Environmental Value Of Biodiversity Essay
VALUES OF THE BIODIVERSITY
Environmental value
The environmental value of biodiversity is found by examining each ecosystem process and identifying the ecosystem services that cause it. For example, in wetlands the vegetation captures water-carried sediment and the soil organisms break down a range of nutrients and pollutants washed into the area. These processes provide the ecosystem the help of purifying water. Wetlands also act as spawning and nursery grounds for some fish and provide a refuge for animals in times of drought.
Some ecosystem services are very easy to overlook until the underlying process is impaired. For instance, dry land salinity has emerged as a problem following sustained clearance of deep rooted perennial plants over
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Human activities such as: deforestation; bottom trawling in the oceans; the damming and dredging of streams, rivers, and lakes; and the draining and degradation of wetlands, estuaries, and mangroves are responsible.
Other threats to biodiversity and to ecosystems include: the over-harvesting of plant and animal species; the introduction of non-native species; and pollution. Many types of human-caused pollution are a threat—the release of excessive amounts of nitrates and phosphates from sewage and agricultural run-off; persistent organic pollutants that can concentrate in food webs (and in our own tissues) and adversely affect hormonal and reproductive function; pharmaceuticals used by people and in livestock production that are toxic to wildlife; acid rain; heavy metals; herbicides and pesticides; and plastics.
Still further threats come from: excessive ultraviolet radiation from depletion of the stratospheric ozone layer that can damage the DNA and proteins of land-based, freshwater, and marine organisms; war and conflict that can result in habitat destruction, over-hunting, and pollution; and climate
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