Importance of biodiversity to ecosystem

First, it is important because it represents the almost infinite diversity of plant and animal life and the diversity of types of ecosystems on Earth that support life as we know it. It allows people to survive in conditions that would otherwise result in harsh conditions. Things that support evolution and differentiation between the different species.

Look how many seemingly different kinds of people there are, or jungle cats, or birds. Water, wind, and sunlight create much of the energy we use, and Planet’s action on various substances over the centuries creates and provides things like carbon, which is used to generate heat and more energy. Energy from wind, water, sunlight and coal heats our homes and powers all of our devices. Over the centuries, the decomposition of animal matter has created the fossil fuels we use every day to power the vehicles that make transportation relatively easy and convenient.

The biodiversity contained in the ecosystem provides the forest dwellers with their daily needs for food, building materials, fodder, medicine and a variety of other products. Biodiversity also provides us with wood, granite and marble, just to name a few of the building materials. Although humans are omnivores, without biodiversity there would be little variety in our diet. That’s because biodiversity is a literal treasure trove of food, from things as common as wheat or corn to things as exotic as some of the seafood used in sushi.

Also, not all of the nutrients we need are found in a single food, so without a diverse base of food combinations, our overall health would suffer. Biodiversity sustains the bodies we live in and affects our lives and the societies we create.

Many traditional societies have played an important role in maintaining their biodiversity. They value biodiversity as part of their livelihood, as well as through cultural and religious sentiments. Traditional agricultural societies have grown a variety of crops that serve as insurance against crop failure.

Modern agricultural practices, on the other hand, rely heavily on monocultures, with cash crops giving great importance to domestic and international markets. This has led to local food shortages, unemployment, landlessness, and increased vulnerability to drought. Dependence on irrigation systems, fertilizers, and pesticides has also increased.

In addition to the economic importance of maintaining biodiversity, there are several cultural, moral, and ethical values ​​associated with the sanctity of all life forms. Biodiversity also makes an irreplaceable contribution to our aesthetics, imagination, and creativity. It is an integral part of tourism in the world. People from all over the world visit national parks, sanctuaries, and resorts for recreation. Not only does it help them relieve stress, but it also helps them connect with nature.

Importance of Biodiversity

• Food; Ecosystems provide the conditions for growing food such as fish in wild habitats.
• Raw materials: Ecosystems provide building materials such as precious woods.
• Freshwater: Ecosystems provide surface and groundwater.Medicinal resources: Many plants are used as traditional medicines and as inputs in the pharmaceutical industry.
• Regulatory services Local regulation of climate and air quality: water and vegetation reduce extreme temperatures.
• Carbon sequestration and storage: As trees and plants grow, they remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere and effectively retain it in their tissues.
• Moderation of extreme events: Ecosystems can form buffers against natural hazards such as floods.
• Wastewater treatment: Microorganisms in soil and wetlands break down human and animal waste and pollutants.
• Protection against erosion: The vegetation prevents erosion of rivers and beaches.
• Pollination: Some 87 of the world’s 115 major food crops depend on animal pollination, including important crops such as cocoa and coffee.
• Biological Control: Ecosystems are important for the regulation of pests and vector-borne diseases. each plant or animal needs to survive.
• Migratory species need habitats along their migration routes during migration
• Conservation of Genetic Diversity: Genetic diversity distinguishes different breeds or races and provides the basis for locally well-adapted cultivars and a gene pool for the development of more commercial species.
• Cultural Services Recreation and Mental and Physical Health: The role of natural landscapes and green spaces in maintaining mental and physical health is increasingly recognized.
• Tourism: Nature tourism offers significant economic benefits and is an important source of income for some regions.
• Aesthetic appreciation and inspiration for culture, art, and design: The language, knowledge, and appreciation of the natural environment have been closely linked throughout human history.
• Spiritual experience and sense of place: Nature is a common element in all major religions; Natural landscapes also form local identity and a sense of belonging.

Human health

Many medicines come from nature. For example, many plants produce compounds designed to protect the plant from insects and other animals that eat it. Some of these compounds also act as human medicines. Use plants that grow near you. For centuries, the oldest knowledge of medicinal uses of plants in Europe was compiled in herbal books that identified plants and their uses.

Other animals not only human use plants for medicinal purposes. Chimpanzees, bonobos orangutans, and gorillas among many others have been observed self-medicating with plants.

Examples of important drugs derived from plant compounds are aspirin, codeine, digoxin, atropine and vincristine. It is estimated that 25% of modern medicines contained at least one plant extract. That number of has likely dropped to about 10 percent as natural botanicals are replaced with synthetic versions of botanicals.

The FDA had approved five animal toxin-based drugs to treat conditions such as high blood pressure, chronic pain and diabetes. Other toxins studied are from mammals, snakes, lizards, various amphibians, fish, snails, squid and scorpions. Not only do these drugs account for billions of dollars in profits, but they also improve people’s lives. Pharmaceutical companies are actively searching for new natural compounds that can act as medicines.

Agriculture

Human groups have reproduced and selected crop varieties since the beginning of human agriculture more than 10,000 years ago. This plant diversity corresponded to the cultural diversity of very compartmentalized human populations.

All plants, animals, and fungi cultivated by people have been improved from original wild ancestral species into various varieties resulting from demands for nutritional value, adaptation to growing conditions, and resistance to pests.

The ability to create new cultivars is based on the diversity of available cultivars and the availability of culture-bound wild forms.

Domesticated species ensure our continuous supply of food.

Since the 1920s, state departments of agriculture have maintained seed banks for crop varieties to maintain crop diversity.

Although crops are largely under our control, our ability to grow them depends on the biodiversity of the ecosystem in which they are grown. This biodiversity creates the conditions in which crops can grow through what are known as ecosystem services — conditions or valuable processes performed by an ecosystem. Crops arise in soil ecosystems, as a result of the various metabolic activities of the organisms living there.

Bee pollination in the United States generates approximately $1. Many bee populations in the US have suffered severe losses due to a syndrome known as Colony Collapse Syndrome, a new phenomenon of unclear cause. Other pollinators include a variety of other bee species, as well as various insects and birds. The loss of these species would make it impossible to grow crops that require pollination and increase dependency on other crops.

After all, humans compete with plant pests for food, most of which are insects. Pesticides control these competitors, but they are expensive and lose effectiveness over time as pest populations adapt. They also cause collateral damage by killing non-pests as well as beneficial insects such as honey bees and environmentalists believe that most of the pest control work is actually done by the predators and parasites of these pests, but the effects have not been well studied.

The loss of diversity of hostile pests with growth in world population faces significant challenges in the form of increased costs and other difficulties associated with food production.

Wild food sources

Additionally to livestock and growing crops as food resources, wild populations are of major importance as well, mainly wild fish populations. For about one billion people, aquatic resources are the main source of animal protein.

Fishery die-offs rarely result in the complete extinction of harvested species, but rather in a radical restructuring of the marine ecosystem, in which a dominant species is so overexploited that it becomes an ecologically minor player. Aside from people losing their food source, these disruptions affect many other ways in ways that are difficult or impossible to predict.

The collapse of the fisheries is having a dramatic and long-lasting impact on the local human population working in the fisheries. In addition, the loss of an inexpensive source of protein to populations who cannot afford to replace it, will increase the cost of living and constrain society. Generally, the fish taken from fisheries have shifted to smaller species and the larger species are overfished. The ultimate outcome could clearly be the loss of aquatic systems as food sources.

Biodiversity loss can have far-reaching consequences for ecosystems due to the complex interrelationships between species. The extinction of one species can cause the extinction of another. Biodiversity is important to the survival and well-being of human populations.