Biodiversity

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Introduction

Biodiversity refers to all the various types of life you will find in one area. It includes a variety of plants, animals, fungi and microorganisms, such as bacteria. All these species and organisms work together in various ecosystems similar to an intricate web. This work helps in maintaining balance and supporting life.

In short, it supports all the things in nature that are essential for survival, like food, shelter, medicine and water. However, humans have been putting constant pressure on earth by overusing resources. This puts the ecosystem balance at risk and increases the chance of losing biodiversity. Thus, all of us need to work together to conserve biological diversity. Let’s learn more about it here.

Biodiversity Definition

Biodiversity is a term that describes every living organism residing within a single ecosystem. It does not limit just the various species but also the environmental aspects like oxygen and carbon dioxide levels, temperature and climate. In simpler terms, it is the variety of life present in a place on the planet that includes microorganisms and fungi, etc. One can measure it globally or in smaller settings like ponds.

Types of Biodiversity

There are three different types of biodiversity. They are genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity. Combined, they describe the biodiversity of an area of sea, land, etc., as the region may be small or large. The biodiversity of Korea or a pond are all ecological habitats in which we can measure biodiversity. Let’s learn about the three different types:

Genetic Diversity

It is the differences in a diverse species’ genetic makeup and the genetic differences within a single species. It deals with the DNA or RNA sequences. For instance, there are different skin colours, hormone levels, eye colours, heights, hair texture, reactions to pollutants and more in humans. While our species is the same, the genetic variations bring diversity among us.

Similarly, plants of the same species are sometimes diverse and adapting to different habitats. For instance, Mangrove trees have about 80 other species now. They diversified to survive in various conditions to reproduce in saltwater as well. Genetic mutations made this change happen, which enabled these trees to move from aquatic ecosystems into marine ecosystems.

Species Diversity

This refers to the numbers and spread. In simpler terms, it is about the various species living in an ecosystem and their distribution. When we consider the number of various species of an ecosystem, we refer to the species’ richness. Thus, it is about the number of different species and not how they are distributed. The terms of species diversity and species richness are not synonymous.

Ecosystem Diversity

It refers to the diversity present among the ecosystem in a specific region. It is the primary habitat type from which the other ecosystems, small in size, are derived, like terrestrial, aquatic and marine ecosystems. These three significant examples are further divided into subgroups. For instance, the ocean floor, coral reef and mangrove systems, etc., are subgroups of the marine ecosystem.

Then, tundra, taiga, rainforests, grasslands, desert and deciduous forests belong to the terrestrial ecosystem. Finally, we have the most miniature aquatic ecosystem, including wetlands, rivers, ponds, lakes and estuaries.

Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is essential to most aspects of the lives of living organisms, especially humans. There are many intrinsic and practical reasons why it is so important. It fulfills our basic needs like food, shelter, water, fuel and medicine. It provides us with vital climate regulation services, pollination, nutrient cycling, seed dispersal and more.

Further, it also offers us many unknown services. Cultural value is added to human life through biodiversity. In addition, it has independent worth as well. It shapes us and makes us who we are and the social norms we follow.

Values of Biodiversity

There are many values of biodiversity that includes:

• Environmental Value: We can find biodiversity’s environmental value by examining each process of the ecosystem and recognizing the resulting ecosystem services
• Social Value: Social value refers to aesthetic, cultural, spiritual and recreational values and the resulting health benefits from these activities
• Ecosystem Services: These services support human needs plus activities like intensely managed production ecosystems. For instance, plants’ production of oxygen, fertile soil etc.
• Economic Value: Biodiversity’seconomic potential is massive when we look at the food, medicinal, fodder, social and ethical values
• Consumptive Use Value: This concerns the natural products we use directly for things like food, fuel and others
• Productive Use Value: It relates to the products that are harvested and marketed commercially

• Ethical and Moral Value: It relates to biodiversity conservation, i.e. protecting all life forms as everyone has a right to live

• Aesthetic Value: Biodiversity makes the planet beautiful. Otherwise, it would have been like other barren planets. It adds to the quality of life and enhances beauty

Conclusion

In conclusion, biodiversity does not have a general definition. It refers to our living environment, its beings, and the sustainable use of natural resources. It is divided into genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. As humans use most biodiversity, we must do our best to preserve and protect it from safeguarding our planet. All companies, government organizations, NGOs and volunteers must come together. After all, the richness of the ecosystem and species helps in a prosperous and sustainable environment and life on earth.