What is Biodiversity?

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Biodiversity is the variety of life. It can be studied on many levels. At the highest level,
you can look at all the different species on the entire Earth. On a much smaller scale, you
can study biodiversity within a pond ecosystem or a neighborhood park. Identifying and
understanding the relationships between all the life on Earth are some of the greatest
challenges in science.

Most people recognize biodiversity by species. A species is a group of living

organisms that can interbreed. Examples of species include, blue whales, white-tailed
deer, white pine trees, sunflowers and microscopic bacteria that you cannot even see with
your eye. Biodiversity includes the full range of species that live in an area.
Biodiversity at a Glance

Lets look at the species biodiversity within a local pond. At first glance, we can identify
different plants, including cattails and water lilies. If we wait a while, we might be able to
spot a garter snake, a bullfrog or maybe a red-winged blackbird. With a closer look, you
can see invertebrates and worms under leaves, on grasses and in the pond water.
Think youre done? - You have not even scratched the surface of the biodiversity within the
pond! Using a microscope, you would be able to see hundreds or even thousands of
different bacteria that inhabit the pond water. They are all part of the species biodiversity
of this small ecosystem!

Biodiversity is More than Just Species

Species diversity is only one part of biodiversity. To properly catalogue all the life on Earth,
we also have to recognize the genetic diversity that exists within species as well as the
diversity of entire habitats and ecosystems.
Genetic Biodiversity is the variation in genes that exists within a species. A helpful way
to understand genetic diversity is to think about dogs. All dogs are part of the same
species, but their genes can dictate whether they are Chihuahua or a Great Dane.

There

can be a lot of variation in genes just think about all the colors, sizes, and shapes that
make up the genetic diversity of dogs.
Ecological Biodiversity is the diversity of ecosystems, natural communities and
habitats. In essence, its the variety of ways that species interact with each other and
their environment.

The forests of Maine differ from the forests of Colorado by the types of

species found in both ecosystems, as well as the temperature and rainfall. These two
seemingly similar ecosystems have a lot of differences that make them both special.

Some Biodiversity Facts

Researchers have estimated that there are between 3 - 30 million species on Earth, with a
few studies predicting that there may be over 100 million species on Earth! Currently, we
have identified only 1.7 million species, so we have a long way to go before we can
come close to figuring out how many species are on Earth!
There is more biodiversity within tropical ecosystems than temperate or boreal

ecosystems. Tropical rainforests have the most diversity.

The most diverse group of animals are invertebrates. Invertebrates are animals

without backbones, including insects, crustaceans, sponges, scorpions and many other
kinds of organisms. Over half of all the animals already identified are invertebrates.
Beetles are some of the most numerous species.
Science has so much more to learn about the biodiversity of microscopic organisms
like bacteria and protozoa.

The Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity is extremely important to people and the health of ecosystems. A few of the
reasons are:

Biodiversity allows us to live healthy and happy lives. It provides us with an array

of foods and materials and it contributes to the economy. Without a diversity of

pollinators, plants, and soils, our supermarkets would have a lot less produce.
Most medical discoveries to cure diseases and lengthen life spans were made

because of research into plant and animal biology and genetics. Every time a species goes
extinct or genetic diversity is lost, we will never know whether research would have given
us a new vaccine or drug.
Biodiversity is an important part of ecological services that make life livable on

Earth. They include everything from cleaning water and absorbing chemicals, which
wetlands do, to providing oxygen for us to breatheone of the many things that plants do
for people.
Biodiversity allows for ecosystems to adjust to disturbances like extreme fires and

floods. If a reptile species goes extinct, a forest with 20 other reptiles is likely to adapt
better than another forest with only one reptile.
Genetic diversity prevents diseases and helps species adjust to changes in their

environment.
Simply for the wonder of it all. There are few things as beautiful and inspiring as
the diversity of life that exists on Earth.

Threats to Biodiversity
Extinction is a natural part of life on Earth. Over the history of the planet most of the
species that ever existed, evolved and then gradually went extinct. Species go extinct
because of natural shifts in the environment that take place over long periods of time, such
as ice ages.

Today, species are going extinct at an accelerated and dangerous rate, because of
non-natural environmental changes caused by human activities. Some of the activities
have direct effects on species and ecosystems, such as:
Habitat loss/ degradation

Over exploitation (such as overfishing)

Spread of Non-native Species/ Diseases
Some human activities have indirect but wide-reaching effects on biodiversity, including:

Climate change
Pollution
All of these threats have put a serious strain on the diversity of species on Earth.
According to the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), globally about one
third of all known species are threatened with extinction. That includes 29% of all
amphibians, 21% of all mammals and 12% of all birds. If we do not stop the threats to
biodiversity, we could be facing another mass extinction with dire consequences to the
environment and human health and livelihood.

