Mary Allen
Biodiversity is a measure of how many different species of animals and plants live in a given area. You don’t need a number for this. For example, it is said: “Species diversity is high in the rainforest, but low in the polar regions.”
Biodiversity is made by nature. It has evolved over a very long time. Biodiversity tends to decrease where people live. For example, as soon as a farmer fertilizes a meadow, certain species can no longer live in it. There are also fewer species on large, monotonous fields. If the primeval forest is cleared and plantations are created there, for example, palm trees, many species also disappear there.
Biodiversity is also declining due to environmental pollution. Many species are dying in the fields due to the toxins in the pesticides. Many animals in the water, such as brown trout, die if the water is not very clean and does not contain enough oxygen. Climate change is also reducing biodiversity. Many lakes and rivers have become so warm in recent summers that many fish and other creatures in the water have died.
Species diversity in an area only rarely increases again. This works, for example, when a straightened stream gets natural banks again. Then the conservationists replant plants that have survived in another area. Many plants or animals also settle themselves. The beaver, the otter, or the salmon, for example, migrate back to their old habitats if they correspond to nature again.
What is Bio-Diversity?
Biodiversity is a foreign word. “Bios” is Greek and means life. Diversity is a difference. However, biodiversity is not the same as species diversity.
In addition to biodiversity, you have to add how many different ecosystems there are in this area. Both together result in biodiversity. An ecosystem is, for example, a pond or a meadow. If there is a tree stump in a meadow, it forms another ecosystem, as does an anthill. This creates greater biodiversity.