Biodiversity And Its Effects On The Environment

The number of wild animals on Earth has halved in the past 40 years . Creatures across the land, rivers, and the seas are destroyed as humans killed them for food in unsuitable numbers, while polluting or destroying their habitats.

The scale and pace of change is dramatic; for example, the extinction of species is occurring at around 100-fold pre-human rates4. The population sizes of vertebrate species have, on average, declined by half over the last 45 years5. More than 2.3 million km2 of primary forest has been felled since 20006. About

Forests have been cut, crops planted, pastures seeded, and urban areas paved. One of the most troubling consequences of human modification of ecosystems is an ongoing loss of species and therefore a loss of biodiversity around the world. The current extinctions have a human cause: habitat loss (such as clearing of tropical rainforests); the introduction of invasive species; unregulated hunting and fishing; and pollution of water, air, and

Biodiversity creates an interconnected system where each part builds off of one another to create a functional ecosystem. For example, a small insect such as a bee is critical for survival of many other species because it pollinates so many plants. Currently, the population of bees is dramatically decreasing due to anthropogenic actions such as using harmful pesticides. If the population of bees go extinct, so many species would follow because they would not get pollinated. This is problematic because humans do not have the time or the funds to replicate the vital work of the bee.

“Biological diversity is of fundamental importance to the functioning of all natural and human-engineered ecosystems, and by extension to the ecosystem services that nature provides free of charge to human society ”(Lloyd, 2014). Biodiversity is very important to both plants, animals and humans on Earth and if one species is destroyed it throw the balance off .

So we will talk about biodiversity first. Biodiversity is a group of different living organisms from around the world in one community. And biodiversity helps the biosphere because they can produce better and help other plants and humans in need. Some plants and trees have different characteristics regarding to their species.

Dictionary.com defines biodiversity as the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. The increase in growth of both economic activity and population on the planet are the central sources of the sixth mass extinction, altering the overall biodiversity of Earth. Even though new animals, plants, and other species are being found all the time, many others are also being wiped out. “Conservation International estimates that one species now goes extinct every 20 minutes, a thousand times faster than the norm during earth’s history… [and] we may be the first generation in human history that literally has

In the race to preserve, conserve and maintain biodiversity and its functions in anticipation of the unprecedented and

The three levels of biodiversity are as follows: diversity of the ecosystems, diversity of species within the communities and diversity within species. The loss of species within the ecosystems and within the community can cause a catastrophic result, as species live and feed on other species. Species close to extinction are endangered species, therefore protecting them from predators and offering the chance to reproduce and repopulate. Unfortunately, with little support within the environment, a species can become extinct due to population density. Proper monitoring of an endangered species is required in order to keep species actively reproducing and changing with the environment around them.

Biodiversity performs a variety of ecological services: from absorbing chemicals to cleaning water and providing oxygen. Some types of animals work as fertilizers (earthworm) and water filters (jello fish).

The planet is made of up different ecosystems that encompass the animals, vegetation, and nonliving factors. The environmental conditions are dependent on the location and type of ecosystem. There are a large number of ecosystems, ranging from conditions found in the tundra to conditions found in the desert. Each of these types of ecosystem relies on a delicate balance maintained by the symbiotic relationships within its organisms and nonliving components. These symbiotic relationships are a result of the benefits provided by the organisms of the ecosystem. These benefits exist because of the biodiversity within the organisms. Therefore, biodiversity is responsible for the balance of ecosystems and the planet. However, biodiversity and the

Biodiversity is very important because when there is a wider variety of plants and animals in an area there are more options for food to be consumed. Also biodiversity can help an ecosystem survive after a disaster happens. For example if a volcano erupts and covers an area with ash, this ash then kills all of the plants in the area then all of the wild life can’t survive because there are no plants to eat or hide under. With biodiversity the trees can grow back from the nutrients in the ash then grass can start growing which then allows flowers to grow and than bees come along and pollinate the flowers which then produce

Biodiversity presents occurrence of variety of species and their natural community in which they live. By the definition it is “The degree of variation of life forms within a given species, ecosystem, biome, or an entire planet. It is a measure of the health of ecosystems and is in part a function of climate.” (Rutherford) Ecosystem is on the other hand, “ community and its abiotic environment”( Rutherford). Biodiversity exists in every ecosystem, weather it is big one, or just ecosystem of one garden, it has the same importance because without it nature loses its ability to perform major functions needed for life on Earth, as it is oxygen production. Trough this investigation, two different ecosystems will be explored and

Humans have existed since 200,000 years but the Earth has existed around 4.5 billion years. Nature has provided us with everything we have today - food, medicines, materials, chemicals, metals, minerals etc. It can only keep providing us when we maintain the right environment for it to exist. This environment depends on the biodiversity of Earth. The number of species of plants, animals and microorganisms and the various genes in these species, different ecosystems such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Hence Biodiversity impacts everything. We will discuss how Biodiversity plays a crucial role on social, environmental, and economic factors. We will also discuss what

Franck and Brownstone define biological diversity as 'the variety and variability of living organisms and the biological communities in which they live' (36). Decades of progress in both the scientific and political arenas have advanced environmental legislation to protect biodiversity at not only the ecosystem level, but for specific species and genetic material as well. Research has shown the importance of every organism and their role in the global ecosystem, and legislation has gradually matured to protect not only species which may become endangered, but the habitats they need to survive as well. Growing consciousness surrounding environmental issues has enabled these protections to be