What value is there in nature? (part one - biodiversity)

One of the biggest questions that must be answered for environmental management of any kind is what we value about the system. And while there are myriad reasons why we humans might value an ecosystem, one of the most popular answers is biodiversity.

The 'Hall of Biodiversity' at the American Natural History Museum.

Biodiversity is a key word that gets thrown around in the environmental Green movement almost as much as sustainability. We'll get into sustainability later. I want to focus on biodiversity now because I feel that it is something not many people understand the value of beyond "something we should protect because it's good to have." Honestly "because it's good to have" is no reason to protect or invest any energy into caring about anything. That would be like jumping off the proverbial bridge just because all your friends are doing it, and I certainly don't condone people acting like sheep.

A Canadian education website defines biodiversity as: The diversity of life on earth, consisting of genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity. I think this definition describes much more than what generally comes to mind. It is also the definition that the government ostensibly works with, and what most biologists mean when they use it. Recognizing this sort of all-encompassing approach to biodiversity is essential to understanding its ultimate importance.

You might think about it this way: What kind of team is more successful? One in which everyone has the same or similar skills? Or one in which people have different skill sets with the potential to complement each other? Ecosystem, species, and genetic diversity all contribute to a collective whole with a greater power to survive and prosper in the world.

The most important reason we should care about biodiversity is a little something called ecosystem services. You've no doubt heard of this before, but take a moment and let something sink in. If there was a sudden decrease in the world's pollinators, what would the effect on people be? No more crops, flowers, trees... any plant relying on an outside species to pollinate them would be crippled. Unable to reproduce. This is a bit of an exaggeration - but, honestly, there are so many ways in which life on Earth intertwines that we aren't even sure what all the consequences would be of eliminating ANY species. 

We do however know that biodiversity affords humanity the following things: 

- food in the form of crops, spices, seafood, game meat

- clean water

- any number of medicinal uses

- products for use in industry as well as energy production

- regulation of: climate, carbon, waste, purification processes, pollination, pests, diseases

All of these things are absolutely essential if we'd like to go on living the life the way we have. And I didn't even mention the cultural or spiritual values we find in nature. The entire ecotourism industry is hugely popular and constantly growing as well.

This is a brief overview of this large and all-encompassing topic. If you'd like to hear about anything in more depth, I will gladly do more posts on specific aspects of biodiversity and ecosystem services. Just let me know. 

All right! Now that you understand why biodiversity is important, you have one HUGE reason to value nature. And we also have much of the information we need to delve into my next weekly broadcast.... Introduced and Invasive Species. Oooooh.... Ahhhhh....