We explain what biodiversity is and its relationship with evolution. Also, what factors threaten it and how to protect it.
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity or biological diversity It is the great variety of ecosystems, and different species integrating each of them which exist on the planet, as a result of millions of years of evolution. It is one of the unique and most important features of our planet, in which there are many species adapted to different living environments, carrying immense genetic variability.
When thinking about biodiversity, all forms of life on the planet are taken into consideration, both plants and animals, as well as fungi and protozoa. The term It not only refers to the number of possible species, but also to the genetic diversity within the species themselves. Likewise, the term applies to the set of all possible ecosystems.
Therefore, the different natural regions of the Earth have different margins of biodiversity, reaching very high rates near the equator, in jungle habitats. The same thing happens in the large oceanic coral reefs, around which numerous underwater species swirl.
See also: Ecology
Importance of biodiversity
Biodiversity is one of the great treasures of our planet. The diversity and quantity of life available is such that only a fragment of all animal or plant species is known.
Therefore, many answers can be found contained in that large percentage of unknown beings: medicines, materials, keys to understanding life itself or even to better understand the history of our planet.
It is impossible to know what is hidden among the immensity of planetary life. That is why it would be unforgivable to destroy it and deprive ourselves of everything we can know, learn and do if we can first benefit from it without destroying it.
On the other hand, biodiversity It is necessary for the very complex biological and biogeochemical cycles that occur on our planet. Impoverishing life on the planet has a direct impact, whether we can appreciate it or not, on the quality of all life, including human beings.
For example, the destruction of wild habitats through deforestation exposes us to new forms of diseases that, if they had remained in their native circuit, would never have come into contact with us or put our health at risk.
Threats to biodiversity
While it is true that natural disasters put the diversity of life at risk, Its greatest threat comes from human economic and industrial activities. It is we, as a species, who are increasingly impoverishing the biodiversity of our planet, ultimately harming ourselves.
The main threats to biodiversity from humans are:
- The land modification soils and territories for agricultural and livestock use.
- Sustained deforestation to feed the timber and paper industry, or to expand cropland.
- Selective and intensive breeding of some species of commercial value, to the detriment of the biological balance existing in nature.
- dredging activities channeling of rivers, filling of wet lands and other forms of alteration of the habitat of the species.
- pollution of the various existing ecosystems, due to the byproducts of industrial activity or the growing generation of waste and residue.
- Indiscriminate hunting of some species for commercial purposes, which has brought them to the brink of extinction.
- The destruction of soils due to open pit mining and the subsequent contamination of surface waters with the extracted metals or the substances used to extract them.
- The accidental introduction of species into distant ecosystems in which they invade niches and cause biological imbalance.
- The incessant human population growth and the geographical expansion of cities.
Biodiversity and evolution
Biodiversity is the result of evolution. As we know thanks to Charles Darwin and his later followers, the species of living beings have their origin in the adaptation of pre-existing species to new living conditions distancing themselves physically or socially from their ancestors until the difference becomes so great that they are now two totally different species.
For example, Darwin discovered that some species of birds from the Galapagos Islands were very similar to those that live on land, but with particular modifications in the shape of their beaks, which showed an adaptation to different feeding niches: long beaks for remove worms from the wood, short robust beaks to open seeds, etc.
However, they all had common traits that evidence their shared origin, so that they were once the same species, but with the passage of time, adaptation and specialization of their diets, they became two new species, thus increasing biodiversity. of the region.
Measures to conserve biodiversity
The protection of biodiversity is a task that human beings must assume as their own, which in many ways will involve a rethinking of the way in which different economic activities are carried out. In fact, many international organizations try to bring together different nations so that, together, they can make relevant decisions on the matter.
However, the most urgent measures to protect biodiversity are:
- Regulate economic exploitation activities that have a high environmental impact such as deforestation, basic industries, mining or extensive agriculture, in such a way that their profitability is threatened if they are carried out in an environmentally unfriendly manner.
- Similarly, pursue and stop illegal economic activities which are not subject to any type of regulation (either ecological or otherwise).
- Promote responsible consumption, reuse and recycling as part of a more planet-friendly way of life, in which we do not fill the habitat of other living beings with plastic and chemical waste.
- Invest in sustainable forms of energy which have a lower ecological cost and do not threaten life on the planet. At the same time, manage energy responsibly and not wastefully.
- Tighten control of the transfer of species animals and plants to prevent the accidental introduction of species into habitats where they can become a pest.
- Harden the controls regarding indiscriminate hunting of endangered species, and at the same time invest in the protectionist work of organizations that seek to breed them and reintroduce them to their habitat.
Continue with: Environmental conservation
References
- “Biodiversity” on Wikipedia.
- “What is biodiversity?” (video) at Institute of Ecology and Biodiversity (Chile).
- “What is biodiversity?” in Government of Argentina.
- “Biodiversity: what is it, where is it found and why is it important?” in Ecologists in Action.
- “What is Biodiversity?” at American Museum of Natural History.
- “Biodiversity” in National Geographic.
- “Biodiversity (ecology)” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
