fungi are all examples of living species on the planet.

Types of Biodiversity  

Genetic Biodiversity- Genetic diversity is the variation in genes and genotypes within a species, e.g., every human looks different from the other. 

Species Biodiversity- Species Diversity is the variety of species within a habitat or a region. It is the biodiversity observed within a community.

Ecosystem Biodiversity- Ecological biodiversity refers to the variations in the plant and animal species living together and connected by food chains and food webs.

Importance of Biodiversity 

Biodiversity is an integral part of cultural identity. Human cultures co-evolve with their environment and conservation is a priority for cultural identity. Biodiversity is used for Medicinal purposes.

Many plants and animals are used for medicinal purposes, like vitamins and painkillers. It contributes to climate stability. It helps in controlling the effects of climate change and managing greenhouse gases. 

Biodiversity provides more food resources. It supplies many vital ecosystems, such as creating and maintaining soil quality, controlling pests, and providing habitat for wildlife. Biodiversity has a relationship with Industry. Biological sources provide many Industrial materials including rubber, cotton, leather, food, paper, etc.

There are many economic benefits of Biodiversity. Biodiversity also helps in controlling pollution. Biodiversity helps in forming a healthy ecosystem. Biodiversity also acts as a source of recreation. Along with other factors, biodiversity helps in improving soil quality.

Long Essay on Biodiversity 

There are many economic benefits of Biodiversity. Biodiversity is a source of economic wealth for many regions of the world. Biodiversity facilitates Tourism and the Recreational industry. Natural Reserves and National Parks benefit a lot from it. Forest, wildlife, biosphere reserve, sanctuaries are prime spots for ecotourism, photography, painting, filmmaking, and literary works.

Biodiversity plays a vital role in the maintenance of the gaseous composition of the atmosphere, breakdown of waste material, and removal of pollutants.

Conservation of Biodiversity  

Biodiversity is very important for human existence as all life forms are interlinked with each other and one single disturbance can have multiple effects on another. If we fail to protect our biodiversity, we can endanger our plants, animals, and environment, as well as human life. Therefore, it is necessary to protect our biodiversity at all costs. Conservation of Biodiversity can be done by educating the people to adopt more environment-friendly methods and activities and develop a more harmonious and empathetic nature towards the environment. The involvement and cooperation of communities are very important. The process of continuous protection of Biodiversity is the need of the hour.

The Government of India, along with 155 other nations, has signed the convention of Biodiversity at the Earth Summit to protect it. According to the summit, efforts should be made in preserving endangered species. 

The preservation and proper management methods for wildlife should be made. Food crops, animals, and plants should be preserved. Usage of various food crops should be kept at a minimum. Every country must realize the importance of protecting the ecosystem and safeguarding the habitat. 

The Government of India has launched the Wild Life Protection Act 1972 to protect, preserve, and propagate a variety of species. The Government has also launched a scheme to protect national parks and sanctuaries. There are 12 countries - Mexico, Columbia, Peru, Brasil, Ecuador, Democratic Republic of Congo, Madagascar, India, China, Malaysia, Indonesia, and Australia, in which Mega Diversity Centres are located. These countries are tropical and they possess a large number of the world’s species.

Various hotspots have been made to protect the vegetation. There are various methods for conserving biodiversity. 

If biodiversity conservation is not done efficiently, each species would eventually become extinct due to a lack of appetite and hunger. This scenario has been a big issue for the last few decades, and many unique species have already become extinct. As a result of a lack of biodiversity protection, several species are still on the verge of extinction.

FAQs on Biodiversity Essay

1. What are the three types of Biodiversity?

Biodiversity is referred to as the variability that exists between the living organisms from different sources of nature, such as terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems. Biodiversity has three levels, which are genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. This is also considered as the type of ecosystem.

2. What is Biodiversity and why is it important?

Biodiversity is responsible for boosting the productivity of the ecosystems in which every species, no matter how small, has an important role to play. For example, a greater variety of crops can be obtained from a plant species which is in large numbers. If species diversity is in a greater amount, then it ensures natural sustainability for all life forms.

3. What is the connection between Biodiversity and the Food Chain?

If a single species goes extinct from the food chain, it will have an impact on the species that survive on it, putting them on the verge of extinction.

4. How are human beings affecting biodiversity?

Pollution- Pollution not only affects human beings, but also affects our flora and fauna, and we should control the pollution to conserve our biodiversity.

Population- Population control is a must to maintain a balance in our ecological system. Humans contribute to pollution by bursting crackers and by not following all the traffic rules.

5. How does Deforestation affect biodiversity?

Deforestation- Trees are very important for survival. They help in balancing out the ecosystem. Deforestation leads to the destruction of habitat. Deforestation should be stopped to protect our animals and plants. Deforestation not only removes vegetation that is important for removing carbon dioxide from the atmosphere, but it also emits greenhouse gases.

Essay on Biodiversity 1000+ Words

Biodiversity, short for biological diversity, is a remarkable tapestry of life that blankets our planet. It encompasses the variety of living organisms, ecosystems, and habitats that make Earth a vibrant and thriving place. In this essay, we will delve into the importance of biodiversity, the threats it faces, and why we should protect it.

The Marvelous World of Biodiversity

Imagine a world without colorful flowers, buzzing bees, towering trees, or majestic tigers. Biodiversity is what makes our world so diverse and beautiful. It includes everything from tiny microbes in the soil to the largest whales in the ocean. Earth’s rich biodiversity provides us with essential resources, from food to medicine, and enriches our lives in countless ways.

The Benefits of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is not just about pretty landscapes and exotic animals; it plays a crucial role in sustaining life on Earth. It helps maintain a stable and healthy environment. For instance, forests with diverse tree species are better at absorbing carbon dioxide, a greenhouse gas that contributes to climate change. Biodiversity also supports pollinators like bees and butterflies, which are essential for our food supply. The more diverse our ecosystems, the more resilient they are to threats like diseases and extreme weather.

Food and Medicine

Biodiversity is the foundation of our food system. Different plant and animal species provide us with a wide range of foods, from fruits and vegetables to grains and meats. Moreover, many of the medicines we rely on come from plants and animals. For example, the bark of the willow tree gave us aspirin, and the Madagascar periwinkle plant provides a lifesaving medicine for cancer patients. Protecting biodiversity ensures that we have a diverse and healthy diet and access to essential medicines.

Cultural and Recreational Value

Biodiversity isn’t just about science and survival; it also enriches our cultures and leisure activities. Many indigenous communities around the world have deep cultural connections to the land and its diverse species. Biodiversity inspires art, literature, and music. Imagine a world without the fascinating stories of animals like the African elephant or the enchanting songs of birds like the nightingale. Biodiversity enhances our quality of life in ways we might not even realize.

