Why are biodiversity and species diversity so important?

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Five Armageddon-like mass extinctions have occurred in the history of the earth. Five times, almost the entire spectrum of life on this planet has been wiped out. And five times, nature has reasserted itself and created new ecosystems. Today we are in the midst of the sixth mass extinction. But the current mass extinction differs from the previous five in one respect: This time, it is not volcanic eruptions or asteroid impacts that are threatening the basis of life in the biosphere. This time it is mankind.

For the first time in the history of the earth, a single species is responsible for the great extinction of species. Homo sapiens is colonizing and cultivating more and more land; Homo sapiens is polluting more and more water, air and soil; Homo sapiens is introducing invasive species that are decimating native faunas.

When you hear "species extinction", you might first think of rhinos or bonobos in Africa. But species extinction is also taking place right on our doorstep: Insects, fish, lizards, birds and many other native animals have long been threatened with extinction. According to estimates by the World Wide Fund For Nature (WWF), 380 plant and animal species are becoming extinct worldwide every day.

Auch in Deutschland gibt es Artensterben

But why should I even care how many species there are on this planet? Wouldn't it even be good if we had no more mosquitoes, wasps or other annoying animals? The short answer: no. Without a high level of biodiversity, our current life on this planet would be unthinkable. The networks of life are so intertwined that we are often not even aware of their complexity. Every fruit that comes out of the ground requires hundreds of millions of microorganisms.

Was ist Biodiversität? Definition und Erklärung

The Convention on Biological Diversity has defined the term biodiversity as follows: "[Biodiversity is the] variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems." Translated, this means that biodiversity includes all organisms that live in ecosystems on land or water. Biodiversity describes the diversity within a species; the diversity between different species and the diversity of ecosystems.

In other words, when we talk about biodiversity, we mean the diversity of life on our planet: from habitats to living organisms. Biodiversity goes into the smallest detail and examines life down to the genetic code - DNA.

Facts, figures and current status of biodiversity

Because biodiversity is so vast, it can be difficult to collect meaningful data - especially as we don't even know all the species on our planet! Nevertheless, researchers agree on one aspect: between 1970 and 2007, global biodiversity declined by 30 percent. A massive decline in biodiversity was recorded in the tropical regions of the world in particular.

Researchers estimate that the current extinction rate is up to 1000 times higher than in the past 3.8 billion years. Fish, birds, insects, mammals, amphibians and corals are all affected by this mass extinction.

Reasons for the extinction of species

There are many reasons for the loss of biodiversity and species diversity. As Edward O. Wilson writes in his book “The Diversity of Life”, the main reasons for the massive extinction are the destruction of habitat, environmental pollution and the introduction of invasive species into existing ecosystems.

Nutria sind invasive Tiere
Nutrias sind eine invasive Art, die heimische Ökosysteme gefährden.

One of the main causes is habitat loss. Humans are encroaching further and further into nature, particularly in biodiversity hotspots such as primeval forests: deforestation of the rainforests is a prominent example. Primeval forests in tropical regions have the highest biodiversity on our planet. Organisms, insects and other creatures have adapted to each other over the millennia and live in perfect balance. When Homo sapiens clear hectares of primeval forest, they destroy entire ecosystems within a very short space of time.

Die industrielle Landwirtschaft treibt das Artensterben voran

Here in Germany, too, industrial agriculture is driving species extinction. The use of pesticides; the use of monocultures and the over-fertilization of entire areas of land are damaging nature. A large number of insects, fish, birds, lizards and other native animals are therefore threatened with extinction.

Warum ist der Erhalt der Biodiversität so wichtig? Bedeutung für Mensch und Planeten

But why should I care that half of the species is dying out? Aren't the climate crisis and climate change much more urgent than the biodiversity crisis? No, because the loss of biodiversity and species diversity has implications for our entire planet.

The loss of biological diversity would stop innovations in many scientific fields. Whether in medicine, agriculture, pharmacy or the construction industry - we humans use products from nature almost everywhere. Researchers are constantly discovering new substances in nature that we can use for innovative products: For example, we use the pink catharanthus to cure Hodgkin's disease or lymphatic leukemia in children. The bark of the Pacific yew contains ingredients that are used to treat cervical and breast cancer. And we use the saliva of leeches as a blood thinner during operations. The list is very, very long.

Die Medizin nutzt viele Pflanzen

Various ecosystems ensure that the soil remains fertile and that we have air to breathe. The complex interplay between bacteria, fungi, insects and plants is what makes life on this planet possible. Every living creature performs a highly specialized task, which makes life (as we know it today) possible in the first place. Until humans appeared on the scene, this functioned as reliably as Swiss clockwork.

If we continue like this and miss the “tipping point”, it won't be long before the earth becomes very uncomfortable for its current inhabitants. These will gradually die out until new species develop that are better able to adapt to the changed living conditions.

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