Biodiversity

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What is the definition of biodiversity?

When we ask, what is the definition of biodiversity? It depends on what we want to do with it. The term is widely and commonly misused, leading to significant misinterpretation of the importance of how animals function(Of an ecosystem). A subset of ecosystem processes and structures, where the ecosystem does something that provides an ecosystem service of value to people. More on Earth and why they matter a great deal, to human survival. Here I will try to explain what it means in more practical terms.

The traditional and most widely-acknowledged meaning of biodiversity is defined by the 1992 United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (UNCBD) as: “the variability among living organisms from all sources, including, ‘inter alia’, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystemsHow ecosystems function An ecosystem is a community of lifeforms that interact in such an optimal way that how ecosystems function best, is when all components (including humans and other animals) can persist and live alongside each other for the longest time possible. Ecosystems are fuelled by the energy created by plants (primary producers) that convert the Sun's heat energy More, and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems”.

This is another way of saying , all the things that make up an ecosystem and what it does as a result of the combined functionality of all its components.

How the term biodiversity can be misleading

The UNCBD’s definition is accurate but is not fit-for-purpose. It has encouraged conservationWhy is animal conservation important? Animal conservation is important, because animals are the only mechanism to create biodiversity, which is the mechanism that creates a habitable planet for humans. Without animals, the energy from today’s plants (algae, trees, flowers etc) will eventually reach the atmosphere and ocean, much of it as carbon. The quantity of this plant-based waste is so More scientists to imagine that areas of greatest biodiversity importance are those places with the most species and most significantly, it omits the word “process” and does not differentiate animals from vegetation, when humans are animals and exist in a different ecological domain, to plants.

The definition so often gets misinterpreted as the number of species, species richnessThe number of species within a given area. Note, this is often confused with biodiversity but is very different. Species richness is not equal in all areas. Desert species richness is lower but the scale and intensity of species function can still be significant as biodiversity is not about number of species, it's about ecosystem processes. More or species diversity.

Why vegetation alone, cannot increase biodiversity conservation

This is bound to be an unpopular thing to say but it’s a simple fact. Plants are primary producers and left alone, they contribute to ecosystem collapse.

The poorest ecological habitatsWhat is habitat for animals and people? Habitat, hence the word "habitable" describes the natural surroundings in which any animal (or human) lives, that houses basic needs, such as food and shelter. Vegetation, for example, is habitat for animals. On its own, habitat is not necessarily stable or sustainable, which is why it differs from an ecosystem. Habitat in disrepair More have the greatest excess of nutrientsEnergy and nutrients are the same thing. Plants capture energy from the Sun and store it in chemicals, via the process of photosynthesis. The excess greenery and waste that plants create, contain chemicals that animals can eat, in order to build their own bodies and reproduce. When a chemical is used this way, we call it a nutrient. As we More. If the energy that plants produce is not limited, land becomes dominated by a few species of plant and there is a breakdown in the intensity and magnitude of biodiversity processes.

The assumptions that ecosystems are plant-driven, or that animals can exist simply if habitat (vegetation) is provided, are incorrect. Plants provide habitat but this is not an ecosystem. Without wildlife, the biosphere lacks the stability or structures to be habitable for any animals, including humans. It’s not helpful to imagine that human life support, even climate regulation, is vegetation-driven and the dangerous consequence of this, is that we are rebuilding habitat rather than ecosystems, as a way of tackling environmental crises. We are neglecting animals, letting them go extinct and getting dangerously close to a world where we will not be able to create biodiversity conservation necessary to sustain human life.

Biodiversity is the regulation of energy that makes Earth habitable

Humans and animals evolved as the mechanism to stabilise Earth systems. Intact trophic pyramidsThe gradual reduction in energy content, increase in body size and reduction in number of animals, that occurs the higher you go up the food chain. At the base of the pyramid are a vast number of high-metabolism, tiny creatures and at the summit, are the top predators. To be stable, the pyramid has to have creatures at all levels. More, where animals are represented in natural proportions, are the most stable structure to withstand ecosystem collapse. Collapse happens when there is an over-supply of free surplus energyThe energy of a system that is emitted as waste and is not part of ecosystem processes. There is always some free surplus energy as this creates the basis for evolution where new species exploit gaps in the ecosystem where free energy becomes available. Surplus energy can occur as a result of disruption or disturbance. When free surplus energy reaches More. Ecosystems are therefore, the animal-dominated structures built on top of vegetation processes, that moderate this excess energy and create consistent and predictable supply of clean water and food (including through the stabilisation of weather patterns).