Threats to Biodiversity

Despite its immense value, biodiversity is under threat. Human activities, such as deforestation, pollution, overfishing, and habitat destruction, are driving many species to the brink of extinction. Climate change, fueled by the burning of fossil fuels, poses another significant threat. Rising temperatures can disrupt ecosystems and push species out of their habitats. These threats not only endanger the creatures themselves but also disrupt the delicate balance of our planet.

Conservation Efforts

The good news is that people around the world are working hard to protect biodiversity. Conservation organizations, scientists, and governments are implementing measures to safeguard endangered species and preserve critical habitats. National parks and wildlife reserves provide safe havens for countless plants and animals. Additionally, there are international agreements like the Convention on Biological Diversity aimed at preserving biodiversity on a global scale.

What You Can Do

You, as a young environmental advocate, can also play a crucial role in protecting biodiversity. You can start by learning more about the species and ecosystems in your area. Participate in local conservation efforts, like planting trees or cleaning up parks. Reduce your environmental footprint by conserving water, reducing waste, and using energy-efficient appliances. Spread the word about the importance of biodiversity to inspire others to take action.

Conclusion of Essay on Biodiversity

In conclusion, biodiversity is a precious gift that we must cherish and protect. It sustains life on Earth, provides us with essential resources, and enriches our cultures and enjoyment of the natural world. However, it faces serious threats from human activities and climate change. By understanding the importance of biodiversity and taking action to conserve it, we can ensure a healthier and more vibrant planet for future generations. Let us celebrate the wonders of biodiversity and work together to safeguard the incredible diversity of life on Earth.

Also Check: Simple Guide on How To Write An Essay

Biodiversity Explained: Facts, Myths, and the Race to Protect It

By MJ Altman on January 4, 2023

A baby sloth hangs in a tree at the Bosque da Ciência in Manaus, Brazil. PHOTO: Michael Dantas/United Nations Foundation

As ecosystems and habitats degrade and disappear worldwide, biodiversity — the interconnectedness of all forms of life on our planet — is in jeopardy. In light of a new global agreement to protect our lands, ocean, and waters, explore what biodiversity really means and what it will take to preserve life on Earth.

From microscopic fungi to mega forests, “biodiversity” is the collective term for the variety of life on Earth in all its forms. It is 4.5 billion years of evolution, embodied.

Biodiversity is responsible for our food, our soil, our water, our weather, even the air we breathe. Yet despite being a crucial foundation for our collective future, biodiversity is often lost amid conversations on climate change — until recently.

In December 2022, leaders from nearly 200 nations adopted a landmark UN agreement to reverse nature’s rapid decline before it’s too late. Known as the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework , it calls for protecting 30% of the planet’s land, ocean, and inland waters and includes 23 other targets to help restore and protect ecosystems and endangered species worldwide.

Here are 12 things you should know:

1. Biodiversity is more than just the total number of species on Earth.

“It is actually more complex than that,” Dr. Thomas Lovejoy, the late ecologist, told the United Nations Foundation in 2018. “It’s about the genetic diversity within species, the diversity of habitats, and the large biological units known as biomes.”

This includes the interactions that occur between species within ecosystems – primordial relationships that shape our environment in countless, often unseen ways.

“Without biological diversity, there is no other life on Earth — including our own,” he explained. “Even though we are often oblivious to it, this diversity of life is what provides clean water, oxygen, and all other things that end up being part of our diet, as well as clothing and shelter. It provides a lot of psychological benefits too, which are not much appreciated.”

2. We’re only just beginning to understand biodiversity’s influence and importance in our lives.

Earth’s many ecosystems rely on a delicate, complicated, and fascinating tangle of life that, in many ways, remains a mystery. In fact, the term “biological diversity” wasn’t introduced to the scientific community until 1980 in a research paper on species loss by Dr. Lovejoy. Scientists still haven’t identified all forms of life on the planet. New species are discovered every year.

A harbor seal swims through kelp off the coast of Southern California's Channel Islands. Seals are among the thousands of species that rely on kelp forests for food and shelter. PHOTO: Shutterstock/Joe Belanger

Take kelp, for example. These undersea forests provide sustenance and shelter for marine species like chinook salmon, which, in turn, serve as a staple food for orcas. And kelp also absorb excess carbon dioxide, which can help mitigate climate change.

3. The planet’s biodiversity holds enormous, untapped potential for medical and scientific breakthroughs.

Lovejoy described each species on the planet as a unique set of solutions for a particular set of biological problems. “Whoever would have thought a bacterium from a Yellowstone hot spring would revolutionize forensic and diagnostic medicine, make the human genome project possible, and confer benefits in the trillion-dollar range?” he wrote as a Senior Fellow at the United Nations Foundation, citing a previously unknown and seemingly inconsequential microbe discovered in 1966 that revolutionized genetic testing and immunization development, including the COVID-19 vaccine.

A flowering plant grows from a tree in the Amazon Rainforest, near the research station known as Camp 41 north of Manaus, Brazil. PHOTO: Michael Dantas/United Nations Foundation

Today, one-fourth of all modern medicines are derived from tropical plants, and 70% of all cancer drugs are natural or bio-inspired products. In the past decade, researchers in Nova Scotia found a soil fungus that can disarm antibiotic-resistant bacteria — a discovery that could transform the fields of medicine and agriculture. The possibilities for discovery and innovation are monumental.

4. Climate change and biodiversity are interconnected.

Climate change is causing biodiversity loss, and biodiversity loss is causing climate change. Here’s how: Destroying and degrading ecosystems releases more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere than burning fossil fuels.

Meanwhile, the consequences of burning fossil fuels — rising global temperatures, an increase in wildfires, and ocean acidification, to name a few — are threatening habitats and wildlife alike. In late 2019 and early 2020, for example, more than 60,000 koalas were killed by wildfires in Australia so massive that nearly 3 billion animals died or were displaced as a result. Earlier this year, the Australian government officially listed koalas as an endangered species.

At COP 27 last year, world leaders reached a historic agreement to create a “loss and damage” fund to support communities that are already feeling climate change’s disastrous impact, including biodiversity loss and its impact on livelihoods.

More than 60,000 koalas were killed by wildfires in Australia in late 2019 and early 2020. Increased wildfires and subsequent habitat loss are just one of the consequences of climate change. PHOTO: Patrick Kavanagh

5. Biodiversity can help us adapt to climate change.

The UN considers biodiversity our strongest natural defense against climate change. Land and ocean ecosystems currently absorb 60% of human-caused emissions , and they are the planet’s only way of storing massive amounts of carbon dioxide. Coastal wetlands, for example, protect against storm surges and flooding during extreme weather while also storing carbon dioxide and creating oxygen.

