Amazon Rainforest
Ever step foot into a tropical rainforest and notice just how abundant everything seems? By contrast, ever step foot onto a piece of tundra and think that things look comparatively bleak? If so, then you might have come to the realization that some places are more diverse – that is to say, more abundant and varied in life – than others.
This is what is known as Biodiversity (a contraction of biological diversity) which is the degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or even an entire planet. Biodiversity is one measure of the health of biological systems and varies from place to place. The number of species of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the enormous diversity of genes in these species, the different ecosystems on the planet, such as deserts, rainforests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth.
The term was used first by scientist and conservationist Raymond F. Dalesman in the 1968 book A Different Kind of Country advocating conservation. The term was widely adopted only after more than a decade, when in the 1980s it came into common usage in science and environmental policy. Since this period both the term and the concept have achieved widespread use among biologists, environmentalists, political leaders, and concerned citizens. The term is sometimes used to reflect concern for the natural environment and nature conservation.
Researchers accept three levels of biodiversity: genetic, species, and ecosystem. Genetic biodiversity refers to the genetic variation within species; species biodiversity to the variety of species in an area, and ecosystem to the variety of habitat types within a landscape. Biological diversity is of fundamental importance to the functioning of all natural and human-engineered ecosystems, and by extension to human beings. Living organisms play central roles in the cycles of major elements (carbon, nitrogen, and so on) and water in the environment, and diversity specifically is important in that these cycles require numerous interacting species.
It has long been feared that human activity is causing massive extinctions. The threats to biodiversity are playfully referred to as the “Evil Quartet”. Also of use is the helpful acronym HIPPO, which stands for Habitat destruction, Invasive species, Pollution, over-Population, and overharvesting. Despite increased efforts at conservation, it has not been enough and biodiversity losses continue. The costs associated with deteriorating or vanishing ecosystems will be high. However, general interest in biodiversity has grown rapidly in recent decades, paralleling accelerated rates of natural habitat loss, habitat fragmentation and degradation, and resulting extinctions of species.
We have written many articles about biodiversity for Universe Today. Here’s an article about the proof of life, and here are some images of wetlands from space.
If you’d like more info on Biodiversity, check out Coral Reef Health and Biodiversity Research Page. And here’s a link to NASA’s Carbon Cycle and Ecosystems Website.
We’ve also recorded an episode of Astronomy Cast all about planet Earth. Listen here, Episode 51: Earth.
Sources:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity
http://www.globalissues.org/issue/169/biodiversity
http://canadianbiodiversity.mcgill.ca/
http://www.eoearth.org/article/biodiversity
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