Introduction
Biodiversity is the variation of species in a given ecosystem, biome on the world Biodivsity is used to assess the fitness of biological systems. The biodiversity that is found on the earth surface is made up of millions of various biological species. The species are as a result of biodiversity evolution. Ecosystem means the combination of physical and biological elements of the environment. It is referred as sections in the natural environment where the physical factor or a biotic factor and the biotic factor exist together in the environment. The a biotic factors include rocks and soil and the biotic factors include organisms like plants, animals. Biome is a composition of several areas like the ecosystems. Biome can be classfised into different categories. For example, it can be classified as terrestrial, freshwater or marine.
Biodiversity is term that is used to substitute the terms species diversity and species richness. Biodiversity includes the variation of species, their genetic component and the natural environment in which they live. Biodiversity includes the plants, animals and the processes that sustain them. This combination makes the term diversity to include genetic diversity; species diversity and the ecosystem diversity. There are several benefits of biodiversity. These include air purification, food, and shelter for organisms, medicinal value and agricultural value. There are threats to biodiversity thus the need to conserve biodiversity so as to realize its role. These threats include poaching, introduction of species, fragmentation. This paper aims at explaining the role of biodiversity, the threats to biodiversity and the conservation of biodiversity and a case study to show the threats to biodiversity and there effects.
History of biodiversity
The history of biodiversity during the phanerozoic starts with the growth of the multicultural organisms. During the early days biodiversity did not have massive growth until the establishment of multicultural organisms. The history of biodiversity is provided by the fossil records and the molecular cells. The fossil records contain information about the earth’s biodirvisty and its growth (Soule, &Orians, 2001).
Importance of biodiversity
At the ecosystem level, biodiversity provides conditions and forms the processes that sustain the earth and the survival of species on the earth’s surface. The benefits of biodiversity are diverse as biodiversity sustains the ecosystem. First, biodiversity helps in soil formation and in maintaining its quality. This is achieved through the organisms and plants. These organisms and plants include the bacteria, the algae, and worms. The organism and plant break the organic matter into the soil (Wall, 2004).The breakdown of organic matter releases important nutrients to the plants thus improving their health and production. The biodiversity processes play a great role in as they cycle nitrogen, carbon dioxide between the living and non living parts of the biosphere. Biodiversity is important as it maintains the quality of air. This is because plants species purify the air and control the composition of the atmosphere (Wall, 2004).They recycle oxygen which is important for survival and they also filter the air from harmful chemical from the industry.
Biodiversity sustains wetland ecosystems like swamps and marshes. These ecosystems absorb and recycle important nutrients. They also treat sewage materials and cleanse waste (Soule, &Orians, 2001). This is important as it makes the sewage less harmful for use by human beings and animals. Forest ecosystems purify water as it flows through forests. Forest ecosystems also prevent soil erosion and this helps preventing siltation of rivers and water reservoirs that is caused by soil erosion. Biodiversity also helps in pest control. This is because pests can be controlled by variety of organisms like birds, insects and fungi. This is important since pesticides form a resistance to chemical control but with the use of biodiversity the pesticides are able to be kept away (Stockner, 2003).This is through the use of birds that control pests in agriculture. Organisms which are part of biodiversity are important as they help in decomposition and detoxification of waste material. This is because most of the waste materials on the earth surface are decomposed by decomposing organisms like bacteria and fungi.
Industrial waste is also decomposed by activities that carried out by living things and they are also detoxificated. The useful nutrients are absorbed by plants after decomposition. These nutrients are important as they help the plants in growth. Other plants also carry out detoxification on water since they remove any harmful substance from the water. It also useful in plant pollination and crop production. This is because plants rely on activities of various animal species like bees and birds to help them in plant pollination and reproduction through the transport of pollen grains (Stockner, 2003). Other species like birds are important in crop production as they help in dispersal of seed that leads to reproduction in plants. Biodiversity is also important as it helps in stabilizing the climate. This is through plants and other organic materials. The organisms act as the repositories for carbon which is important as it slows the building of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere. This contributes to climate stabilization.
