biodiversity and ecosystem loss essay

Conservation of nature's strongholds needed to halt biodiversity loss

Researchers argue for scaling-up area-based conservation to maintain ecological integrity.

To achieve global biodiversity targets, conservationists and governments must prioritize the establishment and effective management of large, interconnected protected areas with high ecological integrity, John G. Robinson from the Wildlife Conservation Society, US, and colleagues argue in an essay publishing May 21 in the open-access journal PLOS Biology .

The Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF), signed at the 2022 Conference of Parties to the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in Montreal, recognized the importance of protecting large areas of natural habitat to maintain the resilience and integrity of ecosystems. To halt biodiversity loss, these protected and conserved areas need to be in the right places, connected to one another, and well managed. One of the GBF targets is to protect at least 30% of the global land and ocean by 2030, known as the 30x30 target.

To achieve GBF targets, the authors propose prioritizing large, interconnected protected areas with high ecological integrity, that are effectively managed and equitably governed. They emphasize the importance of conserving landscapes at scales large enough to encompass functioning ecosystems and the biodiversity they contain. In many cases, this will require interconnected groups of protected areas that are managed together. Effective governance means that the diversity of stakeholders and rights holders are recognized and that the costs and benefits are shared equitably between them. The authors argue that protected and conservation areas that meet all four criteria -- which they name "Nature's Strongholds" -- will be disproportionately important for biodiversity conservation. They identify examples of Nature's Strongholds in the high-biodiversity tropical forest regions of Central Africa and the Amazon.

By applying the four criteria presented in this essay to identify Nature's Strongholds around the world, governments and conservationists can coordinate their efforts to best address threats to biodiversity, the authors say.

The authors add, "'Nature's Strongholds' -- large, interconnected, ecologically intact areas that are well managed and equitably governed -- are identified in Amazonia and Central Africa. The approach offers an effective way to conserve biodiversity at a global scale."

• Ecology Research
• Endangered Plants
• Biodiversity
• Rainforests
• Land Management
• Urbanization
• Environmental Policies
• Biodiversity hotspot
• Organic farming
• Agroecology
• Conservation biology
• Sustainable land management
• Deforestation
• Unified neutral theory of biodiversity

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Materials provided by PLOS . Note: Content may be edited for style and length.

Journal Reference :

• John G. Robinson, Danielle LaBruna, Tim O’Brien, Peter J. Clyne, Nigel Dudley, Sandy J. Andelman, Elizabeth L. Bennett, Avecita Chicchon, Carlos Durigan, Hedley Grantham, Margaret Kinnaird, Sue Lieberman, Fiona Maisels, Adriana Moreira, Madhu Rao, Emma Stokes, Joe Walston, James EM Watson. Scaling up area-based conservation to implement the Global Biodiversity Framework’s 30x30 target: The role of Nature’s Strongholds . PLOS Biology , 2024; 22 (5): e3002613 DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3002613

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Biodiversity loss: three research topics revealing threats and solutions.

The planet is demanding a reset in our interactions with nature. Protecting and restoring biodiversity is no longer optional because when nature suffers, so do we .

According to United Nations data, "current negative trends in biodiversity and ecosystems will undermine progress towards 80% of the assessed targets of eight Sustainable Development Goals."

As a result, the theme for this year’s International Day for Biological Diversity is ’Be part of the Plan’, a call to action for everyone to support the implementation of the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework , also known as the Biodiversity Plan.

In light of the crucial role of biodiversity to the health of our planet, we have listed three of our most impactful Research Topics on the causes and consequences of biodiversity loss.

All articles are openly available to view and download.

1 | Aquatic One Health—The Intersection of Marine Wildlife Health, Public Health, and Our Oceans

33,400 views | 10 articles

This Research Topic provides insights into marine wildlife and aquaculture disease processes, conditions, and health issues. It also demonstrates the potential to influence public health within the One Health framework.

The interrelatedness of environmental, animal, and public wellbeing form the basis of the 'One Health' concept, a framework to guide research and conservation efforts by studying not only animal health in isolation, but also in the context of public and environmental health.

Humankind's past and present use of ocean ecosystems as waste sinks has had significant, wide-ranging, and negative effects on marine life and human health, making this topic highly relevant to the mission of biodiversity preservation.

View Research Topic

2 | Ethnofood Chemistry: Bioactive Components in Unexploited Foods from Centres of Biodiversity

45,000 views | 11 articles

A Research Topic looking at ethno plant foods from centers of biodiversity -Africa, Asia and Australia, North, and Central America, South America, Europe, and Central Asia- with bioactive components of nutritional and health value.

Ethnofoods—traditional foods—originate from the heritage and culture of an ethnic group that uses their knowledge of local plants and animal sources. They are also unexploited and underutilized by the wider community worldwide.

This topic highlights the importance of incorporating ethno-plant foods into nutrition intervention programs globally to combat hidden hunger and provide nutrition and food security. Furthermore, it contributes to demonstrating the possibility of developing sustainable food systems.

