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What is biodiversity? And how is climate change affecting it? Finally, what can we do to reduce our carbon footprint and reduce the effects of human-caused climate change? This exercise will take you through these 3 questions and bring out some thoughts on them.  

Biodiversity is the variety of species that make up the sum of all life. From animals to plants, insects and bacteria.  

Over time, species come into being and go extinct naturally. However, due to human interference, species are going extinct at a much faster rate than they usually would.  

From deforestation, CO2 emissions and an increase in the likelihood of natural disasters – many species and their habitats are placed under threat of momentous change. This change is significant such that many species cannot adapt quickly enough to react to this change, resulting in their extinction. 

To understand how biodiversity is decreasing, let us consider the different ‘facets’ of biodiversity. There are three different facets: 

Taxonomic diversity 

Phylogenetic diversity 

Functional diversity 

Taxonomic diversity: the form of diversity that most people are aware of, how rich and abundant of species an ecosystem is. That is, how many distinct species and how many organisms of those varied species there are in an ecosystem.

Phylogenetic diversity: this diversity concerns the background of species, where species come from. This measures how many different evolutionary lineages there are among the distinct species in an ecosystem. 

Functional diversity: this measures how species interact with their resources and ecosystem. Functional diversity talks about the different growth strategies and resource usage of distinct species. 

All three of these different attributes of biodiversity are important in figuring out how human interference is affecting biodiversity. Let us see if we can think of ways that climate change affects phylogenetic and functional diversity: 

Phylogenetic diversity is affected by human interference as increasing extinction from climate change results in entire evolutionary lineages ending. The development of monoculture tree farms for profit (where there is only one type of tree in an ecosystem) results in a lack of different and distinct evolutionary lineages present in an ecosystem.  

Functional diversity is affected by human interference as climate change makes it harder for organisms to adapt to new ways of gaining resources to survive. For example, if ice caps are melting, it is difficult for polar bears to get the shelter needed to survive. From there, it becomes difficult to survive, let alone grow the population.  

The continual decrease in biodiversity is also disastrous for us. Everything is connected in biology; we rely upon a biodiverse world to live. Our own ways of gaining shelter, of surviving and living, depend upon these factors. It is important then, to try to preserve biodiversity.  

How do we do so?

One way to begin is to appreciate and understand nature – here is an article which promotes an attitude of connecting with nature within the present climate crisis: 

Let’s all be naturalists – The Oxford Scientist (oxsci.org) 

Consider ways in which you connect with nature daily! From just walking in the park, to engaging in community activities to support biodiversity, anything at all is a useful start! 

From appreciation and understanding, action can come!
Here is a clever way to visualise it: 

A final thing to do is, after this summer school – head outside and enjoy the summer air.
The weather is warm, and the fields are filled with flowers!
Consider this poem by William Wordsworth: 

I wandered lonely as a cloud 
That floats on high o’er vales and hills, 
When all at once I saw a crowd, 
A host, of golden daffodils; 
Beside the lake, beneath the trees, 
Fluttering and dancing in the breeze.

 

Continuous as the stars that shine 
And twinkle on the milky way, 
They stretched in never-ending line 
Along the margin of a bay: 
Ten thousand saw I at a glance, 
Tossing their heads in sprightly dance.

 

The waves beside them danced; but they 
Out-did the sparkling waves in glee: 
A poet could not but be gay, 
In such a jocund company: 
I gazed—and gazed—but little thought 
What wealth the show to me had brought:

 

For oft, when on my couch I lie 
In vacant or in pensive mood, 
They flash upon that inward eye 
Which is the bliss of solitude; 
And then my heart with pleasure fills, 
And dances with the daffodils. 

I hope this inspires you to connect more with nature, study nature more and find ways to help reduce the negative human impact on the planet!