Change Your World Week Winter 2022 (Archived)

The American Museum of Natural History defines biodiversity as the "variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, and can encompass the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life."  

SEND HELP

- Earth 

“The Living Planet Index (LPI) is a measure of the state of global biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species from around the world. It does this in much the same way that a stock market index tracks the value of a set of shares or a retail price index tracks the cost of a basket of consumer goods.” (LPR 2020 Full Report). The LPI currently holds 27,000 different populations of species including mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. Because of negligence to this issue, the LPI in 2020 showed that we had an average decline in the population of about 68%. We find through the LPI that different parts of the world are declining at a more rapid pace. One example of this is in Latin America and the Caribbean where the decline in population is 94%. 

The 5 Main Threats/Causes to Biodiversity 

Habitat Loss- The destruction of natural habitats by thinning, fragmentation, or modification of habitats. This causes a reduction or elimination of the food resources and living space for most species. 

Invasive Species- Non native species coming into a habitat can disrupt and modify that ecosystem. That makes the species there compete for resources like space and food. 

Pollution- Can make the environment unsuitable for survival. The high risk of pollutants can kill some of the food for the species in that habitat. 

Species Overexploitation- Unsustainable hunting or overfishing, this can be a direct form of overexploitation. One indirect form could be animals being killed on accident like bycatch in fisheries. 

Climate Change- With temperatures changing in some habitats very quickly that can make it difficult for species to adapt to that temperature. 

Biodiversity impacts humans quality of life from many things like our food supply, medicine,

and the world we live in altogether. Nature provides the air we breathe, the water we need to survive,

and soil to grow our food. Biodiversity is a resource that the whole world depends on, by linking all

living things on earth together into an interdependent ecosystem. Each different species has a

different role that affects others, and without a diverse amount of species, we are loosening the

balance of nature.

• Reduce use of pesticides and fertilizers in lawn care
• Get involved with ecological restoration in your area. By volunteering, you can help restore habitat for native species and eliminate invasive species, all while learning something about your local plants and animals and getting active out in the fresh air
• Reduce, reuse, and recycle
• Use environmentally friendly products for cleaning. 
• Buy organic foods.
• Reduce single-person car use, carpool, walk, or bike.