EVS PROJECT ON BIO
DIVERSITY LOSS
INTRODUCTION:
Biodiversity
loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the
local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of
biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent,
depending on whether the environmental degradation that leads to the loss is
reversible through ecological restoration/ecological resilience or effectively
permanent (e.g. through land loss). The current global extinction (frequently
called the sixth mass extinction or Anthropocene extinction), has resulted in a
biodiversity crisis being driven by human activities which push beyond the
planetary boundaries and so far has proven irreversible.
Even though
permanent global species loss is a more dramatic and tragic phenomenon than
regional changes in species composition, even minor changes from a healthy
stable state can have dramatic influence on the food web and the food chain
insofar as reductions in only one species can adversely affect the entire chain
(extinction), leading to an overall reduction in biodiversity, possible
alternative stable states of an ecosystem notwithstanding. Ecological effects
of biodiversity are usually counteracted by its loss. Reduced biodiversity in
particular leads to reduced ecosystem services and eventually poses an
immediate danger for food security, but also can have more lasting public
health consequences for humans International environmental organizations have
been campaigning to prevent biodiversity loss for decades, public health
officials have integrated it into the One Health approach to public health
practice, and increasingly preservation of biodiversity is part of
international policy. For example, the UN Convention on Biological Diversity is
focused on preventing biodiversity loss and proactive conservation of wild
areas.
IMPORTANCE:
Biodiversity
is linked to cleaner water
Healthy soil
is diverse
Biodiversity
is vital for healthy plants and animals
Biodiversity
means better food security
Biodiversity
protects medicinal plants
Less
biodiversity means more zoonotic disease
Biodiversity
has economic benefits
Biodiversity
creates jobs
Biodiversity
and extinction are linked
Biodiversity
loss can have significant direct human health impacts if ecosystem services are
no longer adequate to meet social needs. Indirectly, changes in ecosystem
services affect livelihoods, income, local migration and, on occasion, may even
cause or exacerbate political conflict additionally, biological diversity of
microorganisms, flora and fauna provides extensive benefits for biological,
health, and pharmacological sciences. Significant medical and pharmacological
discoveries are made through greater understanding of the earth's biodiversity.
Loss in
biodiversity may limit discovery of potential treatments for many diseases and
health problems. Biodiversity plays a crucial role in human nutrition through
its influence on world food production, as it ensures the sustainable
productivity of soils and provides the genetic resources for all crops,
livestock, and marine species harvested for food. Access to a sufficiency of a
nutritious variety of food is a fundamental determinant of health.
OBJECTIVE:
1)
Conservation of biological diversity leads to conservation of essential
ecological diversity to preserve the continuity of food chains.
2) The
genetic diversity of plants and animals is preserved.
3) It
ensures the sustainable utilization of life support systems on earth.
4) It
provides a vast knowledge of potential use to the scientific community.
5) A
reservoir of wild animals and plants is preserved, thus enabling them to be
introduced, if need be, in the surrounding areas.
6)
Biological diversity provides immediate benefits to the society such as
recreation and tourism.
7)
Biodiversity conservation serves as an insurance policy for the future.
8) It
develop national strategies for the conservation and sustainable use of
biological resources; establish protected areas, restore degraded ecosystems,
control alien species, and establish ex-situ conservation facilities; and
sustainable use of biodiversity.
METHODOLOGY:
Threats to biodiversity and health.
There is
growing concern about the health consequences of biodiversity loss.
Biodiversity changes affect ecosystem functioning and significant disruptions
of ecosystems can result in life sustaining ecosystem goods and services.
Biodiversity loss also means that we are losing, before discovery, many of
nature's chemicals and genes, of the kind that have already provided humankind
with enormous health benefits.
Nutritional impact of biodiversity.
Biodiversity
plays a crucial role in human nutrition through its influence on world food
production, as it ensures the sustainable productivity of soils and provides
the genetic resources for all crops, livestock, and marine species harvested
for food. Access to a sufficiency of a nutritious variety of food is a
fundamental determinant of health.
Nutrition
and biodiversity are linked at many levels: the ecosystem, with food production
as an ecosystem service; the species in the ecosystem and the genetic diversity
within species. Nutritional composition between foods and among
varieties/cultivars/breeds of the same food can differ dramatically, affecting
micronutrient availability in the diet. Healthy local diets, with adequate
average levels of nutrients intake, necessitates maintenance of high
biodiversity levels.