Ecosystems influence the weather conditions. Forests release moisture into the atmosphere which forms rains. This is important as it provides the animals with water and it also controls the climate. The forests act as insulators in cold climates thus controlling the temperatures. Biodiversity helps in preventing and controlling disasters. This is through planting of plants like grassland which control erosion and nutrient loss. Biodiversity is important as it provides food to human beings and animals. It provides variety of food stuff like wild animals provide people with proteins (Stockner, 2003).Most of the countries depend on animals like fish for proteins. Terrestrial animals supply people with proteins like eggs and milk. Plants provide fruits to human beings and wild animals. The provision of food is important as it helps in sustaining the animals, plants and people on the earth surface. Biodiversity is a source of traditional medicine which is prepared from plant extract. Many countries rely on biodiversity to manufacture drugs since the plant extracts have no chemical content. The use of traditional medicine has attracted many people. Most of the traditional drugs are derived directly or indirectly from plants, animals and micro organisms. Technology has been developed to manufacture drugs from biodiversity since the drugs have little or no impact at all.
Biodiversity is important in agriculture as it stores genetic materials that are used in improving crop performance. Crop improvement is as result of collection of genetic diversity in natural and domestic plants. The interbreeding of different crop with different useful traits has lead to development of crops that have more benefits than the parent crops. Crop diversity is also important as helps the crops to survive when attacked by diseases since the dominant crop can survive from the diseases (Miller, &Spoolman, 2008). Most of the resources from biodiversity are used in industries and businesses. This is materials are gotten directly from natural resources. They include building materials that are derived from plants and other natural resources. Biodiversity is also important as it provides leisure and recreational facilities. This is through the wildlife and plants that attract tourists. (Miller, &Spoolman, 2008). It also provides leisure activities like hiking and watching of various animals like birds. It also acts as an education area and cultural experience when people visit the biodiversity areas.
Biodiversity is also a source of revenue for the country and its population. This is through tourist attraction, industrial products and agricultural activities. This shows that biodiversity plays an important role in sustaining the earth as without proper biodiversity life can be affected. This is because of lack of food, water, clean air and medicine. It can also affect education since the country has no education sites or reading materials. Thus it is important to conserve the biodiversity by controlling things that cause threat to biodiversity (Miller, &Spoolman, 2008).
Examples of biodiversity
There are many examples of biodiversity from every day life. This includes the forest ecosystems, agricultural ecosystems, and the wild animals (World Bank, 2004)
Case study on biodiversity
This case study is aimed at showing how lack of conservation affects biodiversity. This is case study on Hawaii birds. Most of the countries are only focused on conserving few species that are threatened. This case study shows how the plant and animal species in Hawaii are affected by threats to biodiversity (World Bank, 2004) .There are several ways in which biodiversity in this country is being threatened. One of the ways is the interference of the natural ecosystem that limits the resources that are required by an organism like water, food and space. The natural’s ecosystem is interrupted by altering how organisms interact with other organisms like competition and predation. There are two behaviors that create interference to the ecosystem. This includes the development of exotic or introduced species and the habitat fragmentation (World Bank, 2004) the introduction of species in ecosystems threatens the indigenous species.
The introduction species can be intentionally or by accident and this species are not part of the ecosystem. The introduced species survive thus causing competition on the indigenous species. This competition can be inform of food, space and light and this causes death of the species .The species also prey on the indigenous species thus causing death and reduction of the indigenous species. The species can also transmit diseases to the indigenous species thus causing the species to die. They can hybridize the indigenous species thus causing change of the species that are found in the ecosystem. The interruptions above cause the species to be threatened thus reducing the population of the species in the ecosystem (World bank ,2004) For example the introduction of the salt cedar tree in western United States to control soil erosion has caused more harm than benefit. This is because the tree has spread fast along the streams in the region and the leaves from the plant cause the soil to become saline thus affecting the growth of the indigenous plants like cottonwood and willow seeds.
