Biodiversity is the variety of organisms that exist in a given ecosystem. It serves as an excellent indicator of how healthy an ecosystem is. If there are many species present then the ecosystem is healthy. This is because organisms all interact with one another in a very complex way. The prosperity of one may have an effect on five other species. For example, if a predators such as foxes start to decline then this will have a massive effect on the rest of the ecosystem. Every animal that the fox preyed on will flourish, which could in turn affect other species that were connected with the fox’s prey.
Over the past 150 years biodiversity has been rapidly declining. This is due to a variety of reasons, most prominently industrialization and urbanization. The industrial revolution occurred from 1750 to 1850. This set the stage for our world’s rapid industrialization that has spelt disaster for countless ecosystems. One huge problem associated with industrialization is pollution. Large factories often have toxic chemicals or toxic fumes that are not always disposed of properly. If introduced into an ecosystem, the ecosystem will change in a way that is not natural and that nature is not set up to deal with. The pollution will kill off organisms in a way where they can’t make a natural rebound. I’ll explain this point a little better. A completely natural ecosystem is filled with checks and balances. Say a predator population starts to decline. This will allow the populations of any organism that the predator preyed to increase. This increase will not occur indefinitely however, as lack of resources and disease due to the increase in population will soon bring the numbers back in check. Problems begin occurring when animals die off for unnatural reasons such as pollution. Perhaps dumping in a lake completely eliminates one species of fish. This species is now extinct and all checks and balances associated with its survival or overrun. This effect will ripple and be felt by the entire ecosystem. Urbanization is also a major problem in terms of habitat destruction. As I said before there are tons of checks and balances associated with the animal populations. These checks and balances only work when in the proper natural environment. Organisms in an ecosystem are constantly interacting with their environment. They can’t do this if their environment is now a set of new housing complexes.
Humans need to learn how to better coexist with our environment. We need to find a better balance so we can become a part of our ecosystems instead of a huge negative influence. We need to look into greener technology such as wind energy and solar power. This can be helped along by government subsidies for going green and stricter penalties for pollution. In terms of urbanization it is possible to expand without completely leveling an ecosystem. There should be stricter regulations put in place on what areas should be allowed to be developed and things such as how many trees are allowed to be cut down. As well governments should protect more natural areas to ensure that biodiversity doesn’t continue to plummet. Finally we must ensure that our current generation is educated on the importance of biodiversity. This way when all of us grow up we will be more informed on how to combat declining biodiversity and will be able to live in a way that is more conscious of our surrounding environment.
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