BIODIVERSITY: An Introduction

October 10, 2023

Despite extreme regional climate differences there’s life in abundance, from the hot dry climate of Northern Nevada to the sun-drenched fertile regions of Florida. With all this abundance, it’s helpful to have ways to categorize all the life we find. Biodiversity or biological diversity is that system of categorization and is simply defined as “…the variety of all living things and their interactions.” This definition seems numerically vague to me. Exactly how many things are ALL living things, what’s the number? After some digging, I found the International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources. An organization that tracks the number of described species and updates this figure annually based on the latest work of taxonomists. By the end of 2021 there were 2.13 million different species that had been cataloged and that figure doesn’t even include plants! To add, there are around 391,000 species of vascular plants currently known to science. Considering those numbers, biodiversity includes the study of at least 2.52 million different species both individually and collectively and how they interact with one another. Since biodiversity includes so many living things, it’s usually represented in three categories—genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity.  

Types of biodiversity

Genetic biodiversity

Genetic diversity is the variety of genes found in a community or a species. Genes carry inheritable traits or attributes that are passed down from parent to offspring. Genetic diversity occurs from randomized mate selection, randomized fertilization, and genetic mutations from environmental pressure. Species exhibiting strong genetic diversity increase their chances of survival over time. An example of genetic diversity can be found in the admiration of a colorful wildflower patch where genes are responsible for the variety of colors we see.

Species biodiversity

Species diversity is the variety of species within an ecosystem and the relative abundance of each of those species in a community. For example, there are over 400 different edible berry fruits. There are the familiar ones like strawberry and blueberry but then there’s some I’ve never tried like a blackthorn or a rowan. This bountiful berry selection characterizes the species diversity in berry fruits and demonstrates the relationship all living things have within species diversity. As species diversity in an area increases, the health of the surrounding ecosystem also increases due to complementary resources available for active species and the stabilization that can occur from diversity and natural inherent resilience.

Ecosystem biodiversity

Ecosystem diversity is the variety of habitats within a geographic area and includes abiotic, or non-living, variables like temperature and sunlight. An ecosystem is usually described by the habitat and a climatic descriptor like tropical rainforest, frozen tundra, or arid grassland. Within each of these different ecosystems, specialists are born and perform distinct functions that serve their environment. Though different ecosystems can resemble one another they can exhibit considerable differences. This distinction is important because it’s easy to oversimplify the process of examination. For example, while the Amazonian rainforest and the Congo Basin are both tropical rainforests, I wouldn’t expect the ecosystems to be the exact same and would expect variables suited to the regional environment. An area like the Congo Basin would have a lot of ecosystem diversity due to its nutrient retentive environment where the top of mount Everest would have little ecosystem diversity due to its harsh climate and inhospitable nature. High diversity among different types of ecosystems means that there will also be a high diversity of different species. While the differences between ecosystems are important to distinguish, acknowledging the interconnectedness ecosystems have between each other is also important. Even in the corporate world, when specialists come together and work as a team the only thing to be expected, is greatness.

References

 Ritchie, H. November 30, 2022. How many species are there? Our World in Data. https://ourworldindata.org/how-many-species-are-there.

Dasgupta, S. May 12, 2016. How many plant species are there in the world? Scientists now have an answer. Mongabay News & Inspiration from nature’s frontline. https://news.mongabay.com/2016/05/many-plants-world-scientists-may-now-answer/.

Power, Super Garden. N.d. Why Garden Wildlife Matters: The Importance of Biodiversity in your Backyard. Garden Super Power. https://gardensuperpower.com/why-garden-wildlife-matters-understanding-the-importance-of-biodiversity-in-your-backyard/#google_vignette

Online, Biology. N.d. Genetic Diversity. https://www.biologyonline.com/dictionary/genetic-diversity

Allen, L. December 1, 2022. 3 Types of Biodiversity: Overview and Importance. Treehugger. https://www.treehugger.com/3-types-of-biodiversity-overview-and-importance-5191428

University of Florida. N.d. Benefits of Biodiversity in the Home and Landscape. UFIAS Blogs. https://blogs.ifas.ufl.edu/miamidadeco/2020/04/22/benefits-of-biodiversity-in-the-home-landscape/#:~:text=Birds%2C%20native%20bees%2C%20and%20butterflies%20are%20a%20good,will%20translate%20to%20lower%20energy%20consumption%20and%20costs.