Importance of Biodiversity
4.2 Discuss the importance of the maintenance of biodiversity
The biodiversity found on Earth today is the result of approximately 3.5 billion years of evolution. Until the emergence of humans, the earth supported more biodiversity than any other period in geological history. However, since the dominance of humans, biodiversity has begun a rapid decline, with one species after another suffering extinction 1.
The maintenance of biodiversity is important for the following reasons:
1. Ecological stability
Each species performs a particular function within an ecosystem. They can capture and store energy, produce organic material, decompose organic material, help to cycle water and nutrients throughout the ecosystem, control erosion or pests, fix atmospheric gases, or help regulate climate.
Ecosystems provide support of production and services without which humans could not survive. These include soil fertility, pollinators of plants, predators, decomposition of wastes, purification of the air and water, stabilisation and moderation of the climate, decrease of flooding, drought and other environmental disasters.
Research show that the more diverse an ecosystem the better it can withstand environmental stress and the more productive it is. The loss of a species thus decreases the ability of the system to maintain itself or to recover in case of damage. There are very complex mechanisms underlying these ecological effects.
2. Economic benefits to humans
For all humans, biodiversity is first a resource for daily life. Such 'crop diversity' is also called agrobiodiversity.
Most people see biodiversity as a reservoir of resources to be drawn upon for the manufacture of food, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic products. Thus resource shortages may be related to the erosion of the biodiversity.
Some of the important economic commodities that biodiversity supplies to humankind are:
- FOOD : crops, livestock, forestry, and fish
- MEDICATION: Wild plant species have been used for medicinal purposes since before the beginning of recorded history. For example, quinine (Used to treat malaria) comes from the bark of the Amazonian tree Cinchona tree; digitalis from the Foxglove plant (chronic heart trouble), and morphine from the Poppy plant (pain relief).
According the National Cancer Institute of the USA, over 70 % of the promising anti-cancer drugs come from plants in the tropical rainforests. Animal may also play a role, in particular in research. It is estimated that of the 250,000 known plant species, only 5,000 have been researched for possible medical applications.
- INDUSTRY: fibres for clothing, wood for shelter and warmth. Biodiversity may be a source of energy (such as biomass). Other industrial products are oils, lubricants, perfumes, fragrances, dyes, paper, waxes, rubber, latexes, resins, poisons and cork can all be derived from various plant species. Supplies from animal origin are wool, silk, fur, leather, lubricants, waxes. Animals may also be used as a mode of transportation.
- TOURISM & RECREATION: biodiversity is a source of economical wealth for many areas, such as many parks and forests, where wild nature and animals are a source of beauty and joy for many people. Ecotourism in particular, is a growing outdoor recreational activity.
3. Ethical reasons
The role of biodiversity is to be a mirror of our relationships with the other living species, an ethical view with rights, duties, and education. If humans consider species have a right to exist, they cannot cause voluntarily their extinction. Besides, biodiversity is also part of many cultures’ spiritual heritage.
Online Resources
"The value of Biodiversity.Insights from Ecology, Ethics and Economics"
(prepared for the Malahide conference “Biodiversity and the EU – Sustaining Life, Sustaining Livelihoods”) held in May 2004.
http://netherlands.biodiv-chm.org/index.php?menuid=2200&lang=en&cl=blue&q=
References
Biodiversity - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia