What is biodiversity?
The variety of life on Earth, its biological diversity is commonly referred to as biodiversity. 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, rain-forests and coral reefs are all part of a biologically diverse Earth. Appropriate conservation and sustainable development strategies attempt to recognize this as being integral to any approach. Almost all cultures have in some way or form recognized the importance that nature, and its biological diversity has had upon them and the need to maintain it.
Genetic diversity is all the different genes contained in all individual plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms. It occurs within a species as well as between species.
Species diversity is all the differences within and between populations of species, as well as between different species.
Ecosystem diversity is all the different habitats, biological communities, and ecological processes, as well as variation within individual ecosystems.
Convention on Biological Diversity
At the 1992 UN Conference on Environment and Development (the Earth Summit), the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) was born. 192 countries, plus the EU, are now Parties to that convention. In April 2002, the Parties to the Convention committed to significantly reduce the loss of biodiversity loss by 2010.
Perhaps predictably, that did not happen. Despite numerous successful conservations measures supporting biodiversity, the 2010 biodiversity target has not been met at the global level. This page provides an overview on how the attempts to prevent biodiversity loss is progressing.
Threats to biodiversity
The loss of biodiversity is a significant issue for scientists and policy-makers and the topic is finding its way into living rooms and classrooms. Species are becoming extinct at the fastest rate known in geological history and most of these extinctions have been tied to human activity.
Habitat loss and destruction, usually as a direct result of human activity and population growth, is a major force in the loss of species, populations, and ecosystems.
Alterations in ecosystem composition, such as the loss or decline of a species, can lead to a loss of biodiversity. For example, efforts to eliminate coyotes in the canyons of southern California are linked to decreases in song bird populations in the area. As coyote populations were reduced, the populations of their prey, primarily raccoons, increased. Since raccoons eat bird eggs, fewer coyotes led to more raccoons eating more eggs, resulting in fewer song birds.
The introduction of exotic (non-native) species can disrupt entire ecosystems and impact populations of native plants or animals. These invaders can adversely affect native species by eating them, infecting them, competing with them, or mating with them.
The over-exploitation (over-hunting, over-fishing, or over-collecting) of a species or population can lead to its demise.
Human-generated pollution and contamination can affect all levels of biodiversity.
Global climate change can alter environmental conditions. Species and populations may be lost if they are unable to adapt to new conditions or relocate.
Biodiversity Hotspots
A seminal paper by Norman Myers in 1988 first identified ten tropical forest “hotspots” characterized both by exceptional levels of plant endemism and by serious levels of habitat loss. In 1990 Myers added a further eight hotspots, including four Mediterranean-type ecosystems. Conservation International adopted Myers’ hotspots as its institutional blueprint in 1989, and in 1996, the organization made the decision to undertake a reassessment of the hotspots concept, including an examination of whether key areas had been overlooked. Three years later an extensive global review was undertaken, which introduced quantitative thresholds for the designation of biodiversity hotspots:
To qualify as a hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least 1,500 species of vascular plants (> 0.5 percent of the world’s total) as endemics, and it has to have lost at least 70 percent of its original habitat.
In the 1999 analysis, published in the book Hotspots: Earth’s Biologically Richest and Most Endangered Terrestrial Ecoregions, and a year later in the scientific journal Nature (Myers, et al. 2000), 25 biodiversity hotspots were identified. Collectively, these areas held as endemics no less than 44 percent of the world’s plants and 35 percent of terrestrial vertebrates in an area that formerly covered only 11.8 percent of the planet’s land surface. The habitat extent of this land area had been reduced by 87.8 percent of its original extent, such that this wealth of biodiversity was restricted to only 1.4 percent of Earth’s land surface. A second major reanalysis has now been undertaken and published in the book Hotspots Revisited.
List of Biodiversity Hotspots:
Biosafety Protocol, 2000
A Biosafety Protocol meeting was hosted in Montreal, Canada January 24, 2000 to January 28, 2000. Compared to the fiasco of 1999, in 2000, there was a somewhat successful treaty to regulate the international transport and release of genetically modified organisms to protect natural biological diversity.
The treaty allows the labeling of products that have been developed from biotech organisms. While mandatory labeling has not been required, products will say that they "may contain" genetically modified ingredients. It also permits countries to block the entry of genetically modified organisms if there is "reasonable doubt" that there could be risks to public health or the environment.
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