Ecosystems are strictly thermodynamicThermodynamics are at the heart of our understanding of ecosystems and not an altogether difficult concept to grasp but one that isn't widely taught to ecologists. Basically, all life on Earth, is derived from the Sun's heat. This renewable energy source constantly bombards ecosystems with energy but they would overheat, if it wasn't for the absorptive capacity of food webs. More. For this reason, only animals can regulate and stabilise the enormous quantity of energy that passes through them. This energy is captured every day, on almost every square centimetre of the planet, by photosynthesising plants.

It’s not the amount of energy in a system that gives it purpose for life. It’s not the biomassThe weight of living organisms. Biomass can be measured in relation to the amount of carbon, the dry weight (with all moisture removed) or living weight. In general it can be used to describe the volume of energy that is contained inside systems, as the size of animals relates to their metabolism and therefore, how much energy they contain and More of trees that delivers food to animals, it’s the rate of fruit production, leaf fall and decay: the energy fluxIt's not the amount of energy in a system that makes it possible for us to feed ourselves, it's the energy flux (the rate at which energy flows). For example, you can have a full water tank in your house but it's hardly any use to you, unless it's able to flow out of taps. This simple logic, proves why More. For example, a house can have a full water tank but a family will die of thirst, unless it flows out of taps. At the same time, the household needs a way to regulate this flow, so the house doesn’t become flooded and uninhabitable.

Plants store massive amounts of energy but also create a constant flood because the Sun is continuously adding more energy into the system. This is a dangerous amount of energy if it is unregulated and enough to destabilise the entire planet. It’s the same reason why over-fertilisation of farmland, contributes to declines in water quality and increased human health impacts and disease.

The evolution of animals turns vegetation into ecosystems, as these are the mechanisms that moderate the rate of energy that flows on Earth, delivering energy (in the form of nutrients) in precisely the right quantities at the right time and place, to make a habitable Earth.

Why do we need animals for biodiversity?

All animals evolved, because they were the most likely components, at a time, to contribute to ecosystem stability.

As a result of the increasingly complex interaction of animals, ecosystems stabilised and became the containers for critical life support processes. The sum total of these ecological processes is what we call “biodiversity”. This is integral to the stability of Earth’s biosphere and, prior to humans eroding ecosystems, grew to planetary magnitude and intensity at all spatial scales. This is what eventually resulted in the evolution of our species.

Which means neither animals, ecosystems or ecological processes can be an after-thought. None were created by simply planting habitat. Ecosystem processes were not made in a linear or cyclical fashion, they were simultaneous and integral to life.

The consequence for humans is that recreating a habitable Earth, means simultaneously restoring wild animal populations.

On biodiversity and health

Biodiversity is the sum total health of the planet. If we are individually healthy, that means we feel good and live longer, but that’s the outcome of being healthy. We don’t need to define health to strive for that. However, there are many of us, whereas there is only one planet.

Because our health and the planet’s health are intimately connected, biodiversity becomes the total result of our behaviour (and the behaviour of all animals, since we are in this together).

The decisions we take every day to stay healthy by keeping our environment healthy for people and wildlife, is how we maintain one planet in good working condition. A biodiverse planet is one where people and animals can maintain a healthy lifestyle.

A new and more meaningful definition for biodiversity conservation

Without animals, the energy plants create (including fossil fuel, which was also created by plants), contributes to rapid ecosystem collapse. Human beings, because we are animals and were born into and live in a domain where the actions of animals are what created a habitable Earth, cannot exist without other animals. We are a consequence of animal impactWhat is Animal Impact? Without wildlife, Earth would not be habitable for humans, because it's animals that stabilise ecosystems. It’s a fundamental law of nature that animals (and humans) exist because we are the most likely lifeforms to minimise environmental chaos. Animal impact, therefore, is a measure of how much all wildlife is collectively responsible for creating a habitable Earth. The More. We are connected to Earth’s energy, via nutrients, not by plants and habitat but by the ecosystems that animals built (and we were part of) that simultaneously deliver our entire life support. Recognising that we are animals and have to work alongside other animals, to restabilise the planet, is critical.

Biodiversity is the sum total of interactions of animals, and the mechanism that stabilises the biosphere, in order that it may be habitable for those species most likely to surviveDarwin’s theory how species are formed, where those that stand in closest competition with those undergoing beneficial modification and improvement, will go extinct faster. Natural selection is by survival of the likeliest, not survival of the fittest. The fittest are only likely to survive because they happen to be most suited to the environment into which they are born. The More.

If we want a future on this planet for our species, we need a more precise and purposeful definition of what biodiversity means, for survival.

This is my technical version:

Biodiversity conservation is everything animals (including humans) must do, to moderate the flow of plant-based energy through ecosystems, in order to mitigate the collapse of ecosystems and provide a habitable planet for our survival.

And if you want a less technical version

Biodiversity conservation is everything we must do, to keep our planet healthy and habitable, so we can survive.