Biodiversity

Keywords

Biodiversity, high concentration, low concentration, barren, fertile, extremities, organisms, rainforest, Amazon, deforestation, overfishing, soil erosion, WWF, Greenpeace.

Introduction

Biodiversity is how rich in species a habitat may be. It can include just one species, or a variety of different species. It also includes a variety of different types of organisms - plants, microorganisms, animals.

Low Biodiversity

Let's take a look at a low biodiversity ecosystem. Hmmm, there are a couple of places I can think of; somewhere really cold, or somewhere really hot. Extremities in weather and temperature offer the lowest of biodiversity, as less organisms can grow in them.

So, if we take a really cold place for example, the Arctic Circle, you will notice that there are far fewer species of anything living there. In fact, any organisms that do live there, have specific adaptations that enable them to live there.

Examples of this include the polar bear and penguins. They have both adapted for the area they live in. A polar has black skin (yes, really), which allows it to stay warm as the skin absorbs the heat. They also have clear fur. From a distance it looks like (or a pale yellow), but in fact, and looked at a lot closer under a microscope, it is in fact see-through. Penguins are similar, they have thick fat deposits under their skin, which allow for floatation, and also to help keep them warm.

High Biodiversity

If low biodiversity is where there are fewer species and organisms living there, then high biodiversity is where there are an abundance of species and organisms living in an area. In terms of countries, Brazil tops the list for the most biodiverse country ever. It's not surprising really, as it has the Amazon rainforest. In a rainforest, because of the conditions - moisture levels are high, tropical vegetation is abundant, giant trees are present, high humidity and high temperatures - it means that it can be host to a lot of wildlife.

Examples include the tucum palm tree, which is a type of cycad. They rely solely on the pacu, a type of fish, to disperse its seed. While this is fine, with the advent of overfishing in the area, the tucum palm is at risk of becoming extinct.

Interesting fact: the majority of deforestation in the Amazon rainforest is due to cattle grazing. Farmers want to use the land to rear animals, so they remove trees to make space.

The Amazon rainforest accounts for 1 in 10 species on the planet. You can look at a tree there, and spot 10-15 different species of ant alone. It's also a major carbon sink. Because it has such a dense population of trees (being a forest), they all suck in all that carbon from everywhere around it. This is a major climate change and global warming plus, but it needs to be looked after. Wildlife preservists such as WWF and Greenpeace are trying to stop the deforestation of the area. It's not necessarily where people are cutting down trees, but also wildfires that attribute to this.

Another example of high biodiversity is Madagascar. A solitary island off the coast of South Africa, it has devloped with a rich and diverse ecosystem. Some 200,000 species live on the island, with over 150,000 that exist nowhere else on Earth. Again, like the Amazon rainforest, there is mass deforestation happening in Madagascar, which threatens the species living there. Through deforestation, there is now erosion that is washed down to the mouth of the river at Bombetoka Bay, which has drastically changed the habitat.

What can we do to Help?

There are many things we can do as humans to help keep a good layer of biodiversity. We have the opportunity to change things for the better by doing less, or making habitats and ecosytems better.

Proper waste management: we can all change the way we work with our waste products, whether it's what we put in the bin (recycle as much as possible!), or not dropping a load of faeces in the seas around our country (yes, this is a thing).

Recycle: by recycling materials that can be, this enables us to reuse rather than having to mine new materials from virgin metals and plastics.

Conservation: this is a massive thing now, with conservation areas for habitats popping up everywhere. When we conserve habitats that are in need of it, especially with endangered species, it can help the biodiversity in the local areas, as well as provide help for the wider world they are part of.

All of these can help with global warming in some way too. An example of conservation are the bridges in the Netherlands where there are bridges for the wildlife to habitat, where they have put a road through. These are a common sight in this country, and they are being taken up in other countries too.