3 | Community Series in the Wildlife Gut Microbiome and Its Implication for Conservation Biology, Volume II

53,100 views | 21 articles

This Research Topic dives into the potential connection between gut microbiome and conservation biology. Microbiome studies can increase our understanding of non-native species invasion, host response to pathogens and chemical contamination, and host ability to tolerate climate change.

The animal gut microbiota can be beneficial in many ways, including dietary supplementation, host immune function, and behavior. The microbiomes of animals affect host fitness, population characteristics such as demography, and health status, as well as adaptability. For example, the fitness effects of gut microbiomes on wild animals may have important implications for the conservation and management of species.

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Accelerating extinction rate triggers domino effect of biodiversity loss

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While nearly one million species are currently at risk of extinction, the United Nations University (UNU) in Bonn is drawing attention to “co-extinctions”: the chain reaction occurring when the complete disappearance of one species affects another.  

The issue is in the spotlight ahead of the  International Day for Biological Diversity , observed annually on 22 May, and covered in the most recent edition of UNU’s Interconnected Disaster Risks report.

Among the animals at risk is the gopher tortoise, one of the oldest living species on the planet. This tragic story of biodiversity loss is unfolding at the heart of the coastal plains of the southern United States. 

Ecosystem ‘architect’ 

Their reduced number is not just problematic for the survival of the tortoise as a species, however, as these charismatic creatures also play a vital role in preserving the delicate balance of their coastal realm.  

Gopher tortoises are not merely occupants of their habitat; they are architects, sculpting ecosystems and providing sanctuaries for over 350 other species. With their front legs functioning like shovels, they dig burrows that range in size from 20 to 30 feet (6 to 9 metres) long and from 6 to 8 feet (1.8 to 2.5 metres) deep.  

From small insects to larger amphibians, each organism plays a vital role in the ecosystem's intricate web of life these burrows provide. For some, the burrows of the gopher tortoise are a safe haven for breeding and nurturing offspring, while for others, they offer respite from predators and the elements.

Should the gopher tortoise vanish, it is likely a domino effect would be felt throughout the ecosystem.  

Among the most vulnerable is the critically endangered dusky gopher frog, a species already teetering on the brink of extinction. Reliant on the tortoise's burrows for shelter and survival, the disappearance of the tortoise would most likely put the frog’s survival at risk too. 

The role of humans 

In shedding more light on co-extinctions, UNU said that intense human activities, such as land-use change, overexploitation, climate change, pollution and the introduction of invasive species, is causing an extinction acceleration that is at least tens to hundreds of times faster than the natural process of extinctions.  

In the last 100 years, over 400 vertebrate species were lost, for example. The report therefore includes accelerated extinctions among its six interconnected ‘risk tipping points’.  

Such points are reached when the systems that humanity relies on cannot buffer risks and stop functioning like expected – mainly as a result of human actions.  

Extinction breeds extinction 

Ecosystems are built on intricate networks of connections between different species, as the gopher tortoise-dusky gopher frog example indicates.  

The domino effect could lead to more species going extinct and eventually even to the collapse of entire ecosystems.  

With nearly one million plant and animal species currently under threat, the ripple effect of the extinction of a single species can affect countless others, disrupting vital ecological functions. 

The endangered sea otter provides another example of intricate dependencies within ecosystems. Calling the Pacific kelp forests their home, they were once plentiful, but are now locally endangered due to being relentlessly hunted for their fur in the past.  

In a finely tuned ecological dance, sea otters prey on sea urchins, halting the unrestrained growth of sea urchin populations. Without the presence of otters, these spiky grazers run rampant, transforming lush kelp forests into desolate ‘urchin barrens’.  

But the demise of sea otters would have impacts that extend far beyond the disappearance of kelp alone, UNU said. Over1,000 species– including sharks, turtles, seals, whales, birds, and a multitude of fish– rely on these underwater havens for their very existence.  

Creating the future we want  

Addressing the biodiversity crisis demands a multifaceted approach that recognizes the interconnectedness of risks and solutions.  

The theme of the International Day for Biological Diversity  calls for everyone to support implementation of  the Biodiversity Plan , adopted in 2022, which sets goals and concrete measures to stop and reverse the loss of nature by 2050. 

One of the goals includes reducing the extinction rate of all species tenfold by mid-century and increasing the abundance of native wild species to healthy and resilient levels, said Zita Sebesvari, Deputy Director of UNU’s Institute for Environment and Human Security and lead author of the  Interconnected Disaster Risks report.  

“While adaptation strategies, such as restoring and protecting green corridors between animal habitats offer some respite, tackling underlying drivers of extinction remains crucial, because this goal cannot be reached as long as we risk accelerating extinctions,” she explained. 

In the long term, avoiding extinctions and co-extinctions will be the only realistic solution to halt biodiversity loss, which requires a shift of mindsets.  

“Conservation efforts must extend beyond individual species to encompass entire ecosystems”, Ms. Sebesvari said.  

