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Biodiversity or biological diversity refers to a wide variety of life forms on earth, it is a unified term of species diversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity.
1 Species diversity Species diversity refers the number of different species that can be found in a particular region. This is a simple indicator of biodiversity.
2 Genetic diversity Genetic diversity refers to the total number of genetic characteristics in a species. As the genetic materials found in the nucleus determine the characteristic of an organisms. Therefore, the higher degree of genetic diversity, the more variety in the physical appearance of a species.
3 Ecosystem diversity Ecosystem diversity refers to the diversity of a place at the level of ecosystems. Different habitats have different abiotic factors such as light intensity, temperature, water abundance etc. Different types of species tend to choose the most suitable habitats with different physical settings.
Biologists estimated that there are 5 to 10 million types of living creatures live on the Earth. Although each species may have its unique living style, living things are interdependent for survival. The following figure shows the feeding relationship of different organisms: When the number of white fish decreases, the grey fish and blue fish will die soon because there is no supply of food. The loss of any kind of living things in the food chain can disturb the stable system in the nature. Humans are also dependent on other living things for the supply of resources for daily life, medicine etc. Therefore, the conservation of wildlife and their habitats is important.
In summary, the maintenance of biodiversity is important for Ecological stability and for the benefits of humans. Last but not the least, if we humans are considered to have the right to live on the Earth, we also have the responsibility to protect other living things to live here healthily!
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