The term “biodiversity” refers to the variety of life forms in a
habitat, whether it‟s a local environment or an entire planet.
Most of the species making up our planetary biodiversity
are still poorly studied or completely unknown; experts
estimate that there may be at least four times as many
complex species alive on our planet as the 1.9 million that
have already been discovered and named, possibly more.
Even as we are becoming aware of the massive
biodiversity of Earth, we are also in the midst of a
biodiversity crisis, with species going extinct at rates
rivaling those of the major mass extinctions of Earth‟s
history. Therefore, while the definition of the term
“biodiversity” is simple, it in fact encompasses some of
humanity‟s (and science‟s) biggest challenges.
There are a number of reasons why understanding and
preserving biological diversity is important. Above all, every
species is unique in its combination of evolutionary history
and ecological role, so taken together they are a global
resource – like a library preserving the heritage of life
itself.
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Intrinsic value
Some believe in the philosophical and ethical principle that
nonhuman living things have intrinsic value in and of
themselves, independent of their usefulness to humans.
From a conservation standpoint, this means that humans
have a responsibility to protect the right of other species to
exist on our planet. From a scientific standpoint, it means
that other species are worthy of study simply because their
status as living things makes them relevant.
Photo credit: David Spier, Bombycilla cedrorum and Acer saccharinum, CC BY-NC-SA (Retrieved and adapted from http://eol.org/info/aboutbiodiversity. Access on May 02nd, 2013)
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