Helping Biodiversity in your Own Backyard

You can play a part in protecting the biodiversity of your local community by creating
a Certified Wildlife Habitat. One of the greatest threats to biodiversity is habitat loss. A
Certified Wildlife Habitat provides food, shelter, water and a place to raise young for
native wildlifethe essential elements of habitat that wildlife need to survive. A Certified
Wildlife Habitat can provide food and homes for a range of local species that need your
help.
National Wildlife Magazine Articles:
How Many Species Exist?
Homegrown Biodiversity
"Z" is for Biodiversity
An Evolving International Consensus
The importance of strengthening ecological coherence and resilience as necessary
conditions for both biodiversity conservation and sustainable development has
attracted growing attention in recent years in a wide range of conservation and
development fora. The World Summit on Sustainable Development, that was
held in Johannesburg in September 2002, adopted the goal of securing by 2010 a
significant reduction in the current rate of biodiversity loss. In setting out how
this can be achieved within the context of sustainable development, the
Johannesburg Plan of Implementation called for the promotion of national and
regional ecological networks and corridors.
The most important biodiversity conservation instrument, the Convention on
Biological Diversity, also recognizes the value of ecological coherence as a means
of achieving the Conventions three objectives the conservation of biological
diversity, the sustainable use of its components and the fair and equitable sharing
of the benefits arising out of the utilization of genetic resources. Although the
Convention itself does not specify the exact means by which these objectives are
to be achieved, its implementing mechanism is working to promote the
strengthening of ecological coherence. For example, in 2002 the Conference of

the Parties to the Convention recommended that, in order to conserve forest

biological diversity, ecological corridors should be developed on a national and
regional basis.
With regard to broader implementation approaches, in 2000 the Conference of
the Parties identified the Ecosystem Approach as the primary framework for the
implementation of the Convention and recommended the application of its
principles. The Ecosystem Approach can be regarded as a strategy for the
management of land, water and living resources that promotes conservation and
sustainable use in an equitable way. At the heart of the approach is the awareness
that, without the effective management of ecosystems, there can be no economic
development that generates sustainable human and social welfare; equally,
4
eco_networks_2004 13-01-2004 23:15 Pagina 4without the full engagement of diverse
sectors in the economy and society in the
management of ecosystems, there can be no effective biodiversity conservation.
In that sense, the Ecosystem Approach is a framework for holistic decisionmaking
and action.
From Consensus to Action
The evolution of an international consensus on the most appropriate objectives
and principles for securing biodiversity conservation and sustainable development
marks a major step forward. However, applying the principles and
achieving the objectives will only be feasible if a way can be found to translate
these broad frameworks into appropriate actions on the ground. To what extent
is practical experience offering useful lessons in how this can best be done?
Various operational models are providing useful lessons in implementing this
broad approach. Six can be identified as most closely matching the Conventions
objectives and the principles of the Ecosystem Approach and which are being
widely applied in practice, namely Biosphere Reserves, ecological networks,
reserve networks, bioregional planning, biological or conservation corridors and
Ecoregion-Based Conservation.
Biosphere Reserves were launched by UNESCOs 1974 Man and Biosphere
Programme which recognized the need to reconcile the conservation of areas
that are host to valuable biodiversity with local land-use needs through the
delineation of core areas, buffer areas and transition zones.
Ecological networks were developed in several European countries in the
1970s and 1980s where a strong land-use planning tradition had created the

institutional environment for allocating functions at the landscape scale and

where, particularly in Western Europe, habitats were becoming severely
fragmented by the high intensity of economic development.
Reserve networks were developed in North America in the 1980s, primarily
with the aim of conserving biodiversity at the regional scale, particularly in
wilderness areas. They are, however, being increasingly applied to humanimpacted
landscapes.
Bioregional planning has been developed primarily in the US and focuses on
the process of planning and managing the protection of ecosystem services
and biodiversity at the bioregional scale that is, a geographic area that, on
the basis of its ecology and community and government structure, forms an
appropriate management unit.
Biological (or conservation) corridors reflect a comparable approach that since
the 1980s has been applied in developing regions.
Ecoregion-Based Conservation is an approach developed by WWF in the late
1990s that is being applied to the task of conserving ecoregions that is,
relatively large units of land or water that harbour a characteristic set of
species, communities, dynamics and environmental conditions, of which
WWF has identified 238 in its Global 200 programme.
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eco_networks_2004 13-01-2004 23:15 Pagina 5Despite the differences in terminology,
these approaches share a core vision on
how best to integrate the conservation of biodiversity with sustainable development.
That is, they all focus conservation action on those areas and on those
species communities that harbour environmental values which are crucial to the
maintenance of ecological functions and, in the long term, to human welfare.
At the same time, they delineate human activities in such a way that they are both
economically viable and ecologically sustainable. To a large extent the different
terms represent variations in scope or emphasis rather than any essential
differences in the basic approach. This common vision is reflected in the goal of
applying a shared land-management model that can best be formulated as follows:
A coherent system of natural and/or semi-natural landscape elements that is
configured and managed with the objective of maintaining or restoring ecological
functions as a means to conserve biodiversity while also providing appropriate
opportunities for the sustainable use of natural resources.
More importantly, the approaches also share a common understanding of how

this model should be applied on the ground, namely through the allocation of
specific functions to different areas,
depending on their ecological value
and their natural-resource potential.
These functions are reflected in a
coherent system of areal components:
core areas, where the conservation
of biodiversity takes primary
importance, even if the area is not
legally protected
corridors, which serve to maintain
vital ecological or environmental
connections by providing physical
(though not necessarily linear)
linkages between the core areas
buffer zones, which protect the
network from potentially damaging
external influences and which are
essentially transitional areas
characterized by compatible land
uses.
sustainable-use areas, where
sufficient opportunities are provided
within the landscape matrix for
both the exploitation of natural
resources and the maintenance of