The
functions of ecosystems and altering native biodiversity. Such disturbances
reduce the abundance of some organisms, cause population growth in others,
modify the interactions among organisms, and alter the interactions between
organisms and their physical and chemical environments. Patterns of infectious
diseases are sensitive to these disturbances. Major processes affecting
infectious disease reservoirs and transmission include, deforestation; land-use
change; water management e.g. through dam construction, irrigation,
uncontrolled urbanization or urban sprawl; resistance to pesticide chemicals
used to control certain disease vectors; climate variability and change; migration
and international travel and trade; and the accidental or intentional human
introduction of pathogens.
Climate
change, biodiversity and health
Biodiversity
provides numerous ecosystem services that are crucial to human well-being at
present and in the future.
Climate is
an integral part of ecosystem functioning and human health is impacted directly
and indirectly by results of climatic conditions upon terrestrial and marine
ecosystems.
Marine
biodiversity is affected by ocean acidification related to levels of carbon in
the atmosphere. Terrestrial biodiversity is influenced by climate variability,
such as extreme weather events (i.e. drought, flooding) that directly influence
ecosystem health and the productivity and availability of ecosystem goods and
services for human use. Longer term changes in climate affect the viability and
health of ecosystems, influencing shifts in the distribution of plants,
pathogens, animals, and even human settlements.
OBSERVATION:
The
biodiversity losses from disturbances caused by humans tend to be more severe
and longer-lasting. Humans (Homo sapiens), their crops, and their food animals
take up an increasing share of Earth's land area. Half of the world's habitable
land (some 51 million square km [19.7 million square miles]) has been converted
to agriculture, and some 77 percent of agricultural land (some 40 million
square km [15.4 million square miles]) is used for grazing by cattle, sheep,
goats, and other livestock. This massive conversion of forests, wetlands,
grasslands, and other terrestrial ecosystems has produced a 60 percent decline
(on average) in the number of vertebrates worldwide since 1970, with the
greatest losses in vertebrate populations occurring in freshwater habitats (83
percent) and in South and Central America (89 percent). Between 1970 and 2014
the human population grew from about 3.7 billion to 7.3 billion people. By 2018
the biomass of humans and their livestock (0.16 gig ton) greatly outweighed the
biomass of wild mammals (0.007 gig ton) and wild birds (0.002 gig ton).
Researchers estimate that the current rate of species loss varies between 100
and 10,000 times the background extinction rate (which is roughly one to five
species per year when the entire fossil record is considered). In addition, a
2019 report by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity
and Ecosystem Services noted that up to one million plant and animal species
are facing extinction due to human activities.
ANALYSIS:
According to
the Living Planet Index (LPI) 2020, decline was captured for the 68% of the
monitored population (i.e. 20,811 populations of 4,392 species) for the period
of 1970-2016.
The LPI
"is a measure of the state of the world's biological diversity based on
population trends of vertebrate species from terrestrial, freshwater and marine
habitats adopted by the Convention of Biological Diversity (CBD) to track the
progress" Only one-third of the overall decline (32%) relates to the
period since 2000 where the most decline was for the freshwater species (44%)
followed by terrestrial species populations (39%) and marine species (8%) (WWF,
2020) (Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, 2020). However,
it is important to keep it in mind that most species are understudied and not
discovered yet which also leave room for the larger extinction statistics
beyond the existing calculations.
CONCLUSION:
In practice,
decisions about natural resources are seldom made due to a single factor, but
are based on the cumulative weight of many different considerations.
The value of
wildlife to human subsistence, its economic worth and the ecosystem benefits it
provides are all important. Additional critical factors may also be far less
tangible, such as the link between a particular species and a faith group, or
the emotions it creates in some people. Recognizing the value of wildlife is a
vital step in building the motivation needed for effective management and
conservation.
Protected
areas can never protect all wildlife, and, in some situations, well- managed
lands can be more effective vehicles for wildlife conservation than badly
managed or under-resourced protected areas. Forestry managers have a critical
role to play by
1) Ensuring that forest management is
compatible with the survival of native wildlife;
2) Protecting unmanaged edges and patches
within the forest estate;
3) Protecting watercourses;
4) Controlling poaching and the bush meat
trade;
5) Halting incursions by invasive species
One thing is
clear: biodiversity loss cannot be halted if we fail to stabilize the climate,
and if we are to stabilize the climate as well as to move into the era of
low-carbon living, we must protect the biosphere - the very life-support system
of our planet.