The indigenous trees are a habitat for the birds. The introduction of the salt cedar tree in the region has made the indigenous trees not to grow thus causing the birds populations in the region to be affected. The endangered birds include the southwestern willow flycatcher and the bell vireo. Another factor that can threaten biodiversity is fragmentation. Habitat fragmentation can cause change to the ecosystem thus disturbing the indigenous ecosystems. For example people can cause change to natural areas by practicing agricultural activities or urbanization thus destroying the habitat that is needed to sustain native species. This causes the natural areas to be left isolated(Miller,&Spoolman.,2008).The change of the natural ecosystem leads to division of large population into small population and the small populations is not able to sustain itself thus leading to loss of exchange of genetic materials among different populations or it can also lead to death of the isolated species.
The plant and animal species in Hawaii have faced a lot of isolation leading to adaptive radiation. This isolation has lead to the development of non indigenous species which are endemic. This species have also been affected by loss of native habitat and habitat fragmentation (Miller, &Spoolman, 2008). The habitat fragmentation has led to separation of species thus affecting genetic exchange among the species. This has affected the population of the indigenous species as they are replaced by non indigenous species in the area. These factors have led to the threatening of the biodiversity in Hawaii. This case study shows how the human activities like agricultural activities and urbanization can affect the biodiversity of a country. It also shows how isolation and habitat fragmentation and introduced species can cause harm in an area by affecting the indigenous population in the area. These factors have affected the birds and plants in Hawaii leading to reduction in plant population and bird’s population (Miller, &Spoolman, 2008)
Threats to biodiversity
There are several threats to biodiversity. The threats have led to extinction of species in the ecosystem. These threats are mostly human activities. The massive growth in human population has caused threat to biodiversity species (World Bank, 2004) .The growth in human population has made forest ecosystems to be cleared so as to get areas to live. This process has affected the animal species like birds as the forest ecosystems are habitat for the birds thus leading to death or to loss of the species. The clearing of forest ecosystem has also led to threatening of the plant population since most of the trees are cut down leaving the population low. The destruction of the forest ecosystems has also led to the destruction of water sources thus leaving the species without water. This affects the species since they have no enough food and water. Another activity that has affected biodiversity is over hunting. Hunting has been a major cause of extinction of most species and the action has caused danger to most of the species. Large mammals like elephants have faced threats from hunting since most of the communities hunt the animal so as to sell its products. This is through poaching which is illegal in most of the countries (Lionel, &Westra, 2008).
Another cause of threat to biodiversity is habitat loss and fragmentation. The habitat loss occurs as a result of destruction of forests that are habitats for wild life. The destruction of the habitat affects the species in terms of food, reproduction and light. The destruction of the habitat causes the species to die or to relocate to other areas where they can find enough food. This has led to the separation of population into different portions with the small portions being unable to sustain itself. This has lead to the extinction of the population as the transfer of genetic material is affected by the destruction of the habitat (Lionel, &Westra, 2008).
The introduction of species has also affected the indigenous species in a habitat. This is because the species have been introduced in the ecosystem causing more harm to the indigenous species. This is because the exotic species are predators, parasites (Lionel, &Westra, 2008). The species which are predators in the ecosystem have caused danger to the indigenous species as they prey on the species causing death or harm. This has made the indigenous species to become extinct as they are not able to protect themselves. The species introduced also cause competition in the ecosystem in terms of food, light and any other sources that are important for the indigenous species. This has led to the movement of the indigenous species to a new location to search for food and security and death of the species thus affecting the population of the species (World bank ,2004).The species introduced to the ecosystem have also brought diseases and parasites to the indigenous population thus affecting the indigenous species. The diseases caused have led to death of the indigenous species as the species are not able to fight the diseases.
