What biodiversity really means

Now for starters, what biodiversity stands for is biological diversity and is defined as the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity covers three main topics, the genetic diversity, the diversity of species and the diversity of the ecosystems they inhabit.

Now without getting too sciencey, a gene pool is all the many genes and potential combinations of genes, in the population. - It is the sum of a population's genetic material at a given time. When we have a big gene pool of a species full of genetic variation, this is good, we need that. As a quick example, say, there is low genetic diversity, this can lead to deformities, low fertility and genetic diseases and it's simply not good for the species survival. We need a vast gene pool full of genetic diversity.

Then we come to species diversity, which this neat quote can help us out with. "Species diversity is defined as the number of different species present in an ecosystem and relative abundance of each of those species". So, having a lot of different species as well as having even populations of them, what can we say this is? Nailed it, good, healthy species diversity.

Then we come to ecosystem diversity which is simply, in a given area, how many ecosystems there are within it. A healthy ecosystem is one that can support a range of living species by providing habitat, food, clean air and fertile soil. It is flora and fauna being in a good condition in the natural world and having the capacity to fulfill their ecological niches. So the more thriving ecosystems we have in an area, the better and the more ecosystem diversity there is.

Let’s leave that there and create a picture of some A-Grade biodiversity.

Biodiversity on a local level

Let’s now dial it in, we don’t need to travel a bijillion years in the past to see Biodiversity.

Think of your local wild area and what you can see in it. Well, depending on where you live and how large it is, if it has healthy biodiversity it could support a wide range of species. You might find families of foxes and badgers as well as frogs, bats, deer and many different species of birds singing and soaring between the trees. We have all of these species, filling their ecological niches which gives the ecosystem balance as each have a part to play in supporting it, which we will look at a little more later.

We can localize it again, think of even a pond in a back garden. It alone can home a vast amount of biodiversity. It attracts multiple types of insects who might lay their eggs in the water or the plants that grow in it. Frogs are also attracted to the water so they can lay their eggs as well as having a food supply. And of course, birds are going to arrive too, to get in on all this good eating of frogs and flies. Plant species too are supported by the pond and in turn support it by oxygenating the water as well as providing shelter or even food for birds, bugs and other cute critters.

Phew. Okay, we good? Still here? We kind of getting it? Sweet. Here comes the tough bit though, we’re going to have to get at some hard truths for a second, we’ll bring it back up I promise, but now we need to talk about biodiversity and climate change.

Losing species, the knock-on effects

Plants and animals have spent literally millions of years adapting to their ecosystems and are highly tuned to the conditions within them. Take some gorgeous grizzly bears. If your diet depends on salmon arriving every year up streams, but these streams are rerouted while modern-technology is being used to rapidly deplete fish stocks, you’re going to be in trouble. Your food source is a fraction of what it once was and you don’t have many other options. Monarch butterflies are another example. By getting cues from the weather, they know when it’s time to migrate, but also when to reproduce and hibernate. Temperature changes actually govern their entire 3000 km migration so they may be particularly threatened by climate change.

A change in climate can devastate entire species, especially if the change occurs rapidly and there is little time for them to migrate or adapt. The inter-connected nature of ecosystems means that the loss of species can have knock-on effects upon a range of ecosystem functions. This point is so pertinent. Everything in the natural world is connected, it’s a web and it's intricate and baffling (and don’t forget beautiful), making you say “PHWAHHHH, for real?”.

And this brings me neatly to phytoplankton and whales and some in your face facts about how protecting biodiversity protects us from climate change.