“Urgent and decisive action is needed to preserve the resilience of ecosystems and ensure the survival of our planet’s diverse web of life. Embracing nature as an integral part of our culture is essential to secure a sustainable future, recognizing that our fate is inevitably intertwined with the fate of the natural world.” 

• biodiversity

133 Biodiversity Topics & Examples

🔝 top-10 biodiversity topics for presentation, 🏆 best biodiversity project topics, 💡 most interesting biodiversity assignment topics, 📌 simple & easy biodiversity related topics, 👍 good biodiversity title ideas, ❓ biodiversity research topics.

• Biodiversity loss.
• Global biodiversity conservation.
• The Amazon rainforest.
• Animal ecology research.
• Sub Saharan Africa.
• Marine biodiversity.
• Threats to ecosystems.
• Plant ecology.
• Importance of environmental conservation.
• Evolution of animal species.
• Biodiversity Hotspots: The Philippines The International Conservation has classified the Philippines as one of the biodiversity hotspots in the world. Additionally, the country is said to be one of the areas that are endangered in the world.
• Biodiversity Benefits for Ecology This variation of species in the ecosystem is a very important concept and factor that indeed is the basis for sustaining life on our planet. Moreover, the most important supporter of life, which is soil […]
• Aspects, Importance and Issues of Biodiversity Genetic diversity is a term used to refer to the dissimilitude of organisms of the same species. Species diversity is used to refer to dissimilitude of organisms in a given region.
• Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions It is estimated that the number of species that have become extinct is greater than the number of species that are currently found on earth.
• Climate Change’s Negative Impact on Biodiversity This essay’s primary objective is to trace and evaluate the impact of climate change on biological diversity through the lens of transformations in the marine and forest ecosystems and evaluation of the agricultural sector both […]
• Habitat Destruction and Biodiversity Extinctions The instance of extinction is by and large regarded as the demise of the very last character of the genus. Habitat obliteration has played a major part in wiping out of species, and it is […]
• Biodiversity Conservation: Tropical Rainforest The forest is not a threat to many species and that, therefore, helps in showing that conserving this forest will be of great benefit to many species. The disadvantage of conserving the Mangrove Forest is […]
• When Human Diet Costs Too Much: Biodiversity as the Ultimate Answer to the Global Problems Because of the unreasonable use of the natural resources, environmental pollution and inadequate protection, people have led a number of species to extinction; moreover, due to the increasing rates of consumerist approach towards the food […]
• Biology Lab Report: Biodiversity Study of Lichens As a consequence of these results, the variety of foods found in forest flora that include lichens may be linked to varying optimum conditions for establishment and development.
• The Importance of Biodiversity in Ecosystem The most urgent problem right now is to maintain the level of biodiversity in this world but it has to begin with a more in-depth understanding of how different species of flora and fauna can […]
• How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity The disturbance of the ecosystem has some effects on the dynamics of vectors and infectious diseases. Change of climate is a contributing factor in the emergence of new species and infectious diseases.
• Biodiversity: Aspects Within the Sphere of Biology Finally, living objects consist of cells, which are the basic units of their function and structure. The viruses’ structure depends on which nucleic acid is included, which denotes that there are DNA and RNA viruses.
• Coral Reef and Biodiversity in Ecosystems Coral reefs are formed only in the tropical zone of the ocean; the temperature limits their life – are from +18 to +29oS, and at the slightest deviation from the boundaries of the coral die.
• Biodiversity and the Health of Ecosystems Various opinions are revealed concerning biodiversity, including the human impact, reversal of biodiversity loss, the impact of overpopulation, the future of biodiversity, and the rate of extinction.
• Wild Crops and Biodiversity Threats However, out of millions of existing types of wild crop cultures, the vast majority have been abandoned and eradicated, as the agricultural companies placed major emphasis on the breeding of domesticated cultures that are easy […]
• Biodiversity, Interdependency: Threatened and Endhangered Species In the above table, humans rely on bees to facilitate pollination among food crops and use their honey as food. Concurrently, lichens break down rocks to provide nutrient-rich soil in the relationship.
• Invasive Processes’ Impact on Ecosystem’s Biodiversity If the invasive ones prove to be more adaptive, this will bring about the oppression of the native species and radical changes in the ecosystem.
• Conserving Biodiversity: The Loggerhead Turtle The loggerhead sea turtle is the species of oceanic turtle which is spread all over the world and belongs to the Cheloniidae family.
• Biodiversity and Dynamics of Mountainous Area Near the House It should be emphasized that the term ecosystem used in this paper is considered a natural community characterized by a constant cycle of energy and resources, the presence of consumers, producers, and decomposers, as well […]
• National Biodiversity Strategy By this decision, the UN seeks to draw the attention of the world community and the leaders of all countries to the protection and rational use of natural resources.
• Rewilding Our Cities: Beauty, Biodiversity and the Biophilic Cities Movement What is the source of your news item? The Guardian.
• Biodiversity and Food Production This paper will analyze the importance of biodiversity in food production and the implications for human existence. Edible organisms are few as compared to the total number of organisms in the ecosystem.
• Restoring the Everglades Wetlands: Biodiversity The Act lays out the functions and roles of the Department of Environmental Protection and the South Florida Water Management District in restoration of the Everglades.