The population of the introduced species grows faster than the population of the indigenous species thus reducing the habitat of the indigenous population (Miller,&Spoolman.,2008)This has led to movement of the indigenous species or to the death of the indigenous species since there is no enough space in the habitat. The exotic species are introduced by human beings intentionally or unwillingly. Example of unwilling introduction is the breeding of ladybugs to control pests in agriculture and the introduction of bacterias. Intentional introduction of species includes the planting of exotic plants in the garden. Genetic pollution is also another threat to biodiversity. This is because of introduction of uncontrolled hybridization and genetic swapping. This process has lead to the replacement of local genotypes with hybrid ones so as to get plants or animals that have strong characteristics then the original population (European environmental Agency, 2006). The use of hybrid process leads to the extinction of native species of the plants and animals as the genetic material of the plants and animals changes with time.
This has strong effect when the rare species interbreed with the abundant species. This leads to the swapping of genes among the two groups that causes hybrid and this causes extinction of the rare group and the abundant group. Another threat to biodiversity is global warming. This is caused by the pollution of the atmosphere. This affects both plants and animals through changes in temperature. The temperature changes affect water sources and the forests. The water sources are limited leading to lack of water for the animals and the plants and this leads to death of the animals as a result of competition for food and water which is not sufficient (Loreau, Naeem, &Inchausti, 2002).
Conservation of biodiversity
In order to appreciate the role of biodiversity in sustaining the earth people should conserve bio diversity. Conservation of biodiversity can be done through several ways. First the conservation of biodiversity can be carried out through use of strong measures to curb over hunting in the ecosystem. This is by implementing strong measures on poaching. Poaching is the main cause of extinction of most rare species like elephants and rhino. With these measures the government can ensure that the species are not threatened. Another way of conserving biodiversity is through control of human settlement in areas that are occupied with biodiversity (Chivian, &Bernstein, 2008). This is to prevent fragmentation and lose of habitat that leads to death of species. This will provide enough environments for the indigenous species to live and it also prevents the loss of genetic materials as the population is not isolated from one another.
People can also prevent the introduction of species in an ecosystem. This is because the introduction of species in the ecosystem causes threat to the indigenous species. Introduction of species causes diseases to the indigenous species and also predation of the species. With the control of species introduced in the ecosystem the extinction of the indigenous species can be controlled as the species are not subjected to predation or diseases. The use of hybrid in animal and agricultural production should also be controlled so as to prevent the native species from being threatened. This is to control interbreeding between the rare species and the abundant species as this causes the extinction of the native species. Hybrid should be used when necessary (Miller, &Spoolman, 2008)
Conclusion
Biodiversity is important as it helps in supporting many ecosystems that are useful to the organisms. Biodiversity helps in maintaining good air quality that is important to the plants and the animals. This is through the purification of the air by the plants so as to make it fit for animal consumption. It also helps in regulating the climate. This is through the forest ecosystem that helps in releasing moisture into the atmosphere. The moisture forms rainstorms that regulate the temperature. It also helps in detoxification of waste materials through the living organisms like bacteria’s and fungi. Biodiversity is also important in agriculture as it helps in crop pollination that leads to reproduction in plants. There are several factors that threaten biodiversity. This includes the introduction of species in an ecosystem that causes disease and predation to the indigenous species, fragmentation that leads to isolation of species, habitat loss and poaching.
In order to appreciate the role played by biodiversity people should conserve the biodiversity in the country. This is through us of tough measures on poaching, lack of introduction of species, lack of fragmentation and lack of use of hybrid means. This is to prevent the introduction of new species ink the ecosystem that can cause competition and predation and change of genetic material. Threats towards biodiversity are shown by the case study. The case study shows how the introduction of species, frangmentaztion and habitat loss has lead to the threat of plant species and animal species in Hawaii. Thus it is important to conserve biodiversity by controlling the things or factors that cause threats to biodiversity. This will help the society in realizing the benefits of biodiversity or the role of biodiversity in sustaining the earth. This is because lack of biodiversity can lead to threats in the life of the organisms like lack of food, shelter, water, global warming that can lead to extinction of the species.
Reference
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