According to a joint estimate by the UN Development Programme and the Government of Papua New Guinea, every dollar invested in environmental protection generates more than $2,500 in so-called ecosystem services — water regulation, coastal protection, carbon storage, and other invisible functions that nature provides. It’s one of the reasons that Papua New Guinea launched the first-ever national, independent Biodiversity and Climate Fund to protect its status as one of just 17 “megadiverse” countries.

6. Less biodiversity means a higher risk of disease.

For decades, the scientific community has warned that biodiversity loss increases the spread of infectious disease . Why? Because extinction upsets the ecosystem in unpredictable ways, and the destruction of natural habitats increases interaction between humans and wildlife. Biodiversity essentially acts as a barrier between humans and animal-borne disease.

Species that tend to survive logging, farming, mining, wildlife trade and consumption, and other human activities behind widespread biodiversity loss are often “vectors of disease” like mice and mosquitoes, which host pathogens that are able to make the jump to humans. It’s one of the reasons why cases of Lyme disease in the northeast United States have spiked in recent decades: With fewer mammals to prey on, ticks are increasingly seeking out people. In fact, roughly 75% of emerging infectious diseases are zoonotic .

It’s also why researchers like Dr. Alessandra Nava and her team of virus hunters at Brazil’s Fiocruz Amazônia are tracking the spread of disease in bats, monkeys, and rodents in the world’s largest rainforest. Their goal is to stay a step ahead of future pandemics by better understanding the pathogens contained within the jungle’s creatures before they come in contact with humans — encounters that become more likely as the human footprint expands.

A golden-backed squirrel monkey at the Bosque da Ciência, a rainforest park in Manaus, Brazil. PHOTO: Michael Dantas/United Nations Foundation

7. Biodiversity on land depends on biodiversity in water.

Maintaining the ocean’s ecological balance is crucial for protecting biodiversity on land, as well as maintaining our ability to feed future generations. The ocean plays a vital role in regulating the planet’s weather and water and the air we breathe. It is also the planet’s largest source of protein , feeding more than 3 billion people every day who rely on fish as a staple food.

Yet the ocean remains a vastly unexplored ecological frontier. While scientists have identified 200,000 marine species , the actual number is estimated to be in the millions. Unsustainable fishing practices, pollution, climate change, and habitat destruction are threatening creatures that may vanish before we even knew they existed.

8. Our planet’s biodiversity is on the brink.

Some 1 million species are threatened with extinction right now. That’s more than any other time in history, and they’re disappearing at a rate that is 1,000 times the norm. The culprit is the way most humans consume, produce, travel, and live.

A 2019 UN report found that we have altered 75% of the planet’s terrestrial environment, 40% of its marine environment, and 50% of streams and rivers. Nearly three-fourths of our freshwater resources are devoted to crop or livestock production, which often means using pesticides, fertilizers, fuels, and antibiotics that pollute our rivers, streams, seas, and soil. Every day we are destroying habitats and degrading massive amounts of soil and water through industrial manufacturing and agriculture while jeopardizing precious natural resources that could be lost forever in our lifetime; in the past two decades, we’ve lost half of the planet’s coral reefs . Deforestation in the Amazon rainforest hit a record high last year; some 18% is gone already, with scientists warning that we’re approaching a tipping point toward potential collapse .

9. Sustainability is the only way forward.

Such irresponsible production and consumption of our natural resources come at a catastrophic cost. We are destroying our planet at an unprecedented rate and losing a vast number of plants, animals, insects, and marine life in the process — to the detriment of our own future. Humanity’s health and well-being are dependent on a biodiverse planet.

Fortunately, examples are emerging of a greener, more sustainable way of doing business. Circular economic models are becoming more common as companies realize the economic and environmental value of reducing, reusing, and recycling their supply chain. At the same time, more citizens are demanding sustainable sourcing and socially just labor practices from their consumer goods. In 2022, the founder of the outdoor retailer Patagonia announced plans to invest all of the company’s profits toward combating climate change . “If we have any hope of a thriving planet — much less a business — 50 years from now, it is going to take all of us doing what we can with the resources we have,” Yvon Chouinard wrote .

Along Brazil’s Rio Negro, fourth-generation logger Roberto Brito de Mendonça stands in the dining lodge of his community’s ecotourism lodge. He retired from the family business to help start the operation, which includes a newly built classroom named in honor of Dr. Lovejoy. PHOTO: Michael Dantas/United Nations Foundation

10. Indigenous communities are crucial.

For thousands of years, Indigenous communities have served as the planet’s most effective environmental stewards. Today, according to the UN, Indigenous people manage more than 20% of the planet’s land and 80% of its biodiversity. “For us, it is not a passion, or a job,” Hindou Ibrahim of the Mbororo tribe in Chad, an SDG (Sustainable Development Goal) Advocate and Indigenous rights activist, told the UN last year. “It is our way of living. And that’s what we have done for all generations.”

In 2015, the UN created the Local Communities and Indigenous Peoples Platform to ensure their formal participation in global negotiations on climate change.

11. Conservation is critical.

One of our most promising solutions is preservation. Restoring degraded ecosystems alone could provide up to one-third of the climate mitigation needed to keep the Earth from warming too far above pre-industrial levels. This means creating protected areas, curbing extractive capitalism, and restoring the planet’s enormous amount of degraded land.

People across the globe are leading efforts to do just that. One inspiring example is Rita Mesquita, who expanded the amount of protected rainforest in Brazil by 76% during her time in the country’s Ministry of the Environment. Today, she oversees programs that encourage residents and visitors alike in Manaus to interact with the surrounding Amazon rainforest.

A Rhinoceros Beetle in Costa Rica’s National Park Tortuguero. The rhino beetle is one of the strongest insects in the world with relation to its body size, but because its tropical lowland habitat has been deforested and overcut, it is struggling to survive. PHOTO: GRID-Arendal/Peter Prokosch

12. We need cooperation — and revolution — at all levels.

We need partnerships among countries, communities, consumers, and corporations. And we’re seeing signs of progress every day. In fact, at COP 27, the Governments of Brazil, Democratic Republic of Congo, and Indonesia announced an alliance to protect their respective rainforests. Their historic agreement could pave the way for more multilateral action and impact. Coming just a month later, the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework represents an enormous and long-awaited step toward halting extinction rates that some scientists are calling an existential crisis akin to climate change.

A huge part of the solution to the biodiversity challenge will be transforming how we approach the natural world and our place within it. As Dr. Lovejoy told the UN Foundation in 2018 , “There needs to be a major shift in perception from thinking of nature as something with a fence around it in the middle of an expansive, human-dominated landscape … to thinking about embedding our aspirations in nature.”

