By Preeti Singh
The term biodiversity (from “biological diversity”) refers to the variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, and can encompass the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life.
Biodiversity includes not only species we consider rare, threatened, or endangered but also every living thing—from humans to organisms we know little about, such as microbes, fungi, and invertebrates.
At the Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation, we include humans and human cultural diversity as a part of biodiversity. We use the term “biocultural” to describe the dynamic, continually evolving and interconnected nature of people and place, and the notion that social and biological dimensions are interrelated. This concept recognizes that human use, knowledge, and beliefs influence, and in turn are influenced, by the ecological systems of which human communities are a part. This relationship makes all of biodiversity, including the species, land and seascapes, and the cultural links to the places where we live—be right where we are or in distant lands—important to our wellbeing as they all play a role in maintaining a diverse and healthy planet.
Why Is Biodiversity Important?
Biodiversity is important to most aspects of our lives. We value biodiversity for many reasons, some utilitarian, some intrinsic. This means we value biodiversity both for what it provides to humans, and for the value it has in its own right. Utilitarian values include the many basic needs humans obtain from biodiversity such as food, fuel, shelter, and medicine. Further, ecosystems provide crucial services such as pollination, seed dispersal, climate regulation, water purification, nutrient cycling, and control of agricultural pests. Biodiversity also holds value for potential benefits not yet recognized, such as new medicines and other possible unknown services. Biodiversity has cultural value to humans as well, for spiritual or religious reasons for instance. The intrinsic value of biodiversity refers to its inherent worth, which is independent of its value to anyone or anything else. This is more of a philosophical concept, which can be thought of as the inalienable right to exist. Finally, the value of biodiversity can also be understood through the lens of the relationships we form and strive for with each other and the rest of nature. We may value biodiversity because of how it shapes who we are, our relationships to each other, and social norms. These relational values are part of peoples’ individual or collective sense of wellbeing, responsibility for, and connection with the environment. The different values placed on biodiversity are important because they can influence the conservation decisions people make every day.
Threats to Biodiversity
Over the last century, humans have come to dominate the planet, causing rapid ecosystem change and massive loss of biodiversity across the planet. This has led some people to refer to the time we now live in as the “anthropocene.” While the Earth has always experienced changes and extinctions, today they are occurring at an unprecedented rate. Major direct threats to biodiversity include habitat loss and fragmentation, unsustainable resource use, invasive species, pollution, and global climate change. The underlying causes of biodiversity loss, such as a growing human population and overconsumption are often complex and stem from many interrelated factors.
Biodiversity includes three main types: diversity within species (genetic diversity), between species (species diversity) and between ecosystems (ecosystem diversity).
- Genetic Diversity
- Species Diversity
- Ecological Diversity
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Genetic Diversity
Genetic diversity describes how closely related the members of one species are in a given ecosystem. In simple terms, if all members have many similar genes, the species has low genetic diversity. Because of their small populations, endangered species may have low genetic diversity due to inbreeding. This can pose a threat to a population if it leads to inheritance of undesirable traits or makes the species more susceptible to disease. Having high genetic diversity helps species adapt to changing environments.
Species Diversity
Every ecosystem contains a unique collection of species, all interacting with each other. Some ecosystems may have many more species than another. In some ecosystems, one species has grown so large that it dominates the natural community. When comparing the biodiversity of ecosystems, an ecosystem that has a large number of species, but no species greatly outnumbering the rest, would be considered to have the most species diversity. A large number of species can help an ecosystem recover from ecological threats, even if some species go extinct
Ecological Diversity
A region may have several ecosystems, or it may have one. Wide expanses of oceans or deserts would be examples of regions with low ecological diversity. A mountain area that has lakes, forests and grasslands would have higher biodiversity, in this sense. A region with several ecosystems may be able to provide more resources to help native species survive, especially when one ecosystem is threatened by drought or disease.