• Biodiversity: Importance and Benefits This is due to the fact that man is evolving from the tendency of valuing long term benefits to a tendency of valuing short terms benefits.
• A Benchmarking Biodiversity Survey of the Inter-Tidal Zone at Goat Island Bay, Leigh Marine Laboratory Within each quadrant, the common species were counted or, in the case of seaweed and moss, proliferation estimated as a percentage of the quadrant occupied.
• Plant Interactions and Biodiversity: Ecological Insights The author is an ecologist whose main area of interest is in the field of biodiversity and composition of the ecosystem.
• Biodiversity: Population Versus Ecosystem Diversity by David Tilman How is the variability of the plant species year to year in the community biomass? What is the rate of the plant productivity in the ecosystem?
• Biodiversity Hotspots and Environmental Ethics The magnitude of the problem of losing biodiversity hotspots is too great, to the extend of extinction of various species from the face of the earth.
• Natural Selection and Biodiversity These are featured by the ways in which the inhabiting organisms adapt to them and it is the existence of these organisms on which the ecosystems depend and therefore it is evident that this diversity […]
• Scientific Taxonomy and Earth’s Biodiversity A duck is a domestic bird that is reared for food in most parts of the world. It is associated with food in the household and is smaller than a bee.
• Global Warming: Causes and Impact on Health, Environment and the Biodiversity Global warming is defined in simple terms as the increase in the average temperature of the Earth’s surface including the air and oceans in recent decades and if the causes of global warming are not […]
• Loss of Biodiversity in the Amazon Ecosystem The growth of the human population and the expansion of global economies have contributed to the significant loss of biodiversity despite the initial belief that the increase of resources can halt the adverse consequences of […]
• California’s Coastal Biodiversity Initiative The considered threat to California biodiversity is a relevant topic in the face of climate change. To prevent this outcome, it is necessary to involve the competent authorities and plan a possible mode of operation […]
• Biodiversity: American Museum of Natural History While staying at the museum, I took a chance to visit the Milstein Family Hall of Ocean Life and the Hall of Reptiles and Amphibians.
• Biodiversity and Animal Population in Micronesia This means that in the future, the people living in Micronesia will have to move to other parts of the world when their homes get submerged in the water.
• Urban Plants’ Role in Insects’ Biodiversity The plants provide food, shelter and promote the defensive mechanisms of the insects. The observation was also an instrumental method that was used to assess the behavior and the existence of insects in relation to […]
• Biodiversity Markets and Bolsa Floresta Program Environmentalists and scholars of the time led by Lord Monboddo put forward the significance of nature conservation which was followed by implementation of conservation policies in the British Indian forests.
• Brazilian Amazonia: Biodiversity and Deforestation Secondly, the mayor persuaded the people to stop deforestation to save the Amazon. Additionally, deforestation leads to displacement of indigenous people living in the Amazonia.
• Defining and Measuring Biodiversity Biodiversity is measured in terms of attributes that explore the quality of nature; richness and evenness of the living organisms within an ecological niche.
• Biodiversity, Its Importance and Benefits Apart from that, the paper is going to speculate on the most and least diverse species in the local area. The biodiversity can be measured in terms of the number of different species in the […]
• Biodiversity, Its Evolutionary and Genetic Reasons The occurrence of natural selection is hinged on the hypothesis that offspring inherit their characteristics from their parents in the form of genes and that members of any particular population must have some inconsiderable disparity […]
• Biodiversity Hotspots: Evaluation and Analysis The region also boasts with the endangered freshwater turtle species, which are under a threat of extinction due to over-harvesting and destroyed habitat.
• Marine Biodiversity Conservation and Impure Public Goods The fact that the issue concerning the global marine biodiversity and the effects that impure public goods may possibly have on these rates can lead to the development of a range of externalities that should […]
• Natural Sciences: Biodiversity and Human Civilisation The author in conjunction with a team of other researchers used a modelling study to illustrate the fact approximately 2 percent of global energy is currently being deployed in the generation of wind and solar […]
• How Biodiversity Is Threatened by Human Activity Most of the marine biodiversity is found in the tropics, especially coral reefs that support the growth of organisms. Overexploitation in the oceans is caused by overfishing and fishing practices that cause destruction of biodiversity.
• Biodiversity and Business Risk In conclusion, biodiversity risk affects businesses since the loss of biodiversity leads to: coastal flooding, desertification and food insecurity, all of which have impacts on business organizations.
• Measurement of Biodiversity It is the “sum total of all biotic variation from the level of genes to ecosystems” according to Andy Purvus and Andy Hector in their article entitled “Getting the Measure of Diversity” which appeared in […]
• Introduced Species and Biodiversity Rhymer and Simberloff explain that the seriousness of the phenomenon may not be very evident from direct observation of the morphological traits of the species.
• Ecosystems: Biodiversity and Habitat Loss The review of the topic shows that the relationship between urban developmental patterns and the dynamics of ecosystem are concepts that are still not clearly understood in the scholarly world as well as in general.