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Biodiversity Essay | Essay on Biodiversity for Students and Children in English

February 13, 2024 by Prasanna

Biodiversity Essay: Biodiversity refers to all the wildlife and plant life that is around us, all over the world. It refers to the plentitude of flora and fauna around the planet earth, microorganisms included. Biodiversity is incredibly essential to the planet, as it is what maintains the balance of ecological systems on the earth. As the name suggests, ‘biological diversity’ or ‘biodiversity’ refers to the enormous and diverse range of biological creatures and living beings on the planet. Many different kinds of organisms are classified under the broad topic of biodiversity. These range from the largest Blue Whales to the minuscule bacteria living on our fingertips, and the tallest trees to the smallest plants which are the mere size of mustard seeds.

You can read more  Essay Writing  about articles, events, people, sports, technology many more.

Long and Short Essays on Biodiversity for Students and Kids in English

Given below are two essays in English for students and children about the topic of ‘Biodiversity’ in both long and short form. The first essay is a long essay on the biodiversity of 400-500 words. This long essay about biodiversity is suitable for students of class 7, 8, 9 and 10, and also for competitive exam aspirants. The second essay is a short essay on biodiversity of 150-200 words. These are suitable for students and children in class 6 and below.

Long Essay on Biodiversity 500 Words in English

Below we have given a long essay on biodiversity of 500 words is helpful for classes 7, 8, 9 and 10 and Competitive Exam Aspirants. This long essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 7 to class 10, and also for competitive exam aspirants.

Biodiversity is all around us, in the potted plants and mosquitoes in our homes, to the millions of species of animals and plants that exist in the deepest forests and jungles in the world. In simple words, biodiversity refers to the plentitude of flora and fauna around us in the world, on planet earth. It plays an incredibly necessary role in the world around us, as each organism, whether plant or animal, has a relevant role to play in its ecological system.

So why is biodiversity important in the first place? The answer to this question is much more simple than you’d think it to be – biodiversity is important because it is what our planet earth is made of. Whether we are talking about the hydrosphere or all of the earth’s land, it is filled with all kinds of animals, plants, and microorganisms. Thus, if these organisms, also known as the biodiversity of planet earth, keep constantly depleting, there will be nothing left of our planet.

There are thousands of species today that are endemic to specific regions in the world, which means that if the ecosystems in those regions cease to exist, these species of flora and fauna will, too. For example, the lemurs of Madagascar are endemic to Madagascar. Due to human-made circumstances, ecosystems are being destroyed, resulting in endemic species being put under the category of endangered. Endangered species are those on the verge of extinction, more often than not, due to unnecessary human activities. The Bengal tiger is endangered, and dodo birds have been extinct for centuries now. Another word for Conservation of Biodiversity is caring for the environment.

In today’s world of new advancements in infrastructure technology everyday, world leaders find it necessary to cut down a lot of trees in forests. This process is also called deforestation and is extremely harmful to the environment. The harm to the environment is due to the loss of trees which provide us oxygen and the multitude of organisms that depend on the ecosystem that these forests provide for them. Kilometers worth of forests are cut down in the name of development, reducing the biodiversity on our planet by tens of thousands with every ecosystem destroyed.

Even though biodiversity is decreasing, there are ways to restore it, even if not completely to its full extent. The best way to do this is reforestation, which refers to replanting trees to allow the forest to grow its trees back. Another solution to battle the loss of biodiversity is to spread awareness about the repercussions of the same. Governments have gone to the extent of setting up forest reserves and conservatories to protect the wildlife and flora of specific forest regions. This shows concern and responsibility on the part of these governments.

Short Essay on Biodiversity  200 Words in English

Below we have given a short essay on biodiversity is for Classes 1,2,3,4,5 and 6. This short essay on the topic is suitable for students of class 6 and below.

Biodiversity refers to the collection of all the plants and animals on the entire planet earth. All the plants that we grow in our house, the trees in forests, the animals in the water, and even the spiders that make webs on our house walls sometimes, are all part of biodiversity. Even the tiny creatures that we cannot see without using a microscope are part of the biodiversity of our planet.

There are millions of species of plants and animals across the earth. There are different types that we find on land, in water, in snow, in the rain, etc. Different types of climate such as hot, cold, humid, dry, etc. all have different kinds of biodiversity that live in such weather.

Some of the human activities can sometimes be really terrible for the environment, such as cutting down trees to build a structure there instead. Trees are important because they provide us with oxygen which we breathe, and they are also home to many different species of animals, microorganisms, and external plants. For example, the monkeys will have no place to go if all the trees get cut down.

Biodiversity is what makes earth what it is. Because of all of this, it is crucial to conserve the biodiversity of the planet.

10 Lines About Biodiversity Essay

• Biodiversity makes up all the living beings on planet earth, including all animals, plants, and microorganisms
• Biodiversity is essential as it maintains the ecological balance of our planet
• There are many harm-causing factors the environment and biodiversity in today’s world of development and capitalism
• Many endemic species are facing the risk of endangered or extinct status due to their homes being destroyed
• Many species are endangered, which means that they are on the verge of extinction
• There are several protected conservatories and forest reserves to help preserve the biodiversity of certain regions world over
• It is vital to make efforts to restore biodiversity by reforestation
• There is a dire need to spread awareness to let people know the dire consequences of biodiversity loss
• Humans must realize the role we have played in the depletion of biodiversity
• It is time to start taking care of and protecting the earth’s flora and fauna much better than before

FAQ’s on Biodiversity Essay

Question 1. What does biodiversity mean?

Answer: Biodiversity refers to the collection of every species of plants, animals, and microorganisms all over the planet.

Question 2. Why are forests important?

Answer: Forests house millions of trees, which are the living beings that provide us with the oxygen that we breathe. Forests also house millions of different flora and fauna species that are essentially dependent on each other for survival of themselves and the earth.

Question 3. Why do we need to conserve the biodiversity on earth?

Answer: Without its biodiversity, the earth is nothing but a ball of gas, not much different from any other planet. Earth’s biodiversity is what makes it what it is, the planet where there is life as we know it. Many life forms are dependent on each other, and the earth would not be earth without its biodiversity, thus it is essential the conserve the same.

Question 4. What can I do to help the earth?

Answer: You can help to spread awareness about why saving the earth’s biodiversity is vital, and you can participate in ecological events like tree plantation drives. You can donate money to charities that work towards conservation practices and protest development that requires the destruction of forests and biodiversity.

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Essay on Conservation of Biodiversity for Students and Children

500+ words essay on conservation of biodiversity.

Conservation of biodiversity is vital for maintaining the Earth’s environment and sustaining life on the planet. There are a number of ways in which the richness of biodiversity helps in maintaining the ecological system. Conservation of biodiversity is important for the survival of living beings on Earth. Hence, a lot of emphases is being given on the conservation of biodiversity these days.

