Principles of Ecology

Biodiversity is defined as the variety of life. It is the variety between all species of animals, micro-organisms, plants and the ecosystems in which they thrive to live in and interact with one another (WWF, 2015).
Biodiversity forms the foundation of the vast array of ecosystem services that critically contribute to each humans well-being and is extremely important in human-managed as well as natural ecosystems. It is affected in many aspects, especially in what decisions that humans make which influence the wellbeing of both themselves and species (Greenfacts, 2016).

 

Biodiversity can be looked at from three different levels of biological organisation,  the most important include; Genetic diversity, species diversity and ecological diversity.

 

Genetic Diversity – genetic diversity is the amount of variation in a genetic material including all members of a population. It affects a populations ability to adapt to the changing environments and also may affect species in regards to survival of natural selection (Academy and Biology 2012).

Species Diversity – species diversity refers to the diversity within the same level of species. It will count the number of unique species within one area and will also count how equal are the abundances of each species. These are done through both species richness and species evenness (Academy and Biology 2012).

Ecological Diversity – ecological diversity is the interaction between living organisms and physical environments within a particular ecosystem e.g. abiotic or biotic components that interact is what form the ecosystem such as, animals and water (Gour, 2013).

 

Why is biodiversity so important?

It is important for all species survival and the need for a variety of habitats is ongoing and is needed for many different species because each individual is adapted to a certain set of environmental conditions and surroundings.
All species depend on one another in order to survive, which means that if one of them becomes extinct, the one relying on the other also might go extinct. Individual traits and characteristics can allow certain species to adapt to various environmental changes, however many species cannot adapt if their habitat or food chains are affected (Agency and Canada, 2009).

Due to the conservation of biodiversity being extremely important for species, certain methods are put in place to maintain the species themselves and also their surroundings.

They may include;

 

Breeding programmes; these are commonly used within zoos and are managed accordingly by providing positive benefits for species conservation if used appropriately. These programmes can also act as platform for zoologists and others that conduct researched which is designed to enhance the understanding of biology of species (WWF, 2015).

 

Relocation; relocation is when species are removed from their natural habitat and relocated to a different area where the probability of their future persistence may be even higher (Olden et al., 2010).

 

Wildlife crossings are types of crossing interventions either passing under or over in order for the successful transportation of species across specific areas, managements are put in place to ensure that species are able to cross over public areas such as roads or pavements (usda forest, 2015)