• The Impact of Burmese Pythons on Florida’s Native Biodiversity Scientists from the South Florida Natural Resource Center, the Smithsonian institute and the University of Florida have undertaken studies to assess the predation behavior of the Burmese pythons on birds in the area.
• Essentials of Biodiversity At the same time, the knowledge and a more informed understanding of the whole concept of biodiversity gives us the power to intervene in the event that we are faced by the loss of biodiversity, […]
• Threat to Biodiversity Is Just as Important as Climate Change This paper shall articulate the truth of this statement by demonstrating that threats to biodiversity pose significant threat to the sustainability of human life on earth and are therefore the protection of biodiversity is as […]
• Cold Water Coral Ecosystems and Their Biodiversity: A Review of Their Economic and Social Value
• Benchmarking DNA Metabarcoding for Biodiversity-Based Monitoring and Assessment
• Prospects for Integrating Disturbances, Biodiversity and Ecosystem Functioning Using Microbial Systems
• Enterprising Nature: Economics, Markets, and Finance in Global Biodiversity Politics
• Institutional Economics and the Behaviour of Conservation Organizations: Implications for Biodiversity Conservation
• Fisheries, Fish Pollution and Biodiversity: Choice Experiments With Fishermen, Traders and Consumers
• Last Stand: Protected Areas and the Defense of Tropical Biodiversity
• Hardwiring Green: How Banks Account For Biodiversity Risks and Opportunities
• Governance Criteria for Effective Transboundary Biodiversity Conservation
• Marine Important Bird and Biodiversity Areas for Penguins in Antarctica: Targets for Conservation Action
• Ecological and Economic Assessment of Forests Biodiversity: Formation of Theoretical and Methodological Instruments
• Environment and Biodiversity Impacts of Organic and Conventional Agriculture
• Food From the Water: How the Fish Production Revolution Affects Aquatic Biodiversity and Food Security
• Biodiversity and World Food Security: Nourishing the Planet and Its People
• Climate Change and Energy Economics: Key Indicators and Approaches to Measuring Biodiversity
• Conflicts Between Biodiversity and Carbon Sequestration Programs: Economic and Legal Implications
• Models for Sample Selection Bias in Contingent Valuation: Application to Forest Biodiversity
• Optimal Land Conversion and Growth With Uncertain Biodiversity Costs
• Internalizing Global Externalities From Biodiversity: Protected Areas and Multilateral Mechanisms of Transfer
• Combining Internal and External Motivations in Multi-Actor Governance Arrangements for Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services
• Balancing State and Volunteer Investment in Biodiversity Monitoring for the Implementation of CBD Indicators
• Differences and Similarities Between Ecological and Economic Models for Biodiversity Conservation
• Globalization and the Connection of Remote Communities: Household Effects and Their Biodiversity Implications
• Shaded Coffee and Cocoa – Double Dividend for Biodiversity and Small-Scale Farmers
• Spatial Priorities for Marine Biodiversity Conservation in the Coral Triangle
• One World, One Experiment: Addressing the Biodiversity and Economics Conflict
• Alternative Targets and Economic Efficiency of Selecting Protected Areas for Biodiversity Conservation in Boreal Forest
• Analysing Multi Level Water and Biodiversity Governance in Their Context
• Agricultural Biotechnology: Productivity, Biodiversity, and Intellectual Property Rights
• Renewable Energy and Biodiversity: Implications for Transitioning to a Green Economy
• Agricultural Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services of Major Farming Systems
• Integrated Land Use Modelling of Agri-Environmental Measures to Maintain Biodiversity at Landscape Level
• Changing Business Perceptions Regarding Biodiversity: From Impact Mitigation Towards New Strategies and Practices
• Forest Biodiversity and Timber Extraction: An Analysis of the Interaction of Market and Non-market Mechanisms
• Poverty and Biodiversity: Measuring the Overlap of Human Poverty and the Biodiversity Hotspots
• Protecting Agro-Biodiversity by Promoting Rural Livelihoods
• Maintaining Biodiversity and Environmental Sustainability
• Landscape, Legal, and Biodiversity Threats That Windows Pose to Birds: A Review of an Important Conservation Issue
• Variable Mating Behaviors and the Maintenance of Tropical Biodiversity
• Species Preservation and Biodiversity Value: A Real Options Approach
• What Is Being Done to Preserve Biodiversity and Its Hotspots?
• How Are Argentina and Chile Facing Shared Biodiversity Loss?
• Are Diverse Ecosystems More Valuable?
• How Can Biodiversity Loss Be Prevented?
• Can Payments for Watershed Services Help Save Biodiversity?
• How Can Business Reduce Impacts on the World’s Biodiversity?
• Are National Biodiversity Strategies Appropriate for Building Responsibilities for Mainstreaming Biodiversity Across Policy Sectors?
• How Does Agriculture Effect Biodiversity?
• Are There Income Effects on Global Willingness to Pay For Biodiversity Conservation?
• How Does the Economic Risk Aversion Affect Biodiversity?
• What Are the Threats of Biodiversity?
• How Has the Increased Usage of Synthetic Pesticides Impacted Biodiversity?
• What Does Drive Biodiversity Conservation Effort in the Developing World?
• How Does the Plantation Affect Biodiversity?
• What Does Drive Long-Run Biodiversity Change?
• How Does the United Nations Deal With Biodiversity?
• What Factors Affect Biodiversity?
• How Are Timber Harvesting and Biodiversity Managed in Uneven-Aged Forests?
• When Should Biodiversity Tenders Contract on Outcomes?
• Who Cares About Biodiversity?
• Why Can Financial Incentives Destroy Economically Valuable Biodiversity in Ethiopia?
• What Factors Affect an Area’s Biodiversity?
• In What Ways Is Biodiversity Economically Valuable?
• Which Human Activities Threaten Biodiversity?
• How Can Biodiversity Be Protected?
• In What Ways Is Biodiversity Ecologically Value?
• In Which Countries Is Biodiversity Economically Valuable?
• Does Species Diversity Follow Any Patterns?
• How Is Biodiversity Measured?
• What Is a Biodiversity Hotspot?
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Biodiversity - our strongest natural defense against climate change

