Biodiversity

 What is biodiversity?

The World Wildlife Funds definition:

"Biodiversity is all the different kinds of life you’ll find in one area—the variety of animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world. Each of these species and organisms work together in ecosystems, like an intricate web, to maintain balance and support life."  
Hancock, L. (n.d.). What is biodiversity? WWF. Retrieved May 30, 2022, from https://www.worldwildlife.org/pages/what-is-biodiversity 

Merriam-Webbster's definition:

"Biological diversity in an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and animals."

Merriam-Webster. (n.d.). Biodiversity. In Merriam-Webster.com dictionary. Retrieved June 11, 2022, from https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/biodiversity 

Personal definition:

"Biodiversity is the balanced mixture of nature within an area/biome, between animals, plants, fungi, etc., that is constantly changing to accommodate its inhabitants."


The Importance of Biodiversity:

Biodiversity is an essential for the processes that support all life on Earth, which includes 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. The biodiversity book by the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (Cresswell, 2016) describes 5 core values that humans place on biodiversity:
  • Economic - biodiversity provides humans with raw materials for consumption and production.
  • Ecological life support - biodiversity provides functioning ecosystems that supply oxygen, clean air and water, pollination of plants, pest control, wastewater treatment and many ecosystem services.
  • Recreation - many recreation pursuits rely on our unique biodiversity, such as birdwatching, hiking, camping, and fishing.
  • Cultural - Connection to biodiversity through the expression of identity, through spirituality and through aesthetic appreciation.
  • Scientific - biodiversity represents a wealth of systematic ecological data that help us to understand the natural world and its origins. 
Any loss or deterioration in the condition of biodiversity can compromise all the values outlined above and affect human wellbeing. 

Martin-Lopez, B. (2022). Why is biodiversity important? Royal Society. Retrieved June 30, 2022, from https://royalsociety.org/topics-policy/projects/biodiversity/why-is-biodiversity-important/  

Cresswell ID, Murphy H (2016). Biodiversity: Importance of biodiversity. In: Australia state of the environment 2016, Australian Government Department of the Environment and Energy, Canberra, https://soe.environment.gov.au/theme/biodiversity/topic/2016/importance-biodiversity, DOI 10.4226/94/58b65ac828812 

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