Biodiversity
From Envirowiki
Biodiversity can be defined as the amount of variation between species within an ecosystem. Biodiversity is a function of evolution: each species evolved to become more and more specialised to it's niche.Biodiversity is an information bank: the genes stored in the bank offer us information about how things can be done. Once a species becomes extinct, that information is pretty much lost for good.
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[edit] Values of biodiversity
Biodiversity is worth saving, for a number of reasons: Firstly, diversity offers protection from shocks: in a simple system such as sea grass > fish > humans, a simple shock such as a sea grass disease could potentially wipe out large stocks of sea grass, fish would then either over feed (further reducing the sea grass stocks), or die, or be over fished. The end result is less humans, and less biomass overall, at least until the point where the predator levels fall enough to let the prey increase again.
In a more complex ecosystem, the predator simply focuses more on other kinds of prey, allowing the sick species to recover. Each species provides for and limits a number of other species. The more complex the ecosystem, the more stable it is.
[edit] Medicine
Biodiversity also provides in other ways: A large number of medicines in recent decades have been discovered in the extremely biodiverse tropical rainforests of the world. The more diversity on earth, the more likelihood of finding new and useful discoveries.
[edit] see also
- Node:biodiversity - the meeting place of biodiversity articles
- Biodiversity: Two Separate Views
- Biodiversity Protection
- Development and Biodiversity
- Ethics and Biodiversity
[edit] Sources
- Biodiversity Fact sheet. Young People's Trust for the Environment. retrieved 2007 April 07.
