Hobbies And Interests
Biodiversity
The word "biodiversity" is a contraction of the phrase "biological diversity." It is the total of all lifeforms on Earth, their genetic variation and their ecosystems and habitats. There are three levels of biodiversity. Genetic diversity describes the different genes found in individual microorganisms, plants, animals and fungi. Genetic diversity is found within species and between species. Species diversity refers to differences within species, differences between populations of a species and differences between different species. Ecosystem diversity includes different biological communities, ecosystems, ecological processes and differences within ecosystems.
Resources
Biodiversity provides the world a wide range of resources. For example, trees provide food and homes for insects, birds, animals, fungi, plants and microbes. Humans depend on biodiversity as well. The environment provides raw materials for clothing and shelter such as timber and cotton, food such as meat and fruit and ingredients for medicine. Biodiversity also supplies fertile soil, drinking water and clean air. Animals such as birds, bats and insects pollinate crops. Scientists also study wild animals for clues about solving human health problems. For example, they study how aquatic animals such as penguins, whales and seals use oxygen for ideas how to treat victims of lung disease, shock and strokes.
Evolution
Biodiversity is an important component of evolution. The wider the variety of genes available to a species, the better chance it has to survive as the environment changes. For example, individual members of a species may die in cold weather. However, if the species as a whole has a variety of genes for a protective trait such as fat storage, then at least those with that trait will have a chance of surviving the winter. In the spring they will pass that trait to their offspring and the species as a whole will survive. Species with little genetic diversity, such as some breeds of farm animals and crops that are closely related, have difficulty adapting to changes in the environment and will go extinct without human care.
Human Impact
Human activity has increased the rate that species go extinct between 1,000 and 10,000 percent. That is faster than in any other time in Earth's 4.5 billion year history. In 2002, it was estimated that between 2 and 25 percent of species will die out over the course of the 21st century. The primary causes of extinction include habitat destruction, excessive hunting and fishing, introduction of non-native species, pollution and climate change.