The Extinction in Biodiversity

Due to human activities, numerous varieties of animals go extinct each year. Western Black Rhinoceros, Dodo, Tasmanian tiger, Golden Toad, Woolly Mammoth, Caribbean Monk Seal, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and Japanese Sea Lion are some of the species of animals that have gone extinct.

Lemur, Mountain Gorilla, Vaquita, Sea Turtles, Amur Leopard, and Tiger are some of the species that are on the verge of extinction. Apart from these many species of plants and trees including Lepidodendron, Araucaria Mirabilis, Wood Cycad and Kokia Cookie have gone extinct and many species are endangered.

Need to Conserve Biodiversity

Earth is a beautiful planet which has given us many things which occur naturally. Natural resources, rivers, valleys , oceans, different species of animals and beautiful varieties of plants and trees are among some of these.

In today’s world, we are busy developing our surroundings and spoiling our beautiful environment. Today, we have exploited most of the things that were available abundantly in nature. Thus, there arises a need to conserve these natural things. Among other things, there is a serious need for the conservation of biodiversity.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Importance of Conservation of Biodiversity

Conservation of biodiversity is important for many reasons. Here are some of the main reasons to conserve biodiversity:

• Process of Food Chain: Different species of animals and plants serve as the source of food for other animals and living organisms. Thus, conserving biodiversity help to keep the food chain among the living organisms.
• Nutritional Needs: The decline in the variety of plants and animals would mean the decline in the variety of food we eat. So, this is likely to result in nutritional deficiencies.
• Cleaner Air: Plants and trees have a greater ability to purify the air and keep the atmosphere clean. As there is a decrease in the number and types of trees and plants, it impacts the quality of air in a negative way.
• Better Cultivation of Crops:   Fertility of soil is maintained by many insects, organisms and microorganisms work on different levels. So we have to maintain the level of microorganism which is better for the cultivation of crops.
• For Medical Reason s: For making different medicines many species of trees and plants are used so as to cure various diseases.

Methods to Conserve Biodiversity

Methods that can help in the conservation of biodiversity are

• Control Population: The greater the population the higher the needs which would result in further exploitation of flora and fauna and decline in biodiversity. For the conservation of biodiversity, we have to control the human population and allow other species of plants and animals to replenish on our planet.
• Control Pollution: The changing climate, deteriorating air quality and the growing amount of pollution on land and water bodies are leading to different types of diseases in many. It is essential to reduce the activities leading to pollution so as to conserve biodiversity.
• Reduce Deforestation: Due to deforestation, there is the loss of habitat. Due to this reason, wild animals are unable to survive in the new environment and die.
• Avoid Wastage: We need to understand that natural resources are not only essential for us but are also vital for the survival of other species. We must thus utilize only as much as we require them so that these remain available in abundance in nature for future use.
• Spread Awareness: Apart from this, one of the best methods to conserve biodiversity is by spreading awareness. The government can do so at a bigger level. While we can spread awareness by word of mouth and through social media.

Conservation of biodiversity is of utmost importance. We must all make efforts to conserve biodiversity rather than contributing towards its declination. Thus, the richness of biodiversity is essential for the survival of living beings on Earth.

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Biodiversity: Importance and Benefits Essay

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Evolution is the process of developing new structures over time and ages. There could be a misconception that evolution is all about change in the physical properties of man. For example we may think that evolution is all about a man developing from simple cell microorganisms through levels like monkeys to what he is today. Though this is a fact in the face of contemporary views on evolution, it is not the only aspect of evolution in question.

Change in so many structures of the earth has lead to many other forms of evolution resulting from the forces acting from these changes. Change in character is also a form of evolution; change in tendencies is also a form of evolution and, change in views and conceptions about certain issues is also a form of evolution and so many other things which are evolutions in their own way. In brief, we talk about change as a result of time and other forces when we talk about evolution. (Greig-Gran, 256-312)

Human beings have a tendency to value long term benefits over short term benefits. Short term benefits are the benefits that someone receives after a short period of time while long term benefits are the ones that one gets after a long period as the term itself points out. Mostly, people prefer to venture in short term benefits rather than long term benefits whether in business or any other activity which they engage in (Patent 46-59).

Over time people have changed from preferring long term benefits to preferring short term but this is not absolute since there are also changes from short term to long term. For example, people have evolved from preferring huntering and gathering to cultivation of crops which take a longer period of time to reap or harvest. This helps them to survive in a world where food supply is decreasing day after day. Initially people thought of long term benefits and that is why they reproduced.

How ever, most of the changes have been a shift from preferring long term benefit to preferring short term benefits. The technological advancements are some of the causes for this change. For example in the field of agriculture, people have developed new breeds that develop faster and that take a short time to grow and be harvested. Where the concept of shortening the time came from is a matter of time also and simply a matter of evolution though it may also been caused by some forces acting on the environment. (Greig-Gran 256-312)

Technological advancements have also contributed to this shift. Increase in population is also a factor that leads to such a change. People have mated at very high rates and this calls for increased amounts of food. There has been an evolution from growing long term crops to growing crops that a very short period of time to develop completely. People have started to use fertilizers to speed up the growth; genetically modified crops which grow first are replacing the normal crops that used to take a long time to develop.

This is due to the fact that man is evolving from the tendency of valuing long term benefits to a tendency of valuing short terms benefits. This kind of crops did not exist before, but they are common today. This and many others illustrate that man has changed or evolved from valuing long term benefits to valuing short term benefits and there is no going back because evolution does not regress and besides its evident that we are moving ahead and not backwards. (Patent 46-59).

So how can we quantify biodiversity? The view of so many people is that we should not question the importance of natural provisions. But we have to understand that human nature benefits from these provisions whether in the long term or in the short term. This way, he should also conserve biodiversity and we must know the worth of biodiversity. The cost benefit analysis can be used to do this. Through this we can know how changes in biodiversity can affect the welfare of human nature. These changes in biodiversity can be influenced by man in one way or the other and this is why the cost and benefits of this activities or actions have to be calculated.

For example in the year 1995, Alaskan gray wolfs which had been extinct from 1930 were re-introduced in the Yellowstone national park. The cost here had to be calculated because it is an activity that involves spending. The benefits have to be compared to the cost of the operation. Short term benefits and long term benefits should be assessed. (Greig-Gran 256-312)

Three quantities can be use to determine the worth of conserving biodiversity. These are direct use value, indirect use value and non use value. From this we can come up with a relationship to determine the value of biodiversity. Thus

• Value (Benefits) of conserving biodiversity = direct use value +indirect use value +non use value.

