Biological Diversity

Biological diversity refers to all of the different kinds of life on Earth. Also called biodiversity, biological diversity is often used to refer to the total number of different species on Earth. A collection of this biodiversity would include human beings, Bengal tigers, sugar maples, oyster mushrooms, bacteria, and the millions of other living organisms found on Earth.

It has been estimated that more than 50 million species of plants, animals and micro-organisms exist in the world. Out of these, about two million organisms have been identified so far. Our planet's requirement and services depend mainly on biological resources. Human society depends on biological resources, their diversity and the ecosystem that sustain them. Biological resources not only provide us nourishment, clothing, housing, fuel and medicine but also meet other requirements.

Loss of this biodiversity means we would not only lose rich and beautiful ecosystems but we might also lose plants and other organisms that could improve or enrich our lives. Already the tropical forests have provided humankind with food crops we enjoy daily such as tomatoes, peppers, corn, rice, coconut, banana, coffee, cocoa, cassava (tapioca), beans, and sweet potatoes, to name but a few. Tropical biodiversity has also provided us with many medicines used to treat such diseases as malaria. 

Maintenance of ecological balance, conservation of natural resources and prevention of soil erosion may be considered as the examples of indirect use of biodiversity. The responsible factors for the loss of biodiversity may be natural or artificial. The natural causes include drought, flood, storm, land slides, diseases earthquake etc. The artificial causes include grazing, urbanization, industrialization, scientific and educational research, road and dam construction all leading to destruction of habitat and over exploitation of plants and animals for commercial purposes.