Species Diversity

What “Species Diversity” Means

Species diversity refers to the variety of species present in a given area. It is not just about counting how many different kinds of organisms exist — it also concerns how abundant each species is and what types of species are found there. In short, the diversity of species can be measured through its richness, abundance, and types.

Some regions of the Earth are far richer in species than others. Areas that are exceptionally rich in species are called hotspots of diversity. These are regions where a large number of species, many of them found nowhere else, are concentrated in a relatively small space.

Ecosystem Diversity

Beyond species, diversity also operates at the level of ecosystems. Ecosystem diversity refers to the broad differences between ecosystem types, along with the diversity of habitats and the ecological processes occurring within each ecosystem type. In other words, it captures how different a forest, a grassland, a wetland, and a desert are from one another, and how the internal workings of each differ.

A key point here is that the boundaries of communities — associations of species — and of ecosystems are not rigidly defined. There is no sharp line where one ecosystem ends and another begins. This makes the demarcation of ecosystem boundaries difficult and complex.

Why Every Organism Matters

An ecosystem evolves and sustains itself not by accident, but because every organism, while extracting what it needs, also contributes something useful to other organisms. This mutual give-and-take is what keeps the system running. Humans, too, contribute to the sustenance of ecosystems, even if we rarely pause to think about how.

Species perform several essential functions within an ecosystem:

• They capture and store energy.
• They produce and decompose organic materials.
• They help cycle water and nutrients throughout the ecosystem.
• They fix atmospheric gases.
• They help regulate the climate.

These functions are vital for ecosystem functioning and for human survival. The more diverse an ecosystem is, the better the chances for its species to survive adversities and attacks, and consequently, the more productive the ecosystem tends to be. This is why the loss of species decreases the ability of the system to maintain itself.

There is a direct parallel here with genetics. Just as a species with high genetic diversity has a greater chance of adapting to environmental change, an ecosystem with high biodiversity is more likely to adapt to change as well. In other words, the more the variety of species in an ecosystem, the more stable the ecosystem is likely to be.

Economic Role of Biodiversity

For all humans, biodiversity is an important resource in day-to-day life. One crucial part of biodiversity is crop diversity, also called agro-biodiversity — the variety of crops and plant species used in agriculture. …