Biodiversity: an overview

Biodiversity

The 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro defined biodiversity as “The variability among living organisms from all sources, including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems “. In simple words biodiversity means Variety of life forms or the combination of all life forms on Earth.

In 1980 Thomas Lovejoy first coined the term Biological diversity, while in 1986 the word biodiversity itself was coined by E.O. Wilson, in a report for the first American Forum on biological diversity. The staff of National Research Council (NRC) suggested the word biodiversity to E.O. Wilson, as more effective in terms of communication. 

Biodiversity is a branch of Environmental science which deals with the study of variation in different living organisms such as animals, plants and micro organisms in a specific area for the sake of shelter, food and living. Because of the suitable environmental conditions biodiversity is concentrated in the tropical regions of the Earth and less in Polar Regions. 
The scientists acknowledge that now the rate of species loss is hundred times greater than at any time in human history. It has long been feared that human activity is causing massive extinctions in spite of the fact that all the species of flora and fauna, including humans, are dependent on each other, and the extinction of any one of these species can trigger an irreversible effect on the other species, efforts for the conservation have not been enough and biodiversity losses continues. The costs associated with deteriorating or vanishing ecosystems will be high. However, sustainable development and consumption would help avert ecological problems.

 
Types 

 1. “Genetic diversity” which deals with the genetic variation within and among the species.

 2. “Species diversity” dealing with the variety of animal and plant species present in a region.

 3. “Ecological or Ecosystem diversity” it deals with the ecological variations such as desserts, grasslands, lakes etc.

 4. “Functional diversity” deals with the chemical processes of the species necessary for their survival.

 Advantages

 Every species on Earth provides valuable services in one way or other beneficial for mankind such as;

 1. Increase soil fertility e.g. earthworms

 2. Pollinators of plants e.g. bees

 3. Decompose waste e.g. bacteria

 4. Forests reduce floods

 5. Source of food like crops, fish etc

 6. Source of medicine e.g. digitalis obtained from foxglove use to cure heart troubles

 7. Source of wood, fiber, wax, rubber, cork, resins which are obtained from plants

 8. Source of silk, wool, leather obtained from animals

 9. Aesthetic beauty

 
Threats

 · Over-hunting

 · Habitat destruction (rapid urbanization)

 · Introduction of Invasive species

 · Climate changes (global warming)

 · Pollution (industrial activities and agrochemicals )