Biodiversity Is The Variety Of Organisms Within A Species

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

However, forests around the world are under threat from deforestation, jeopardizing these benefits. Deforestation comes in many forms, including fires, clear-cutting for agriculture, ranching and development, unsustainable logging for timber, and degradation due to climate change. This impacts people’s livelihoods and threatens a wide range of plant and animal species. Some 46-58 thousand square miles of forest are lost each year, which is equivalent to 36 football fields every minute.

There have been five major mass extinction on earth triggered by a distinguishable event, but in The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History, Elizabeth Kolbert writes of the narrative of the sixth extinction caused directly by human impact. The book identifies the effects of human activity on how, over humans history on earth, the natural world has been affected. Every environmental impact stems into three basic groups of global problems to nature: Pollution, Habitat loss and Invasive Species. Kolbert explains that each impact can be traced back to one source, human industrial development. With each impact various types of life in the natural world are affected. Deforestation, urbanization, and sea level rise contribute to habitat loss worldwide. When humans began to travel they also brought invasive species and disease along with them; as boats only became bigger more and more invasive species travel. This reverse engineering of the planet species, brings new species that don’t have any natural predators, thus having an easier time driving native species out to endangerment or extinction. The different outcomes that come from human pollution is separated throughout the book, but the idea remains constant; with the development of human culture, pollution has drastically impacted a vast extent of species habitats and their environment.

The Sixth Extinction: An Unnatural History by Elizabeth Kolbert is a nonfiction book about the mass extinction happening around us. Kolbert proclaims that we are currently living in the middle of a sixth, man made extinction. During the last half a billion years the Earth has experienced multiple mass extinctions, where accelerated rates of change altered and contracted the diversity of life on Earth. While the past five extinctions have been caused by nature, this time, however, the sixth extinction revolves around us. In this book, Elizabeth Kolbert describes the absurd ways humans have transformed life on earth, by going on expeditions, interviewing scientists, and explaining the science and history behind animals going extinct as well as the concept of

Biodiversity loss threatens to disrupt the function of ecosystems, with the potential of consequences for humans as well. Often this loss is measured by species extinction rates, but considerations should be made to include population diversity with measures including changes in size, number, distribution and genetic composition of population and potential implications those changes may have (Luck et al., 2003). Avise (2004) goes as far as to say biodiversity is genetic

List examples of human activities that are suggested to be key triggers for the sixth mass extinction.

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.

Five mass extinctions have occurred throughout the history of planet Earth. It is predicted by Author Elizabeth Kolbert, that a sixth extinction may be underway. The Sixth Extinction is a book in the viewpoint of Kolbert and narrates her travels around the globe while she studies numerous wildlife species. Kolbert claims that ¨Those of us alive today not only are witnessing one of the rarest events in life's history, we are also causing it,” (Kolbert, Page 8). Throughout her work, Kolbert claims that numerous species are decreasing in population due to harmful human activities, which could lead to a global disaster.

The sixth mass extinction is on the way and could be as massive as the extinction that wiped out the dinosaurs (Kolbert, 2014). Before learning more about the sixth mass extinction, you’ll have to first understand what biodiversity is and what will happen when you tamper with it. According to Anup Shah, author of Why is Biodiversity Important? Who Cares, biodiversity means the variety of life on Earth or in an ecosystem. Every species plays an important role in the ecosystem or in the world, no matter how big or small. A way to incorporate this into easier terms is the food chain or food web. Without a certain species in the cycle, you’ll be losing another species and so forth (Shah, 2014).

Forests are an irreplaceable part of Earths ecosystem. Every forest is unique due to flora and fauna which houses it. They are homes for many species from simple bacteria to big carnivore animals. Forests absorb carbon dioxide and provide oxygen and is a great place for recreation and biological studies. Temperate forest of northeast United States is an example of rich diversity and harmony of plants and animals. Unfortunately, constant growing of human population and demand for more land for agriculture and housing leads to deforestation and destroying of the natural habitats. Deforestation and Agriculture, are an two of many factors which have negative impact on temperate forest in northeast United States.

Biodiversity is the variety of spices within plants and animals in the environment, it is an indicator of ecosystem health.

Since the Industrial Revolution we have practiced deforestation, burned fossil fuels, and as a result we have disrupted stable ecosystems. Advances in medicine and technology have given humans the ability to increase their carrying capacity. While increasing our carrying capacity we have also decreased biodiversity around the world. We have introduced different species in new environments to help ourselves

The main cause of the loss of biodiversity can be attributed to the influence of human beings on the world's ecosystem

There have been five well known extinctions on this earth. The one most well known is the mass extinction that ended the dinosaurs. Mass extinction is often described as the elimination of a large number of species in a short period of time. Despite what many think, the elimination of species is almost commonplace at this point. The Earth is currently in the middle of a sixth mass extinction, and it’s been caused by the human race.

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