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Why care about “biodiversity” and what is it anyway?

Discussion in 'Nature/Habitat/Garden Corner' started by OSimpson, Mar 10, 2008.

  1. OSimpson

    OSimpson Certified Master Naturalist

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    Loudoun County’s natural living resources include its forests, trees, vegetation, and wildlife. Diversity of species is an indication of a healthy environment. John Muir said “When one tugs at a single thing in nature, he finds it attached to the rest of the world.” A broad variety of habitats supports a diverse number of living species, all of which are interconnected. When one species is lost it has far reaching implications for other associated life.

    Biodiversity is important because it is essential to a fully functioning ecosystem that provides the eco-services necessary to sustain itself and human life. Without biodiversity human existence would end. Biodiversity represents all the “cogs, wheels, processors and other parts” of the eco-system that working together, cleans our water, purifies our air, breaks down waste and returns nutrients to the soil, creates topsoil, cycles chemicals, captures energy from the sun through photosynthesis (that fuels the entire food chain), provides our food, medicines, and many other products. Albert Einstein is often credited with saying “If all the Bees were gone, humans would be gone within 4 years.” I don’t know whether or not Einstein truly said that. What we do know is that food production would be crippled without our insect pollinators.

    What is biodiversity and why is it important?

    We have all heard the saying “variety is the spice of life”. When scientists refer to variety in nature they call it biological diversity or biodiversity. They are usually referring to the number of different types of living things or species (a group of animals or plants that resemble each other and breed among themselves). Diversity makes life interesting. Life would be boring if there was only one color, one type of restaurant or cuisine, one music genre, or if everyone looked alike. Good diversity tells us that an environment is healthy, and healthy environments are better places to live. Diversity can apply to plants and habitats just as well as to wildlife. Some ecosystems are more diverse than others and have more types of plants or animals. Biologists often use diversity as a measure of environmental health. For example, the number of bird species in a forest can indicate how complex a natural forest is. Often, the more natural a forest, the more diverse and healthy it is. According to a University of California press release, an international team of scientists has published an analysis showing that as plant species around the world go extinct, natural habitats become less productive and contain fewer total plants. This could ultimately compromise important benefits that humans get from nature. “The process by which plants grow and produce more plant biomass is one of the most fundamental biological processes on the planet,” said Bradley Cardinale, lead author of the paper and assistant professor of biology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. Plant productivity regulates the ability of nature to take greenhouse gases like carbon dioxide out of the atmosphere, as well as the ability of habitats to produce oxygen, food, fiber, and biofuels, according to the authors of the study. “Therefore, species extinctions could compromise the benefits that nature provides to society,” said Cardinale. The study summarized the results of 44 experiments from around the world that simulated plant species extinction and showed that ecosystems with fewer species produce up to 50 percent less plant biomass than those with more “natural” levels of diversity.

    Human influences diminish biological diversity. Man alters the environment in a way that reduces biodiversity.

    * Manmade landscapes are more uniform thus favoring a narrow range of plants and wildlife that are “generalists”.
    * Air and water pollution threaten or eliminate species that are less tolerant to pollution.
    * Fragmented forests eliminate opportunities for forest-dwelling birds, mammals and other wildlife.
    *
    Unique habitats and niches - marshes, swamps, vernal pools, mountainsides, headwater springs and seeps - are lost to agriculture or development along with the plants and animals that thrive there.

    The Green Infrastructure is an interconnected support system for our County’s native plants and wildlife. Safeguarding living resources requires balancing protection of the Green Infrastructure while allowing for the needs of a growing county. Identification, mapping and natural resource assessment must be an ongoing program. Sensible resource management can be accomplished in balance with other County goals through education, conservation partnerships with land owners, protective zoning overlays and development regulations, and incentives to encourage tree and habitat preservation.