Biological diversity — or biodiversity — is the variety of life on Earth, in all its forms, from genes and bacteria to entire ecosystems such as forests or coral reefs. The biodiversity we see today is the result of 4.5 billion years of evolution, increasingly influenced by humans.

Biodiversity forms the web of life that we depend on for so many things – food, water, medicine, a stable climate, economic growth, among others. Over half of global GDP is dependent on nature. More than 1 billion people rely on forests for their livelihoods. And land and the ocean absorb more than half of all carbon emissions. 

But nature is in crisis. Up to one million species are threatened with extinction, many within decades. Irreplaceable ecosystems like parts of the Amazon rainforest are turning from carbon sinks into carbon sources due to deforestation. And 85 per cent of wetlands , such as salt marshes and mangrove swamps which absorb large amounts of carbon, have disappeared.   

How is climate change affecting biodiversity?  

The main driver of biodiversity loss remains humans’ use of land – primarily for food production . Human activity has already altered over 70 per cent of all ice-free land. When land is converted for agriculture, some animal and plant species may lose their habitat and face extinction.  

But climate change is playing an increasingly important role in the decline of biodiversity. Climate change has altered marine, terrestrial, and freshwater ecosystems around the world. It has caused the loss of local species, increased diseases, and driven mass mortality of plants and animals, resulting in the first climate-driven extinctions.

On land, higher temperatures have forced animals and plants to move to higher elevations or higher latitudes, many moving towards the Earth’s poles, with far-reaching consequences for ecosystems. The risk of species extinction increases with every degree of warming.  

In the ocean, rising temperatures increase the  risk of irreversible loss of marine and coastal ecosystems . Live coral reefs , for instance, have nearly halved in the past 150 years, and further warming threatens to destroy almost all remaining reefs.  

Overall, climate change affects the health of ecosystems , influencing shifts in the distribution of plants, viruses, animals, and even human settlements. This can create increased opportunities for animals to spread diseases and for viruses to spill over to humans. Human health can also be affected by reduced ecosystem services, such as the loss of food, medicine and livelihoods provided by nature.   

Why is biodiversity essential for limiting climate change?  

When human activities produce greenhouse gases, around half of the emissions remain in the atmosphere, while the other half is  absorbed by the land and ocean . These ecosystems – and the biodiversity they contain – are natural carbon sinks, providing so-called nature-based solutions to climate change.

Protecting, managing, and restoring forests , for example, offers roughly two-thirds of the total mitigation potential of all nature-based solutions. Despite massive and ongoing losses, forests still cover more than 30 per cent of the planet’s land.

Peatlands – wetlands such as marshes and swamps – cover only 3 per cent of the world’s land, but they store twice as much carbon as all the forests. Preserving and restoring peatlands means keeping them wet so the carbon doesn’t oxidize and float off into the atmosphere. 

Ocean habitats such as seagrasses and mangroves can also  sequester carbon dioxide from the atmosphere  at rates up to four times higher than terrestrial forests can. Their ability to capture and store carbon make mangroves highly valuable in the fight against climate change.

Conserving and restoring natural spaces , both on land and in the water, is essential for limiting carbon emissions and adapting to an already changing climate. About one-third of the greenhouse gas emissions reductions needed in the next decade could be achieved by improving nature’s ability to absorb emissions. 

Is the UN tackling climate and biodiversity together?  

Climate change and biodiversity loss (as well as pollution) are part of an interlinked triple planetary crisis the world is facing today. They need to be tackled together if we are to advance the Sustainable Development Goals and secure a viable future on this planet.

Governments deal with climate change and biodiversity through two different international agreements – the  UN Framework Convention on Climate Change  (UNFCCC) and the  UN Convention on Biological Diversity  (CBD), both established at the 1992 Rio Earth Summit.

