Biodiversity

1. Biodiversity

2. What is it? • Biological diversity - or biodiversity - is the term given to the ____of life on Earth. • The biodiversity we see today is the result of billions of years of ____. • It forms the web of life of which we are we so fully ______.

4. Cont. • This diversity is often understood in terms of the wide variety of plants, animals and microorganisms. So far, about 1.75 million species have been _____, of about 14 million estimated on earth. • Biodiversity also includes ___ differences ___ each species • Yet another aspect of biodiversity is the variety of ______ - In each ecosystem, living creatures, including humans, form a community, interacting with one another and the non-living environment.

6. Biodiversity “hot spots” • The world's most remarkable places are also the most threatened. • These are the Hotspots: the ___and most ___reservoirs of plant and animal life on Earth.

7. Hot spots cont. • Specifically: A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with a significant ____of biodiversity that is under ___from humans. • To qualify as a biodiversity hotspot, a region must meet two strict criteria: it must contain at least ___% or 1,500 species of _____, vascular plants, and it has to have ____at least 70% of its primary vegetation. • Around the world, 25 areas qualify under this definition, with nine other possible candidates. These sites ___nearly ___% of the world's plant, bird, mammal, reptile, and amphibian species, with a very high share of native species.

9. Value of biodiversity • Biodiversity provides a large number of goods and services that sustain our lives. • ___biodiversity is in our ____. Biological resources are the pillars upon which we build our societies. • Nature's products support such diverse industries as agriculture, cosmetics, pharmaceuticals, pulp and paper, horticulture, construction and waste treatment.

10. Goods and Services for humans provided by ecosystems include: • Provision of food, fuel and fiber for clothing • Provision of shelter and building materials • _____of air and water • Detoxification and decomposition of wastes • _____and moderation of the Earth's climate • Reduction in severity of floods, droughts, temperature extremes and the forces of wind

11. Cont. • Creation and renewal of soil fertility, including nutrient cycling • ______of plants, including many crops • Control of pests and _____ • Maintenance of genetic resources as important inputs to ___varieties and _____breeds, ___, and other products • Cultural and aesthetic benefits • ______to _____to change

12. $$$ Economic Values $$$$$ • Example 1: • A network of marine protected areas ( with the aim of conserving 20%-30% of the seas and oceans) could cost between $5bn and $19bn, but help to secure $70 billion to $80 billion worth of fish catches, and provide marine ecosystem services valued at $4.5 to $6.7 trillion annually. • Example 2: • The annual economic median value of fisheries supported by mangrove habitats in the Gulf of California has been estimated at $37,500 per hectare of mangrove fringe. The value of mangroves as coastal protection may be as much as $300,000 per kilometre of coastline.

13. $$$ Economic Values $$$$$ Example 3: Nature-based tourism in Africa generates approximately the same amount of revenue as farming, forestry and fisheries combined. Example 4: The national parks of Canada store 4.43 gigatonnes (billion metric tonnes) of carbon, a service worth between $11bn and $2.2 trillion depending on the price of carbon in the market. The protected areas of Mexico store 2.45 gigatonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent – more than five years of Mexico’s carbon dioxide emissions in 2004, and valued at $12.2 billion.

14. Loss - Why we are losing biodiversity? • Species have been disappearing at up to ____ times the natural rate, and this is predicted to rise dramatically. • While the loss of individual species catches our attention, it is the ______, ______, and outright ___of forests, wetlands, coral reefs, and other ecosystems that poses the gravest threat to biological diversity.

15. Forests are home to much of the known terrestrial biodiversity, but about __% of the Earth's original forests are gone, cleared mostly during the past century. Up to __% of coral reefs - among the richest ecosystems - have been destroyed, and one third of the remainder face collapse over the next 10 to 20 years. Coastal mangroves, a vital nursery habitat for countless species, are also vulnerable, with half already gone.

16. Cont. • The loss of biodiversity often _______the _______ of ecosystems, thereby shrinking nature's basket of goods and services, from which we constantly draw. • It destabilizes ecosystems, and _____their ability to deal with natural ______such as floods, droughts, and hurricanes, and with human-caused stresses, such as pollution and climate change. • Already, we are ___huge sums in response to ___and ___damage made worse by deforestation; such damage is expected to increase due to global warming.

17. The reduction in biodiversity also hurts us in other ways: Our cultural identity is deeply rooted in our biological environment. • Plants and animals are symbols of our world, preserved in flags, sculptures, and other images that define us and our societies.

18. Taking Action: • _____and monitoring the important components of biological diversity that need to be conserved and used sustainably • Establishing ______areas to ____biological diversity • Rehabilitating and _____ ________ecosystems and promoting the recovery of threatened species

19. Cont. • Promoting public ________ • ________people and raising awareness about the _________of biological diversity and the need to conserve it • ______on how each country is meeting its biodiversity goals.