What are five reasons why biodiversity is important?

Question

What are five reasons why biodiversity is important?

Answer 1

I don't know.

Answer 2

1) Biodiversity is important to the continued functioning of ecosystems. An ecosystem is a collection of plants and animals that have co-evolved together and form a functioning living community. If enough of the species are lost the balance that allowed the ecosystem to function will fail and the ecosystem will collapse. Functioning ecosystems are important to people because they supply many of the resources we need to survive including oxygen, food, pollution removal, and recreation.

2) Biodiversity enables ecosystems to survive change. Biodiversity is basically a collection of genes. The more diverse the collection of genes, then the more different types of characteristics organisms can produce and so the more tools that organisms have to survive under changing conditions.

3) Biodiversity can help people survive change. For instance with Global Warming climates will change all over the world. Those changes will mean that plants and animals we currently depend on for food in some cases may not survive well in the new environment. We may need to go back to the reservoir of wild plant and animal genes to discover new varieties that will do better for our future food supplies. Without biodiversity we will have nothing in reserve.

4) Biodiversity offers more resources for people to discover for example for medicines. Most of our medicines and drugs have been discovered in the natural world and if a species goes extinct before we have a chance to study it we will have lost the potential of that species. There are other similar reasons we might need organisms that we have not yet studied or discovered for instance organisms that might be good for bio-fuels and things we have have not even though of yet

5) Biodiversity creates beauty in the world. Wilderness and the many different types of plants and animals are much of what humans find beautiful and therefore greatly add to the enjoyment and meaning for our lives. Human life would be greatly devalued without the beauty that biodiversity creates.