Similar to the historic  Paris Agreement  made in 2015 under the UNFCCC, parties to the Biodiversity Convention in December 2022 adopted an agreement for nature, known as the  Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework , which succeeds the  Aichi Biodiversity Targets  adopted in 2010.

The framework includes wide-ranging steps to tackle the causes of biodiversity loss worldwide, including climate change and pollution.

“An ambitious and effective post-2020 global biodiversity framework, with clear targets and benchmarks, can put nature and people back on track,”  the UN Secretary-General said , adding that, “this framework should work in synergy with the Paris Agreement on climate change and other multilateral agreements on forests, desertification and oceans.”

In December 2022,  governments met in Montreal, Canada  to agree on the new framework to secure an ambitious and transformative global plan to set humanity on a path to living in harmony with nature.

“Delivering on the framework will contribute to the climate agenda, while full delivery of the Paris Agreement is needed to allow the framework to succeed,”  said Inger Andersen , the head of the UN Environment Programme. “We can’t work in isolation if we are to end the triple planetary crises.”

Watch our  interview with Elizabeth Mrema , the Executive Secretary of the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity.

Read the UN Secretary-General’s speech at the Countdown to COP15: Leaders Event for a Nature-Positive World in September 2022, and his remarks at the December 2022 Biodiversity Conference and Press Conference.  

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• Published: 02 May 2012

A global synthesis reveals biodiversity loss as a major driver of ecosystem change

• David U. Hooper 1 ,
• E. Carol Adair 2 , 3 ,
• Bradley J. Cardinale 4 ,
• Jarrett E. K. Byrnes 2 ,
• Bruce A. Hungate 5 ,
• Kristin L. Matulich 6 ,
• Andrew Gonzalez 7 ,
• J. Emmett Duffy 8 ,
• Lars Gamfeldt 9 &
• Mary I. O’Connor 2 , 10  

Nature volume  486 ,  pages 105–108 ( 2012 ) Cite this article

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• Biodiversity
• Ecosystem ecology

Evidence is mounting that extinctions are altering key processes important to the productivity and sustainability of Earth’s ecosystems 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 . Further species loss will accelerate change in ecosystem processes 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , but it is unclear how these effects compare to the direct effects of other forms of environmental change that are both driving diversity loss and altering ecosystem function. Here we use a suite of meta-analyses of published data to show that the effects of species loss on productivity and decomposition—two processes important in all ecosystems—are of comparable magnitude to the effects of many other global environmental changes. In experiments, intermediate levels of species loss (21–40%) reduced plant production by 5–10%, comparable to previously documented effects of ultraviolet radiation and climate warming. Higher levels of extinction (41–60%) had effects rivalling those of ozone, acidification, elevated CO 2 and nutrient pollution. At intermediate levels, species loss generally had equal or greater effects on decomposition than did elevated CO 2 and nitrogen addition. The identity of species lost also had a large effect on changes in productivity and decomposition, generating a wide range of plausible outcomes for extinction. Despite the need for more studies on interactive effects of diversity loss and environmental changes, our analyses clearly show that the ecosystem consequences of local species loss are as quantitatively significant as the direct effects of several global change stressors that have mobilized major international concern and remediation efforts 9 .

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Acknowledgements

We thank the authors of the original data sets, both published and unpublished, who shared data with us. We thank the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis (NCEAS) for funding the workshop “Biodiversity and the Functioning of Ecosystems: Translating Results from Model Experiments into Functional Reality”. Support for NCEAS comes from University of California Santa Barbara and the National Science Foundation. J.E.K.B., E.C.A. and M.I.O. had NCEAS post-doctoral fellowships, J.E.D. had support from NSF OCE-1031061; B.J.C. had support from NSF DEB-1046121; L.G. was supported by grant 621-2009-5457 from the Swedish Research Council VR; A.G. is supported by the Canada Research Chair Program and NSERC.

Author information

Authors and affiliations.

Department of Biology, Western Washington University, Bellingham, 98225-9160, Washington, USA

David U. Hooper

National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis, 735 State Street, Suite 300, Santa Barbara, California 93101, USA,

E. Carol Adair, Jarrett E. K. Byrnes & Mary I. O’Connor

Rubenstein School of Environment and Natural Resources, Aiken Center, University of Vermont, Burlington, 05405, Vermont, USA

E. Carol Adair

School of Natural Resources & Environment, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, 48109-1041, Michigan, USA

Bradley J. Cardinale

Department of Biological Sciences, Northern Arizona University, Flagstaff, 86011, Arizona, USA

Bruce A. Hungate

Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology, University of California, Irvine, 92697-2525, California, USA

Kristin L. Matulich

Department of Biology, McGill University, 1205 Avenue Docteur Penfield, Montréal, Québec H3A 1B1, Canada,

Andrew Gonzalez

Virginia Institute of Marine Science, College of William and Mary, Gloucester Point, 23062, Virginia, USA

J. Emmett Duffy

Department of Biological and Environmental Sciences, University of Gothenburg, Box 461, SE-405 30 Göteborg, Sweden,

Lars Gamfeldt

Department of Zoology, University of British Columbia, 2370-6270 University Boulevard, Vancouver, British Columbia V6T 1Z4, Canada,

Mary I. O’Connor

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Contributions

All authors contributed to the design of the study, data interpretation and manuscript editing; B.J.C. and K.L.M. developed the database of biodiversity and ecosystem functioning experiments; D.U.H., E.C.A., J.E.K.B., B.J.C. and K.L.M. collected additional data and performed statistical analyses. E.C.A., J.E.K.B., B.J.C., B.A.H. and D.U.H. drafted the figures and D.U.H. wrote the initial draft.

