Diversity . It is the multitude of forms that living organisms present can hardly be encompassed as a whole. No individual is exactly the same as another; even within closely related communities there is a strong variation, this is particularly noticeable with regard to man , animals and plants , in relation to this it is possible to distinguish a large multitude of strains, it is estimated that there are currently some 500,000 plant species and more than two million animal species.
We understand by biological diversity or biodiversity the variety of life forms that inhabit the earth . Diversity is made up not only of one element, but of the variation and relative abundance of species so that diversity measures thus consider these two factors: species richness, which is the number of species; and uniformity, that is, to what extent the populations of each species are abundant.
Summary
[ hide ]
- 1 Levels of diversity
- 2 Genetic diversity
- 3 Diversity of species
- 4 Diversity of ecosystems
- 5 Landscape diversity
- 6 Conservation of Diversity
- 7 The principles of its conservation can be summarized as:
- 8 Cataloging of threatened species
- 9 Sources
Diversity levels
They can be classified according to the levels of organization in:
- Genetic diversity .
- Species diversity .
- Ecosystem diversity .
- Landscape diversity .
Genetic diversity
Each individual of a species has a genetic code resulting from the evolution of millions of years. The future genotype of each individual is written in the genome, causing the great diversity that exists even within the same species.
Species diversity
The polytypic species (those that are very widespread and that appear with certain characteristics in each place) will contribute to the global diversity of the planet, which in each area appear as a race or subspecies, but always within the same species. And for another and as important as the previous ones, they will be those whose geographical distribution is limited to a very localized area, constituting the endemisms; and that require special protection.
Ecosystem diversity
It is given by the multitude of ecosystems that make up the earth. At this level of diversity, there is some imprecision due to the difficulty of isolating the ecosystem concept, since the factors that differentiate two ecosystems must be quantified. The most normal definition is to attend to the animal and plant species that inhabit them.
Landscape diversity
At this level ecosystems would be included, in which a single landscape unit would be formed by one or several ecosystems.
Conservation of Diversity
It should be approached as a multiple and inclusive activity that must attend to the different levels of diversity and that implies a commitment to the environment. Due to the dynamism of natural processes it will be an open and changing activity. To contribute to the conservation of biodiversity, it will be necessary to consider aspects covered by different areas of knowledge such as:
- Natural sciences ( biology , ecology , evolution , genetics …)
- Social sciences ( anthropology , economics , law …)
- Conservation biology (management of threatened species, management of protected areas, environmental restoration …). This activity arises as a response to critical situations, when an ecosystem or any of its component species is in danger of extinction or in decline.
The principles of its conservation can be summarized in:
Evolutionary change is the only process that explains current biodiversity. The evolutionary capacity of each community must be maintained, since this is one of the main objectives of its conservation. One should not aim at preserving the current state, but should allow evolution to act.
Another factor to consider would be ecological dynamism. The composition of a community changes over time. The balance of an ecosystem is the sum of the relative balances of its components. Ecological systems are not closed but are influenced by the outside.
The human being is part of the biodiversity. You must relate to your ecosystem by integrating into it, since its activities are part of its evolution. Nowadays, man must be considered as a species with great capacity to influence the environment and often a source of problems for conservation. It is also a creator of artificial landscapes.
Man should be identified with the other species of the ecosystem, seeing in them a source of benefits that he can take advantage of, so that he focuses his efforts on the respect and conservation of those resources. Within conservation, maintenance and control measures must be established. Once the conservation objectives have been reached, a Sustained Action Line must be maintained, whose function will be to detect possible problems in order to quickly tackle them and maintain the established line of action. Another very important aspect is to provide society with an environmental education broad enough to be able to act accordingly.
Cataloging of threatened species
In the last decades , the importance of conserving biological diversity has become aware . For this reason, the cataloging of endangered species is used, including them in red books and red lists. Thus contributing to the spread of threatened species and focusing attention on conservation measures designed for their conservation.
The cataloging is established by the IUCN (International Union for Conservation of Nature), a non-governmental organization (NGO), used in a wide range of internationally recognized publications and listings, as well as by numerous governmental and non-governmental organizations.
To prepare these catalogs, it is necessary to carry out previous studies that allow establishing a series of categories. In the categorization, the taxon is taken by agreement as the basic unit. The taxon is defined as: species or lower taxonomic level (subspecies, variety, etc.), including forms that are not yet formally described.
A series of criteria (clearly quantitative in nature) are applied to each taxon. As a result, each taxon is included in the category that is considered most suitable for it. These criteria take into account a series of characteristics of the taxa, such as their current distribution, their trend, etc.
Once the criteria are applied and from the information obtained, it will be possible to know which species are in adequate conditions, which species are in regression, etc. In this way, lists can be made that group species according to their need for protection, in a series of categories. The process called categorization should only be applied to wild populations within their natural range and to populations resulting from benign introductions (defined in the IUCN draft “Guidelines for Reintroductions”).
The cataloging of species has been updated and revised in 1994 by IUCN.We will explain both this and the previous one to 1994 , since the latter is still in force in certain publications (for example: Red Book of threatened plant species in mainland Spain and the Balearic Islands ).
Biodiversity (neologism from the English Biodiversity, in turn from the Greek βιο-, life, and from the Latin diversĭtas, -ātis, variety), also called biological diversity, is, according to the International Convention on Biological Diversity, the term by which It refers to the wide variety of living beings on Earth and the natural patterns that make it up, the result of billions of years of evolution according to natural processes and also of the increasing influence of human activities. Biodiversity also includes the variety of ecosystems and the genetic differences within each species that allow the combination of multiple forms of life, and whose mutual interactions and with the rest of the environment are the basis for the sustenance of life on the planet.