Where, direct use refers to the present and the expected benefits of the program in comparison to the cost involved. In this case we will consider the value of preserving biodiversity. Thus

• Direct use=Expected benefits-cost of operation

Indirect use value is the value of those things that can not be bought or sold but have some benefits. In ecosystems, these values include the carbon cycle, purification of air, preservation of water sheds and others. (Greig-Gran 256-312)

Non use values are the benefits people get if they don’t use biodiversity. For example, in a case of extinction, people like visiting the extinct sites to see what has happened. If the species are replaced, then this will not happen. Some of these values can not be determined easily but since we must quantify the value of biodiversity, we must determine them under whatever cost. (Greig-Gran, 2006)

The benefits of biodiversity are both long term and short term. Human beings get so many benefits from biodiversity. These services may include food, wood, nitrogen fixation, pollination, and beauty. Other services include maintenance of climate and life, prevention of overflow of water and famine, natural bug’s control, and even spiritual enrichment. Some of these benefits are long term while others are short term. (Greig-Gran, 256-312)

Quantifying the relative merits of short term unsustainable versus long term sustainable usage may not be an easy task. So many quantities have to be considered. One starts by determining which benefits are long term and which ones are short term. This introduces a quantity of time. The time taken by an ecosystem to bring some benefits is a function of the value of the ecosystem. Another quantity is the degree of sustainability which is a probability quantity. Through experience and statistics one can determine the sustainability of a certain benefit of biodiversity. All these functions combined together will lead to the quantification of both long term and short term biodiversity usage. This can be summarized by the relationship (Maclaurin 17-217)

• Long term benefit is a function of time and sustainability.
• Short term benefit is a function of time and sustainability.
• Total benefit is a function of long term benefits and short term benefits

Human beings were created to benefit from the provisions of nature. There can always be a balance between all aspects and members of an ecosystem. This becomes impossible when man exploits the natural environment and destroys the biodiversity instead of conserving it. Let’s join hands and let’s make a decision to take care of nature so that nature can take care of us. (Chivian 19-434)

Works cited

Chivian, Eric. & Bernstein, Aaron. “Sustaining life; How human health depends on biodiversity” Oxford University Press. 2008:19-434.

Greig-Gran, M. “Is tacking deforestation a cost-effective mitigation approach?” International Institute for Economic Development, 2006: 256-312.

Maclaurin, James. & Sterelny, Kim. “What is biodiversity?” University of Chicago Press. 2008:17-217.

Patent, Dorothy “Biodiversity” Sandpiper press. 2003:14-106.

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IvyPanda. (2021, December 19). Biodiversity: Importance and Benefits. https://ivypanda.com/essays/biodiversity-importance-and-benefits/

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1. IvyPanda . "Biodiversity: Importance and Benefits." December 19, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/biodiversity-importance-and-benefits/.

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IvyPanda . "Biodiversity: Importance and Benefits." December 19, 2021. https://ivypanda.com/essays/biodiversity-importance-and-benefits/.

Why is biodiversity important?

Biodiversity is essential for the processes that support all life on Earth, including humans. Without a wide range of animals, plants and microorganisms, we cannot have the healthy ecosystems that we rely on to provide us with the air we breathe and the food we eat. And people also value nature of itself.

Some aspects of biodiversity are instinctively widely valued by people but the more we study biodiversity the more we see that all of it is important – even bugs and bacteria that we can’t see or may not like the look of. There are lots of ways that humans depend upon biodiversity and it is vital for us to conserve it. Pollinators such as birds, bees and other insects are estimated to be responsible for a third of the world’s crop production. Without pollinators we would not have apples, cherries, blueberries, almonds and many other foods we eat. Agriculture is also reliant upon invertebrates – they help to maintain the health of the soil crops grow in.  Soil is teeming with microbes that are vital for liberating nutrients that plants need to grow, which are then also passed to us when we eat them. Life from the oceans provides the main source of animal protein for many people.

Trees, bushes and wetlands and wild grasslands naturally slow down water and help soil to absorb rainfall. When they are removed it can increase flooding. Trees and other plants clean the air we breathe and help us tackle the global challenge of climate change by absorbing carbon dioxide. Coral reefs and mangrove forests act as natural defences protecting coastlines from waves and storms. 

Many of our medicines, along with other complex chemicals that we use in our daily lives such as latex and rubber, also originate from plants. Spending time in nature is increasingly understood to lead to improvements in people’s physical and mental health. Simply having green spaces and trees in cities has been shown to decrease hospital admissions, reduce stress and lower blood pressure.

Further reading

Plural valuation of nature matters for environmental sustainability and justice by Berta Martin-Lopez, Social-Ecological Systems Institute, Faculty of Sustainability, Leuphana University of Lüneburg, Germany

Climate change and biodiversity

Human activities are changing the climate. Science can help us understand what we are doing to habitats and the climate, but also find solutions.

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Natural biodiversity loss

Human-driven biodiversity loss.

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biodiversity loss

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• U.S. National Science Foundation - Loss of Biological Diversity: A Global crisis requiring international solutions
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biodiversity loss , a decrease in biodiversity within a species , an ecosystem , a given geographic area, or Earth as a whole. Biodiversity , or biological diversity , is a term that refers to the number of genes , species, individual organisms within a given species, and biological communities within a defined geographic area, ranging from the smallest ecosystem to the global biosphere . (A biological community is an interacting group of various species in a common location.) Likewise, biodiversity loss describes the decline in the number, genetic variability, and variety of species, and the biological communities in a given area. This loss in the variety of life can lead to a breakdown in the functioning of the ecosystem where decline has happened.

(Read E.O. Wilson’s Britannica essay on mass extinction.)

The idea of biodiversity is most often associated with species richness (the count of species in an area), and thus biodiversity loss is often viewed as species loss from an ecosystem or even the entire biosphere ( see also extinction ). However, associating biodiversity loss with species loss alone overlooks other subtle phenomena that threaten long-term ecosystem health. Sudden population declines may upset social structures in some species, which may keep surviving males and females from finding mates, which may then produce further population declines. Declines in genetic diversity that accompany rapid falls in population may increase inbreeding (mating between closely related individuals), which could produce a further decline in genetic diversity.

Even though a species is not eliminated from the ecosystem or from the biosphere, its niche (the role the species play in the ecosystems it inhabits) diminishes as its numbers fall. If the niches filled by a single species or a group of species are critical to the proper functioning of the ecosystem, a sudden decline in numbers may produce significant changes in the ecosystem’s structure. For example, clearing trees from a forest eliminates the shading, temperature and moisture regulation, animal habitat, and nutrient transport services they provide to the ecosystem.