Corresponding author

Correspondence to David U. Hooper .

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Competing interests.

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Additional information

The biodiversity and ecosystemfunctioning database is deposited with the National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis ( http://knb.ecoinformatics.org/knb/metacat/nceas.984/nceas ).

Supplementary information

Supplementary information.

This file contains Supplementary Tables 1-3, Supplementary Figures 1-6, Supplementary Discussions on Productivity and Decomposition and additional references. (PDF 1165 kb)

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Hooper, D., Adair, E., Cardinale, B. et al. A global synthesis reveals biodiversity loss as a major driver of ecosystem change. Nature 486 , 105–108 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11118

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Received : 09 January 2012

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Published : 02 May 2012

Issue Date : 07 June 2012

DOI : https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11118

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Essay on Conservation of Biodiversity for Students and Children

500+ words essay on conservation of biodiversity.

Conservation of biodiversity is vital for maintaining the Earth’s environment and sustaining life on the planet. There are a number of ways in which the richness of biodiversity helps in maintaining the ecological system. Conservation of biodiversity is important for the survival of living beings on Earth. Hence, a lot of emphases is being given on the conservation of biodiversity these days.

The Extinction in Biodiversity

Due to human activities, numerous varieties of animals go extinct each year. Western Black Rhinoceros, Dodo, Tasmanian tiger, Golden Toad, Woolly Mammoth, Caribbean Monk Seal, Ivory-billed Woodpecker, and Japanese Sea Lion are some of the species of animals that have gone extinct.

Lemur, Mountain Gorilla, Vaquita, Sea Turtles, Amur Leopard, and Tiger are some of the species that are on the verge of extinction. Apart from these many species of plants and trees including Lepidodendron, Araucaria Mirabilis, Wood Cycad and Kokia Cookie have gone extinct and many species are endangered.

Need to Conserve Biodiversity

Earth is a beautiful planet which has given us many things which occur naturally. Natural resources, rivers, valleys , oceans, different species of animals and beautiful varieties of plants and trees are among some of these.

In today’s world, we are busy developing our surroundings and spoiling our beautiful environment. Today, we have exploited most of the things that were available abundantly in nature. Thus, there arises a need to conserve these natural things. Among other things, there is a serious need for the conservation of biodiversity.

Get the huge list of more than 500 Essay Topics and Ideas

Importance of Conservation of Biodiversity

Conservation of biodiversity is important for many reasons. Here are some of the main reasons to conserve biodiversity:

• Process of Food Chain: Different species of animals and plants serve as the source of food for other animals and living organisms. Thus, conserving biodiversity help to keep the food chain among the living organisms.
• Nutritional Needs: The decline in the variety of plants and animals would mean the decline in the variety of food we eat. So, this is likely to result in nutritional deficiencies.
• Cleaner Air: Plants and trees have a greater ability to purify the air and keep the atmosphere clean. As there is a decrease in the number and types of trees and plants, it impacts the quality of air in a negative way.
• Better Cultivation of Crops:   Fertility of soil is maintained by many insects, organisms and microorganisms work on different levels. So we have to maintain the level of microorganism which is better for the cultivation of crops.
• For Medical Reason s: For making different medicines many species of trees and plants are used so as to cure various diseases.

Methods to Conserve Biodiversity

Methods that can help in the conservation of biodiversity are

• Control Population: The greater the population the higher the needs which would result in further exploitation of flora and fauna and decline in biodiversity. For the conservation of biodiversity, we have to control the human population and allow other species of plants and animals to replenish on our planet.
• Control Pollution: The changing climate, deteriorating air quality and the growing amount of pollution on land and water bodies are leading to different types of diseases in many. It is essential to reduce the activities leading to pollution so as to conserve biodiversity.
• Reduce Deforestation: Due to deforestation, there is the loss of habitat. Due to this reason, wild animals are unable to survive in the new environment and die.
• Avoid Wastage: We need to understand that natural resources are not only essential for us but are also vital for the survival of other species. We must thus utilize only as much as we require them so that these remain available in abundance in nature for future use.
• Spread Awareness: Apart from this, one of the best methods to conserve biodiversity is by spreading awareness. The government can do so at a bigger level. While we can spread awareness by word of mouth and through social media.

Conservation of biodiversity is of utmost importance. We must all make efforts to conserve biodiversity rather than contributing towards its declination. Thus, the richness of biodiversity is essential for the survival of living beings on Earth.

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