Reasons For Maintaining Biodiversity

What are the reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

Aesthetic, economic and ecological reasons, though some reasons fall across more than one category.

What are the aesthetic reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

What are the economical reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

• Soil erosion and desertification may occur as a result of deforestation. These reduce a country's ability to grow crops and feed its people, which can lead to resource- and economic-dependence on other nations.

• It is important to conserve all organisms that we use to make things. Non-sustainable removal of resources, such as hardwood timber, will eventually lead to the collapse of industry in an area.

• Once all or enough of the raw material has been lost, it does not become economically viable to continue the industry. Note that even when 'sustainable' methods are used - for example replanting forest areas - the new areas will not be as biodiverse as the established habitats they replace.

• Large-scale habitat and biodiversity losses mean that species with potential economic importance may become extinct before they are even discovered. For example, undiscovered species in tropical rainforests may be chemically or medically useful. A number of marine species use a chemical-based defence mechanism. These are rich potential sources of new and economically important medicines.continuous monoculture results in soil depletion - a reduction in the diversity of soil nutrients. It happens because the crop takes the same nutrients out of the soil year after year and is then harvested, not left for the nutrients to be recycled. This depletion of soil nutrients makes the ecosystem more fragile. The crops it can support will be weaker, increasing vulnerability to opportunistic insects, plant competitors, and microorganisms. The farmer will and fertilisers in order to maintain productivity become increasingly dependent on expensive pesticides, herbicides.

• High biodiversity provides protection against abiotic stresses (including extreme weather and natural disasters) and disease.

  When biodiversity is not maintained, a change in conditions or a disease can destroy entire crops. led to widespread famine and the deaths of around 1 million people.

• Areas rich in biodiversity provide a pleasing, attractive environment that people can enjoy. Highly biodiverse areas can promote tourism in the region, with its associated economic advantages.

• The greater the diversity in an ecosystem, the greater the potential for the manufacture of different products in the future. These products may be beneficial to humans. For example, it may make food production more financially viable or provide cures or treatment for disease.

• Plant varieties are needed for cross breeding, which can lead to better characteristics such as disease resistance or increased yield. The wild relatives of cultivated crop plants provide an invaluable reservoir of genetic material to aid the production of new varieties of crops. Also, through genetic engineering, scientists aim to use genes from wild plants and animals to make crop plants and animals more efficient, thus reducing the land required to feed more people. If these wild varieties are lost, the crop plants may themselves also become more vulnerable to extinction. This is also important ecologically.

What are the ecological reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

• All organisms are interdependent on others for their survival.

• The removal of one species may have a significant effect on others, for example a food source or a place to live may be lost.

• Some species play a key role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community. These are known as keystone species. They have a disproportionately large effect on their environment.

Though it can have a negative impact, what does human activity also play an important role in?

Increasing biodiversity. In many countries, including the UK, the natural habitat is created by human intervention and the management of land. For example, farming, grazing, planting of hedges, meadows, and forest management have changed the landscapes, the habitats and the ecology over thousands of years. Even the wildest of habitats, such as Dartmoor and the Scottish mountains, are a result of farmers and landowners managing the ecosystems.