Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the term we use to refer to the variety of life on Earth. It includes all the plants and animals many of us are familiar with, like giant redwood trees and panda bears, as well as the organisms we don’t know much about, like bacteria, fungi, and invertebrates.

The human species is part of that fabric of biodiversity. Although our use of language and technology engenders a sense of humans as separate and superior to other forms of life, we are more intimately integrated with the natural world than we often perceive. 

We are just one of approximately 8.7 million species on this Earth that all depend on each other for survival. For example, microscopic algae in the ocean provide half of all the oxygen in the air we breathe.

And thousands of pollinators, including honey bees, birds, and bats are responsible for the successful reproduction of the plants we use for food, shelter, and medicine.

It can be helpful to think of life on Earth as operating like one planet-sized colonial superorganism, with different species fulfilling different ecological roles. In order for this superorganism to thrive, individual species — including humans — must function in balance with one another.

How much biodiversity does the planet need in order to remain healthy? Since we have yet to discover all the species that exist today, or even fully understand the complex interactions between species that have already been described, the wise answer to that question is as much as possible.

Conservation researchers Paul and Anne Ehrlich suggested that species to an ecosystem are like rivets to an airplane’s wing. Losing one or two might not cause a catastrophe, but each loss makes that possibility more likely.

As inhabitants of this planet we affect biodiversity with the choices we make every day. So, it is incumbent on all of us to consider how we can use our voice and our actions to shape the future of Earth’s biodiversity.

What are we doing to preserve biodiversity?

A good first step is trying to understand just how much biodiversity exists through documenting and naming new species. It is a daunting task, but certainly worthwhile.

A comprehensive inventory can give government officials and other decision makers the tools they need to protect and manage natural resources. 

There are efforts at natural history museums and other scientific institutions across the globe to generate an all-inclusive catalog of the planet’s biodiversity.

Some of these initiatives include:

- Global Biodiversity Information Facility
- Catalogue of Life
- International Barcode of Life
- iDigBio
- Barcode of Life Data Systems
- ZooBank

And national thematic collections networks (TCNs), part of the massive effort to digitize the nation's biological collections, include:

- DigIn
- Pacific Island Land SnailBiodiversity Repository
- Parasite Tracker
- Pteridophyte Collections Consortium