On our NUjij response platform, I asked what biodiversity is on Monday. We explain that in this article.
Biodiversiteit is het geheel van al het leven op aarde. Een ander woord voor biodiversiteit is soortenrijkdom.
De volledige soortenrijkdom van de aarde zijn alle soorten planten, dieren en andere levensvormen bij elkaar. Zo bestaan er tienduizenden soorten bomen en zelfs miljoenen soorten insecten.
De grootste soort op aarde is de blauwe vinvis, maar de meeste soorten zijn juist microscopisch klein. De mens is ook één soort, en dus onderdeel van de soortenrijkdom van het leven op aarde.
De definitie van biodiversiteit is nog iets ruimer dan alleen soortenrijkdom. Zo omvat biodiversiteit ook de genetische diversiteit binnen soorten. Hoe hoger die genetische diversiteit, hoe ‘gezonder’ een soort is. Bossen met veel genetische variatie in de bomen zijn bijvoorbeeld minder kwetsbaar voor plagen en ziekten.
Biodiversity also includes the interconnectedness of all forms of life. For example, corals cannot live without certain algae and lemon butterflies (the yellow butterflies you see mainly in spring) in the Netherlands depend on two specific trees: Sporkehout and Buckthorn. If those trees disappear, the butterfly will disappear, too.
Humans also ultimately depend on the afterlife. Often not so much of a specific species, but of all of those species as a whole. For example, if there is no life in the soil (such as worms, fungi, and woodlice), fields and meadows will become depleted and produce less and less food.
Large healthy ecosystems are also indispensable for maintaining a stable climate. They do this, for example, by capturing carbon dioxide. And also by absorbing water and evaporating it back. For example, the presence of forests is important for the distribution of precipitation on land, which in turn benefits agriculture.
If things really go wrong with biodiversity, there are really only losers (including humans). We know this from studies of dramatic events in Earth’s distant past. Species extinction then caused a chain reaction: more and more species became extinct. It takes millions of years to recover from these extinction waves.
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