by Winford Chang
Bio-diversity is a widely used term for the variety of life that is found on earth. A bio-diverse area on earth is an area that has a large quantity of different species in a smaller condensed area. In order for an environment to flourish a wide amount or diverse amount of species must be there. An environment that is not bio-diverse can be detrimental to the survival of the animals that live in that environment. Different animal species provide food for other animals and eat other animals.
Bio-diversity doesn’t have to be a term used solely for a single environment but it could also be used to describe the huge amount of life on our planet. Thousands of new plants and animals are discovered every year and add to the bio-diversity of earth. Every species of animal is different in some way from another and they all play a part in the different ecosystems of our biosphere. Every environment has a energy pyramid or web, and the amount of species or energy sources in the pyramid affect how effective and successful a ecosystem is. The rainforest for example is one of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet. It has more than 3 million different species of plants and animals, all of these animals come together and form communities inside the ecosystem and house many sustainable forms of life. Outside changes can greatly factor biodiversity though. A species that is not normally found in a certain area being transported there is called an invasive species. Because the current web of animals doesn’t have a natural predator for that new animal it will over consume and destroy the ecosystem. Another way that outside interference will slowly destroy the bio diversity around the world is the destruction of the humans on the animals environment. Entire regions can be destroyed from humans in order to find resources for us. Without these ecosystems the community of animals that live there would have no way of sustaining their life.
The amount of animals that we discover yearly are increasing continuously with there currently being around 15,000-17,000 new discoveries every year. The bio-diversity that we have on earth is extremely precious and should be protected at all costs. Even right now it is the most important time to protect our environment and bio-diversity. With the increasing use of materials around the world we are cutting down and tearing down more environments than ever.
Citations:
Ashley ThomsonAshley is a Campaigner on the Climate team at Greenpeace USA where she works on Federal climate policy. For the past several years she’s worked on global climate policy for commodity supply chains, Thomson, A., Thomson, A., Rajput, M., & Santos, M. D. L. (2022, June 3). Biodiversity and the amazon rainforest. Greenpeace USA. Retrieved January 2, 2023, from https://www.greenpeace.org/usa/biodiversity-and-the-amazon-rainforest/
Nosowitz, D. (2015, October 9). Why thousands of new animal species are still discovered each year. Atlas Obscura. Retrieved January 2, 2023, from https://www.atlasobscura.com/articles/new-animal-species
