Bidiversity Importance - Ecological and Economical

1. ECOLOGICAL AND ECONOMICAL IMPORTANCE
OF BIODIVERSITY
 Biodiversity is considered a cornerstone to the
health of the environment. We in turn depend
on the environment for our own health and
existence.
By Surabhi Tanwar

3. Because our survival depends upon it…
 Living things, the rocks and soils, water and air interact to provide a
range of conditions that favor life on Earth.
 If the ecological systems that support life on Earth collapse or radically
change, our very existence is threatened.
 Soil biodiversity alone influences a huge range of processes and
functions vital to ecosystem services.
ECOLOGICAL IMPORTANCE

4. RESEARCH, EDUCATION AND MONITORING
 There is still much to learn on how to get better use from biological resources,
how to maintain the genetic base of harvested biological resources, and how to
rehabilitate degraded ecosystems.
 Natural areas provide excellent living laboratories for such studies, for
comparison with other areas under different systems of use, and for valuable
research into ecology and evolution.
Unaltered habitats are often essential for
certain research approaches, providing
controls against which the changes brought
about by different management regimes may
be measured and assessed.

6. • Crop byproducts feed cattle
• Cattle waste feeds the soil that nourish the crops
• Crops, as well as yielding grain also yield straw
• Straw provides organic matter and fodder
• Crops are therefore food sources for humans and animals
o Soil organisms also benefit from crops
• Bacteria feed on the cellulose fibers of straw that farmers return to the soil
• Amoebas feed on bacteria making lignite fibers available for uptake by plants
• Algae provide organic matter and serve as natural nitrogen fixers
• Rodents that bore under the fields aerate the soil and improve its water-holding
capacity
• Spiders, centipedes and insects grind organic matter from the surface soil and
leave behind enriched droppings.
• Earthworms contribute to soil fertility
• They provide average, drainage and maintain soil structure.
• According to Charles Darwin, “It may be doubted whether there are many
other animals which have played so important a part in the history of
creatures.”
• The earthworm is like a natural tractor, fertilizer factory and dam,
combined!
 Industrial-farming techniques would deprive these diverse species of food sources
and instead assault them with chemicals, destroying the rich biodiversity in the soil
and with it the basis for the renewal of the soil fertility.

7. “One third of all our food—fruits and vegetables—
would not exist without pollinators visiting flowers.
But honeybees, the primary species that fertilizes
food-producing plants, have suffered dramatic
declines in recent years, mostly from afflictions
introduced by humans.”
-German bee expert Professor Joergen
Tautz
BEES: CRUCIAL AGRICULTURAL WORKERS

8. Interdependent Marine Ecosystem

9. BIODIVERSITY PROVIDING LESSONS FOR
SCIENTISTS IN ENGINEERING
 Some spiders can produce their silk with a higher tensile strength than
many alloys of steel even though it is made of proteins. So biologists are
looking at these processes in more depth to see if they can reproduce or
enhance such capabilities.

10. PUTTING AN ECONOMIC VALUE ON
BIODIVERSITY
 For all humans, biodiversity is first a resource for daily life. Such 'crop diversity'
is also called agrobiodiversity.
- FOOD : crops, livestock, forestry, and fish
- MEDICATION: Wild plant species have been used for medicinal purposes since
before the beginning of recorded history. For example, quinine (Used to treat
malaria) comes from the bark of the Amazonian tree Cinchona tree; digitalis from
the Foxglove plant (chronic heart trouble), and morphine from the Poppy plant (pain
relief).
According the National Cancer Institute of the USA, over 70 % of the promising anti-
cancer drugs come from plants in the tropical rainforests. Animal may also play a
role, in particular in research. It is estimated that of the 250,000 known plant
species, only 5,000 have been researched for possible medical applications.

11. - INDUSTRY: Fibers for clothing, wood for shelter and warmth.
Biodiversity may be a source of energy (such as biomass). Other industrial
products are oils, lubricants, perfumes, fragrances, dyes, paper, waxes,
rubber, latexes, resins, poisons and cork can all be derived from various
plant species. Supplies from animal origin are wool, silk, fur, leather,
lubricants, waxes. Animals may also be used as a mode of transportation.
- TOURISM & RECREATION: Biodiversity is a source of economical
wealth for many areas, such as many parks and forests, where wild nature
and animals are a source of beauty and joy for many people. Ecotourism in
particular, is a growing outdoor recreational activity.

14. “ We don’t need scientists, politicians,
economists or clergy to tell us
biodiversity is important. Biodiversity is
not just important for technical,
scientific reasons — it’s important
because it’s the symbol and symptom
of a rich, healthy world. “

15. Presentation by: Surabhi Tanwar
Student of Masters in Environmental
Science- Institute of Science, Mumbai

16. BIBLIOGRAPHY
http://redpath-museum.mcgill.ca/Qbp/2.About%20Biodiversity/importance.html
http://www.jamaicachm.org.jm/BHS/importance_of_biodiversity.htm
https://www.for.gov.bc.ca/hfp/training/00001/module01/biodiversity-
importance.htm
http://conservationtools.org/guides/show/95-Economic-Benefits-of-Biodiversity