An area’s biodiversity increases and decreases with natural cycles. Seasonal changes , such as the onset of spring , create opportunities for feeding and breeding , increasing biodiversity as the populations of many species rise. In contrast, the onset of winter temporarily decreases an area’s biodiversity, as warm-adapted insects die and migrating animals leave. In addition, the seasonal rise and fall of plant and invertebrate populations (such as insects and plankton ), which serve as food for other forms of life, also determine an area’s biodiversity.

Biodiversity loss is typically associated with more permanent ecological changes in ecosystems , landscapes, and the global biosphere . Natural ecological disturbances , such as wildfire , floods , and volcanic eruptions , change ecosystems drastically by eliminating local populations of some species and transforming whole biological communities . Such disturbances are temporary, however, because natural disturbances are common and ecosystems have adapted to their challenges ( see also ecological succession ).

In contrast, biodiversity losses from disturbances caused by humans tend to be more severe and longer-lasting. Humans ( Homo sapiens ), their crops, and their food animals take up an increasing share of Earth’s land area. Half of the world’s habitable land (some 51 million square km [19.7 million square miles]) has been converted to agriculture, and some 77 percent of agricultural land (some 40 million square km [15.4 million square miles]) is used for grazing by cattle , sheep , goats , and other livestock . This massive conversion of forests, wetlands , grasslands , and other terrestrial ecosystems has produced a 60 percent decline (on average) in the number of vertebrates worldwide since 1970, with the greatest losses in vertebrate populations occurring in freshwater habitats (83 percent) and in South and Central America (89 percent). Between 1970 and 2014 the human population grew from about 3.7 billion to 7.3 billion people. By 2018 the biomass of humans and their livestock (0.16 gigaton) greatly outweighed the biomass of wild mammals (0.007 gigaton) and wild birds (0.002 gigaton). Researchers estimate that the current rate of species loss varies between 100 and 10,000 times the background extinction rate (which is roughly one to five species per year when the entire fossil record is considered). In addition, a 2019 report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services noted that up to one million plant and animal species are facing extinction due to human activities.

Forest clearing, wetland filling, stream channeling and rerouting, and road and building construction are often part of a systematic effort that produces a substantial change in the ecological trajectory of a landscape or a region. As human populations grow, the terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems they use may be transformed by the efforts of human beings to find and produce food, adapt the landscape to human settlement, and create opportunities for trading with other communities for the purposes of building wealth . Biodiversity losses typically accompany these processes.

Researchers have identified five important drivers of biodiversity loss:

• Habitat loss and degradation—which is any thinning, fragmentation, or destruction of an existing natural habitat—reduces or eliminates the food resources and living space for most species. Species that cannot migrate are often wiped out.
• Invasive species —which are non-native species that significantly modify or disrupt the ecosystems they colonize—may outcompete native species for food and habitat, which triggers population declines in native species. Invasive species may arrive in new areas through natural migration or through human introduction.
• Overexploitation —which is the harvesting of game animals, fish , or other organisms beyond the capacity for surviving populations to replace their losses—results in some species being depleted to very low numbers and others being driven to extinction .
• Pollution —which is the addition of any substance or any form of energy to the environment at a rate faster than it can be dispersed, diluted, decomposed, recycled, or stored in some harmless form—contributes to biodiversity loss by creating health problems in exposed organisms. In some cases, exposure may occur in doses high enough to kill outright or create reproductive problems that threaten the species’s survival.
• Climate change associated with global warming —which is the modification of Earth’s climate caused by the burning of fossil fuels —is caused by industry and other human activities. Fossil fuel combustion produces greenhouse gases that enhance the atmospheric absorption of infrared radiation ( heat energy) and trap the heat, influencing temperature and precipitation patterns.

Ecologists emphasize that habitat loss (typically from the conversion of forests , wetlands , grasslands , and other natural areas to urban and agricultural uses) and invasive species are the primary drivers of biodiversity loss, but they acknowledge that climate change could become a primary driver as the 21st century progresses. In an ecosystem, species tolerance limits and nutrient cycling processes are adapted to existing temperature and precipitation patterns. Some species may not able to cope with environmental changes from global warming. These changes may also provide new opportunities for invasive species, which could further add to the stresses on species struggling to adapt to changing environmental conditions. All five drivers are strongly influenced by the continued growth of the human population and its consumption of natural resources .

Interactions between two or more of these drivers increase the pace of biodiversity loss. Fragmented ecosystems are generally not as resilient as contiguous ones, and areas clear-cut for farms, roads, and residences provide avenues for invasions by non-native species, which contribute to further declines in native species. Habitat loss combined with hunting pressure is hastening the decline of several well-known species, such as the Bornean orangutan ( Pongo pygmaeus ), which could become extinct by the middle of the 21st century. Hunters killed 2,000–3,000 Bornean orangutans every year between 1971 and 2011, and the clearing of large areas of tropical forest in Indonesia and Malaysia for oil palm ( Elaeis guineensis ) cultivation became an additional obstacle to the species’ survival. Palm oil production increased 900 percent in Indonesia and Malaysia between 1980 and 2010, and, with large areas of Borneo’s tropical forests cut, the Bornean orangutan and hundreds to thousands of other species have been deprived of habitat .

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Southern Ocean’s Hidden Treasures: Scientists identify crucial wildlife conservation sites

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A team of scientists led by CU Boulder has identified 30 new areas critical for conserving biodiversity in the Southern Ocean surrounding Antarctica. In a study published Aug. 15 in the journal Conservation Biology, the researchers warn that without greater protection to limit human activities in these areas, native wildlife could face significant population declines.

“Many animals are only found in the Southern Ocean, and they all play an important role in its ecosystem,” said Cassandra Brooks , the paper’s senior author and associate professor in the Department of Environmental Studies at CU Boulder. “While Antarctica and the Southern Ocean feel really far away, they, and the life within them, are critical to the functioning of Earth systems.”

The Southern Ocean is home to many beloved animals like Adélie penguins, Weddell seals and humpback whales. Its remote location and harsh conditions—including frigid temperatures and extensive sea ice—have largely protected biodiversity in Antarctica and the Southern Ocean from human activities. 

“Despite the planet being in the midst of a mass extinction, the Southern Ocean in Antarctica is one of the few places in the world that hasn’t had any known species go extinct,” said Sarah Becker , the paper’s first author and a doctoral student in the Department of Environmental Studies. 

But as climate change warms the planet and melts the sea ice, fishing and tourism in the region have increased. These human activities not only compete with wildlife for resources but could also cause stress, and introduce invasive species and diseases that native wildlife has little or no defense mechanisms against.  

Becker, Brooks and their team set off to identify Key Biodiversity Areas (KBAs) in the Southern Ocean that species depend on for their populations to persist.

