Biodiversity is the variety of all life forms on earth – the different plants, animals and micro-organisms and the ecosystems of which they are a part.
Biodiversity: the HUGE variety of other animals and plants on our planet, together with the places where found.
Natural heritage, an inheritance of fauna and flora, geology, landscape and landforms, and other natural resources
Our planet is simply amazing.
Viewed by someone not from our world, it could be seen as one big, finely tuned and ultimately incredible machine.
Lots of cogs, pulleys and wheels (animals, plants and environments) working together. Depending on each other in so many ways. Creating a green, blue healthy world that you, us, everyone depends on.
For food, fuel, medicine and other essentials that we simply cannot live without.
Sure this machine can take some knocks and bruises.
It can bounce back.
Stretch. Adapt. Mend.
It is part of what makes it so marvelous.
But we’re beginning to pull and stretch it further than it has ever been stretched before.
We’re entering unknown territory where some of the extinctions we are causing may have deep and profound effects on how we live our lives.
In the grand time scale of our planet, these effects may be currently seen as the equivalent of storm clouds gathering on the horizon.
But rest assured, the storm is coming.
Unless we learn to start loving and caring for what our planet already gives us.
The Term Paper on How Animals Adapt To Environment They Live In
All animals face the same problems in adapting to the desert. They must find shelter from daytime heat and nighttime cold, as well as find food and water, which are often scarce. Yet, in spite of these extreme conditions, most animal species are represented in the desert environment, even some we typically associate with temperate or wet surroundings. Invertebrates Animals without backbones are ...
Biodiversity has declined by more than a quarter in the last 35 years.
The Living Planet Index (LPI), which tracks nearly 4,000 populations of wildlife, shows an overall fall in population trends of 27% between 1970 and 2005.
That’s not good news.
In general terms, population growth and our consumption are the reasons for this enormous loss. Specifically, habitat destruction and wildlife trade are the major causes of population decline in species.
We have…picked, logged, plucked and hunted the animals, trees, flowers and fish for medicine, souvenirs, status symbols, building materials and food.
And this over-exploitation (hunting, fishing, by catch) is currently totally unsustainable.
Globally, we now require the equivalent of 1.4 planets to support our lifestyles. This is humanity’s current Ecological Footprint – the demand people place upon the natural world.
In 2009, humanity used 40% more resources than nature can regenerate in a year.
This problem – using resources faster than they can regenerate and creating waste such as CO2 faster than it can be absorbed – is called ecological overshoot.
We currently maintain this overshoot by liquidating the planet’s natural resources. We can cut trees faster than they re-grow, and catch fish at a rate faster than they repopulate. While this can be done for a short while, overshoot ultimately leads to the depletion of resources on which our economy depends.
Adding to the pressure is Climate Change – the full effects and impacts on Biodiversity and how life may (or may not) adapt is still very much an unknown quantity.
What we do know, however, is that the next 30 years are critical.
We also know that humans, and our behavior, have changed the Earth’s ecosystems more rapidly and extensively in the past 50 years than in any other period of human history.
All in all, the loss of biodiversity is, arguably, the greatest threat to world stability and security today.
Biological diversity is the resource upon which families, communities, nations and future generations depend. It is the link between all organisms on earth, binding each into an interdependant ecosystem, in which all species have their role. It is the web of life.
The Term Paper on Biodiversity and Natural Resources
... species. There are programs dedicated to researching and monitoring biodiversity. Any person can contribute to preventing biodiversity loss by recycling, and not wasting natural resources. Biodiversity loss ... what will happen to the planet in the next 50 years without action being taken to stop biodiversity loss. Society will be affected negatively ...
The Earth’s natural assets are made up of plants, animals, land, water, the atmosphere AND humans! Together we all form part of the planet’s ecosystems, which means if there is a biodiversity crisis, our health and livelihoods are at risk too.
But we are currently using 25% more natural resources than the planet can sustain As a result species, habitats and local communities are under pressure or direct threats (for example from loss of access to fresh water).
Biodiversity underpins the health of the planet and has a direct impact on all our lives.
Put simply, reduced biodiversity means millions of people face a future where food supplies are more vulnerable to pests and disease, and where fresh water is in irregular or short supply.
For humans that is worrying.
Very worrying indeed.
Just to illustrate the degree of biodiversity loss we’re facing, let’s take you through one scientific analysis…
• The rapid loss of species we are seeing today is estimated by experts to be between 1,000 and 10,000 times higher than the natural extinction rate.*
• These experts calculate that between 0.01 and 0.1% of all species will become extinct each year.
• If the low estimate of the number of species out there is true – i.e. that there are around 2 million different species on our planet** – then that means between 200 and 2,000 extinctions occur every year.
• But if the upper estimate of species numbers is true – that there are 100 million different species co-existing with us on our planet – then between 10,000 and 100,000 species are becoming extinct each year.
“We can no longer see the continued loss of biodiversity as an issue separate from the core concerns of society: to tackle poverty, to improve the health, prosperity and security of present and future generations, and to deal with climate change. Each of those objectives is undermined by current trends in the state of our ecosystems, and each will be greatly strengthened if we finally give biodiversity the priority it deserves.”
The Essay on Biodiversity Loss
Species loss changes the most important processes of the ecosystem,productivity and sustainability.Biodiversity loss quickens this alteration of the ecosystem. It is researched whether species loss and the change of ecosystem or global enviromental changes have more effect on vital processes. Intermediate species loss reduces the plant production, higher loss has as detrimental impact as ...
Convention on Biological Diversity’s ‘Global Biodiversity Outlook 3’ report
