Biodiversity – Concept, Evolution, Threats and how to protect it

Biodiversity: 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 is the great variety of ecosystems, and of different species integrating each of them, that 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 refers not only to the number of possible species, but to the genetic diversity within the species themselves. Likewise, the term applies to the set of all possible ecosystems. You must read about World Power once.

Therefore, the different natural regions of the Earth have different margins of biodiversity, reaching very high levels near the equator, in jungle habitats. The same occurs in the great oceanic coral reefs, around which numerous underwater species swirl.

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 within the immensity of planetary life. It would therefore be unforgivable to destroy it and deprive ourselves of all that we can know, learn and do if we can first benefit from it without destroying it.

On the other hand, biodiversity is necessary for the extremely 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, had they remained in their native circuit, would never have come into contact with us or endangered our health. Maybe you should definitely read about Scientific Revolution once.

Threats to biodiversity

While it is true that natural disasters put the diversity of life at risk, the greatest threat comes from human economic and industrial activities. It is we, as a species, who are most and most rapidly impoverishing the biodiversity of our planet, ultimately harming ourselves.

The main threats to biodiversity at the hands of humans are:

1. The modification of land, soil and territories for agricultural and livestock use.
2. Sustained deforestation to feed the timber and paper industry, or to expand farmland.
3. Selective and intensive breeding of some species of commercial value, to the detriment of the biological balance existing in nature.
4. Dredging activities, channeling of rivers, filling of wetlands and other forms of alteration of the habitat of species.
5. Pollution of the various existing ecosystems, due to the by-products of industrial activity or the increasing generation of waste and residues.
6. The indiscriminate hunting of some species for commercial purposes, which has brought them to the brink of extinction.
7. The destruction of soils due to open-cast mining and the subsequent contamination of surface waters with extracted metals or substances used to extract them.
8. The accidental introduction of species into distant ecosystems, where they invade niches and cause biological imbalance.
9. The incessant growth of the human population 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, species of living beings have their origin in the adaptation of pre-existing species to new living conditions, physically or socially distancing themselves from their ancestors until the difference becomes so great that they are now two completely different species.

For example, Darwin discovered that some species of birds in the Galapagos Islands were very similar to those living on land, but with particular modifications in the shape of their beaks, which showed an adaptation to different feeding niches: long beaks to extract worms from wood, robust and short beaks to open seeds, etc.

However, they all had common features that show 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 the 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 pertinent decisions on the matter.

However, the most urgent measures to protect biodiversity are:

• Regulating 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 a way that is not friendly to the environment.
• Similarly, pursuing and stopping illegal economic activities, which are not subject to any type of regulation (neither ecological nor otherwise).
• Promoting 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.
• Investing in sustainable forms of energy, which have a lower ecological cost and do not threaten life on the planet. At the same time, managing energy in a responsible and non-wasteful way.
• Tightening control over the transfer of animal and plant species to prevent the accidental introduction of species into habitats where they could become a pest.
• Tighten controls on the indiscriminate hunting of endangered species, while at the same time investing in the protection work of organizations that seek to breed and reintroduce them to their habitat.