Cassandra Brooks

Sarah Becker

They used existing tracking data for 13 Antarctic and sub-Antarctic seabirds and seals—for example Adélie penguins, sooty albatrosses and southern elephant seals— and identified 30 KBAs across the Southern Ocean. These sites represent marine habitats that species travel to for foraging, breeding and migration.

Prior work in identifying conservation zones in the Southern Ocean at a large scale tended to group different species into a single dataset to look for areas important for multiple species. While this approach is a vital component of conservation planning, it can overlook some areas crucial for certain species due to their unique life stages and migration patterns, Becker said. 

For example, the team found two large sites in the waters near Amanda Bay in East Antarctica that serve as key foraging grounds for many emperor penguins as they recover after breeding. The researchers also identified several sites in the waters near Campbell Island South of New Zealand where a breeding population of endangered grey-headed albatross forage. Other similar large-scale conservation designation efforts, such as Important Bird Areas or Ecologically and Biologically Significant Areas, had not flagged these sites as priorities.

“Our study bridges the gap between the broad-scale perspective and the specific needs of individual populations, adding an important layer of detail,” Becker said. 

The researchers hope international bodies and governments will consider these findings when developing conservation strategies and determining areas where fishing should be restricted. 

“By reducing fishing or tourism interactions in these key biodiversity areas, we can potentially give these animals the best chance of adapting and becoming resilient to climate change,” said Brooks, who is also a fellow of CU Boulder’s  Institute of Arctic and Alpine Research .

The Southern Ocean is one of the most pivotal buffers of climate change. Its cold water  captures 40% of human-generated carbon dioxide emissions  around the world and 60-90% of the excess heat from climate change. 

“Antarctica is far away, but what happens there doesn’t stop there,” Brooks said. “Wildfires here in Colorado are tied to what's happening in the Southern Ocean. Through doing more to safeguard the Antarctic, we actually stand to create a more livable world for us all.”

Biodiversity in the Southern Ocean

An Adélie penguin jumps out of the water. (Credit: John Weller)

An Adélie penguin swims in the Southern Ocean. (Credit: John Weller)

A group of Adélie penguins walk on ice. (Credit: John Weller)

An Antarctic petrel in Antarctica. (Credit: John Weller)

Emperor penguins huddle together. (Credit: John Weller)

An emperor penguin swims in the Southern Ocean. (Credit: John Weller)

A Weddell seal in the Southern Ocean. (Credit: John Weller)

A black-browed albatross flies through the sky. (Credit: John Weller)

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Implementing a New Pathway to Measure and Value Biodiversity

Yale School of the Environment scientists argue that a single measure for global biodiversity is not workable. They are calling for a framework that builds from individual species and connects biodiversity to its value for people.

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In October, world leaders will gather at the United Nations Biodiversity Conference in Cali, Colombia, to put an ambitious plan to halt human-induced species extinction into action. The conference, COP16, will focus on the historic Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, which sets 23 targets and four overarching goals to halt human-induced species extinction.

Pollution, climate change, habitat loss, and exploitation of nature have pushed a million plant and animal species to the brink of extinction and humans have altered 75% of land and 66% of marine environments.  As global leaders look for a way to unify efforts to reach the biodiversity goals adopted by 196 parties — with the idea of setting a defined target, similar to the 2015 Paris Agreement to limit temperature increases to 1.5 degrees Celsius from pre-industrial levels — a new paper by Yale scientists is proposing a different approach, one that the authors argue is better tailored to the nature of the problem.

The paper, published in PNAS and co-authored by Eli Fenichel , Knobloch Family Professor of Natural Resource Economics, Oswald Schmitz , Oastler Professor of Population and Community Ecology, and Monica Dean, of the University of Southern California, calls for a hierarchical system of measuring the economic value of biodiversity that begins with assessing the value of individual species and then aggregating these values to reflect the overall biodiversity of ecosystems. They suggest that diplomacy should focus on a process for starting with a few country-specific species in each nation and a plan to build on that framework. They note that this approach  follows the path of measuring economies, something that was also very hard when the international community started that process.

Economic importance

Over half the global GDP is dependent on nature, according to the World Economic Forum. In the U.S., nature-dependent sectors amount to $2.1 trillion of the GDP.  Yet existing biodiversity indexes, and indexes of biodiversity in general, are unable to connect biodiversity and the economy because they are unable to provide unique measures of changes in biodiversity, the authors contend.

“In adopting the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework, global policymakers have determined that valuing the contribution of biodiversity to humans is necessary for halting and reversing the loss of global biodiversity. However, by leaving open the methodology for how best to perform that valuation, a discordant set of valuation measures and approaches are being undertaken globally — leading to incongruous outcomes and a likelihood that the goals of the GBF will not be achieved,” they wrote.

However we measure biodiversity, it has to talk through economic data because we cannot deal with loss of nature and biodiversity as if it’s unconnected to economic decisions and people’s livelihoods.”

They argue that it is not possible to develop a single measure of biodiversity that, when it changes, leads to a well-defined change in value. Instead, biodiversity could be defined over a classification system that connects biodiversity to its value for people. The process would begin by measuring the value changes in individual species. For example, a particular plant species might be valued for its role in preventing soil erosion, while an animal species might be important for its role in pollination or tourism.

“You can’t summarize biodiversity into one metric,” Fenichel said. “It is not a productive conversation. It’s fundamentally a local issue and takes local action. We need to understand how different elements of biodiversity matter for people differently in different places.”

Changes in biodiversity can be viewed as a subset of the change in natural capital wealth, the authors suggest. This approach requires thinking of biodiversity as a “shorthand for the assemblage of life in a specified area that includes an accounting for specific ecological relationships, and not as a physical measure itself.”

Countries could choose a first set of species, perhaps a keystone species, that are viewed as ecologically, socially, and economically important and conditioning valuation on local ecological interactions and interactions with people.

“I think biodiversity means a lot of different things to different people, but however we measure biodiversity, it has to talk through economic data because we cannot deal with loss of nature and biodiversity as if it’s unconnected to economic decisions and people’s livelihoods,” Fenichel said.

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Guiding investment in conservation

Policymakers can use the clearly defined economic valuation of biodiversity to guide investments in conservation, ensuring that biodiversity considerations are integrated into economic planning and development and helping to close the more than $700 billion per year biodiversity finance gap.

“Our approach recognizes that species cannot be valued as mere static entities unto themselves. We argue for taking a more holistic valuation approach that accounts for how changes in species are tied to their contributions to ecological functioning that sustains ecosystems and human well-being,” Schmitz said.

The authors note that while the initial system they propose may be imperfect, the statistical measures can evolve over time, as other measures have in national economic accounting.

“We just need a process to start. We know this won't give us great international comparability in the short term, but changes in biodiversity are probably not really comparable internationally, and once we have a process, we can learn from it and improve. It will help us make better decisions,” Fenichel said.

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