    The direct value of trees and forests. tree.jpg

    A tree provides clean air. One acre of forest absorbs six tons of carbon dioxide and puts out four tons of oxygen - enough to meet the annual needs of 18 people, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture. A single mature tree can release enough oxygen back into the atmosphere to support 2 human beings. Air pollution is a serious concern in Loudoun County and the Washington Metropolitan “non-attainment” area. Burning fossil fuels has introduced a steady flow of pollutants into our atmosphere. But fortunately trees remove many pollutants from the atmosphere, including nitrogen dioxide (NO2), sulfur dioxide (SO2), ozone (O3), carbon monoxide (CO), and particulates (like dust). Planting trees remains one of the cheapest, most effective means of drawing excess CO2 from the atmosphere. An acre of trees absorbs enough CO2 over one year to equal the amount produced by driving a car 26,000 miles. If every American family planted just one tree, the amount of CO2 in the atmosphere would be reduced by one billion pounds annually. Washington area counties and cities are setting goals to increase overall tree canopy as a strategy to combat air pollution. Trees help clean our water.

    Trees reduce topsoil erosion and prevent harmful pollutants on the land from washing into our streams. Trees use a lot of these “pollutants” as food to help them grow. Things like nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium can be harmful in water but trees use them to support their growth. Between the leaves and roots, every 5 percent of tree cover added to a community can reduce stormwater runoff by approximately 2 percent. In fact the trees in a typical city can remove millions of gallons of runoff which means we don’t need to build as many expensive ponds and pipes.

    A tree provides food and shelter for wildlife and humans. Apples, oranges, peaches, plums, pears, cherries, berries, acorns, nuts and maple syrup are some of the obvious food products from trees. In addition to wildlife nesting areas and protection from predators, trees provide valuable building materials.

    Trees are good for property values. Studies have shown that property values increase from about 5 percent to as much as 20 percent compared to properties without trees.

    Trees buffer noise. Trees and shrubs can screen out noises, especially when planted as buffers. Trees soften sound waves that attempt to pass through them and further dampen these sounds by adding noises of their own, a phenomenon called “masking.” A row of trees can cut the ambient noise level about in half.

    Trees have Historic Value. Trees provide important symbolic links with the past. Trees can grow to be several hundred years old. It challenges the imagination to think that an old tree was “witness to” history. There are trees that were saplings before Loudoun was even a County. Their rings have recorded season after season, droughts and wet years, fires, climatic stress and other factors for us to discover.

    Trees help reduce warming and cool cities. Anyone who has ever sat under a tree on a hot summer day has appreciated the cooling ability of trees, but trees do more than just provide shade. A tree can be a natural air conditioner. The net cooling effect of a young, healthy tree is equivalent to ten room-size air conditioners operating 20 hours a day (U.S. Department of Agriculture). Trees properly placed around buildings can reduce air conditioning needs by 30 percent and when placed as windbreaks in winter can save 20 - 50 percent in energy used for heating” (USDA Forest Service). Trees also help to cool urban areas by reducing heat sinks. Heat sinks are 6-19° F warmer than surroundings.

    _______________

    What is the “Net Worth” of a tree? Calculations have shown that during a 50-year life span, one tree will generate $30,000 in oxygen, recycle $35,000 worth of water, and clean up $60,000 worth of air pollution or $125,000 total per tree without including any other values.

    __________________

    Trees provide many direct health benefits to us. We feel pleasure and good feelings when we see trees. Research has shown that surgery patients who could see a grove of deciduous trees recuperated faster and required less pain-killing medicine than matched patients who viewed only brick walls. Employees who can look out their office windows and see trees and nature are happier at work (Miller 1997). Prisoners with cells overlooking green landscapes use prison health facilities significantly less than prisoners whose cells have only views of other prison facilities. According to Dr. Roger S. Ulrich of Texas A&M University: “In laboratory research, visual exposure to settings with trees has produced significant recovery from stress within five minutes, as indicated by changes in blood pressure and muscle tension.”

    http://greenerloudoun.wordpress.com/2008/01/26/why-care-about-biodiversity-and-what-is-it-anyway/
     
  2. Sunny

    Sunny Chief Advisor

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    cool post- thanks!
     

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