We explain what biodiversity is, how it is classified and some examples. Also, what are its characteristics, risks and importance.
Biodiversity is threatened by numerous human activities.
What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity or biological diversity is called the wide variety of living beings that exist on planet Earth and that form natural relationships with each other. It is the product of billions of years of evolution.
When an environment is biodiverse or has a high biodiversity, it means that it is a place inhabited by numerous and different species of living beingsIn comparison, there are other ones that are less populated or populated by a smaller variety of species.
The word “biodiversity” comes from EnglishBiodiversity” and was first used in 1986 in the lecture on the subject given by Walter G. Rosen at the National Forum on BioDiversity. This notion has been useful to make visible the opposite, that is, impoverishing biodiversity.
The Biodiversity is threatened by numerous human activities that cause the depopulation of various ecological regions, even eradicating species. It is, therefore, a term with ecological implications, but also applicable to the description of various ecosystems by biology students.
See also: Natural regions
Origin of biodiversity
The biological diversity that populates the Earth today is fruit of a long evolutionary process four billion years (4,000,000,000 years).
Although cannot be determined exactlyIt is estimated that it was then that the first forms of life appeared.
However, the development of biodiversity was slowsince until 600 million years ago, all life on the planet consisted of bacteria and microorganisms.
The enormous variety of life forms that we know today gave its first steps in the Phanerozoic period, 540 million years ago. Then the so-called “Cambrian explosion” occurred, in which multicellular organisms emerged for the first time.
This is how a race for abundance began. It suffered some setbacks, due to the different mass extinctions that have occurred throughout the history of the planet. However, it eventually led to the world as we know it, including the rise of our own species.
Types of biodiversity
In known species such as dogs we can observe genetic diversity.
Three levels of biodiversity are usually recognized:
- Genetic or intraspecific diversity. It consists of the abundance of genotypic versions, that is, genetic versions within the same species of living beings.
- Specific diversity. It consists of the abundance of genetic systems that distinguish species, that is, the abundance of species in a region.
- Total ecosystem diversity. It consists of the total abundance of the biological communities on the planet, which together constitute the so-called biosphere.
Because it is important?
In addition to the moral objective of protecting living beings, biodiversity It is of utmost importance for the survival of the human being himself. Firstly, it largely guarantees the balance of gases in the atmosphere and therefore the habitable conditions of the planet itself.
Another important point is that Not all of the world’s species are known yet, and many are known only when they are about to be eradicated by our actions. Thus, we do not know what medical potential there may be in them, and what mysteries they could solve in our understanding of our own existence.
Examples of biodiversity
The Amazon rainforests are home to 60% of all life forms on the planet.
Biodiversity is everywhere. In everyday life we can distinguish it for example among dogs, of which there are 400 different breeds that nevertheless form the same species.
In more distant areas, such as the Amazon rainforestsare true refuges of life untouched by man. Approximately 60% of the life forms on the planet reside there, 30% of which have so far been catalogued by science.
Regions with the greatest biodiversity
The greatest biodiversity is found in the intertropical zone.
The most biodiverse regions on the planet are the tropics, Cancer and Capricorn, which cover 40% of the Earth’s surface. This is because they are warm areas with little temperature change between seasons. 80% of known life accumulates in them.
- Tropic of Cancer. It crosses from west to east the territories of Mexico, Bahamas, Mauritania, Mali, Algeria, Niger, Libya, Chad, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Oman, India, Bangladesh, Burma and China.
- Tropic of Capricorn. It crosses from west to east the territories of Chile, Argentina, Paraguay, Brazil, Namibia, Botswana, South Africa, Mozambique, Madagascar and Australia.
The intertropical or equatorial zone is above all an enormous source of biodiversity. This is found especially American, African and Asian junglesthe largest reservoirs of species on the planet.
What dangers does biodiversity face?
Deforestation threatens the biodiversity of the region.
The main threats to biodiversity come from the hand of manIndustrial and agricultural activities often require radical modification of numerous ecosystems, for example through:
- The installation of machinery that removes animals or permanently modifies them.
- The dumping of waste modifies the chemical conditions of the environment and alters the ecological balance.
- The introduction of new species into environments where they can reproduce uncontrollably and kill off endogenous species.
- Indiscriminate deforestation and logging, whether for the timber and paper industries, or to obtain arable land, or to expand urban sprawl.
- Mining and oil exploitation, in addition to the ecological catastrophes of accidental oil spills into the sea.
- The indiscriminate hunting of some species.
How is biodiversity assessed?
To evaluate the biodiversity of a specific region, the following parameters are usually used:
- Wealth. It consists of the number of elements of the ecosystem, depending on the level of analysis: number of differentiated genes, number of species, number of habitats, etc.
- Relative abundance. The frequency with which one of the elements analyzed appears in the ecosystem in relation to the others that accompany it.
- Differentiation. It is the degree of genetic, taxonomic or functional distance of the elements analyzed.
It should be noted that biodiversity It is not a static, immobile attribute, but dynamic and constantly changing. It is also not uniformly distributed on the planet.
Endemic species
The carnivorous plant Heliamphora chimantensis is only found in Venezuela.
Endemic species are known as those that are specific and exclusive to a geographic region or a particular ecosystem. For example, the carnivorous plant Heliamphora chimantensis It is typical of the savannahs of southern Venezuela, and does not exist anywhere else on the planet.
The endemic species are the most susceptible to modification of their habitats by humans, since they are unable to survive in other places. Therefore, if their habitats are not protected, an important part of the world’s biodiversity will be lost.
Biological balance
Biological balance is adequate and fair compensation between individuals that are born, their food and their predators. Therefore, it is one of the necessary conditions for the preservation of the planet’s biodiversity.
Of this balance the preservation of the food chain or the trophic pyramid depends, which is a cycle of transmission of matter and energy between species. Thanks to it, the subsistence of all is possible, in the terms dictated by natural selection.
Man’s interference in ecosystems unbalances them biologically. In some cases it eliminates necessary steps from the pyramid and in others it allows the disorderly proliferation of some species and the extinction of others.
Biodiversity Preservation
Green Peace seeks to raise awareness about caring for planet Earth and its biodiversity.
There are many efforts and organizations that fight to preserve biodiversity. Since 2000, the UN declared May 22 as the International Day for Biological Diversityand also to 2010 as the International Year of Biological Diversity.
The purpose of these statements is to raise greater awareness about the urgent need to take action in this regardOther organizations carrying out similar campaigns include Green Peace, Earth Action and the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).
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