Mass biodiversity loss is one of the primary reasons I decided to pursue an environmental career. In my opinion, it’s one of the biggest problems humanity faces at a global scale over the next few decades, right up there with climate change. We’re at the point where many scientists believe we’re in the midst of Earth’s sixth mass extinction event. While knowing this is even happening is half the battle, I think there’s a tendency to over-report the problem and under-report the solutions, which can lead to a sense of dread and apathy. The good news is that there’s plenty of work being done all over the world to counteract biodiversity loss, and the better news is that everyone can help. Perhaps I’m getting ahead of myself though, and we should start off by clearly defining the problem.
Biodiversity refers to the variety of species that can be found in a given ecosystem. Biodiversity loss is simply a decrease in that assortment of life within an ecosystem. This can occur via a number of factors, many of which are caused by humans nowadays. These include habitat destruction, introduction of invasive species, pollution, and climate change.
Sadly, this biodiversity loss is occurring planet-wide at an alarming rate. To put the size of the problem into perspective, we can take a look at the IUCN Red List, which is one of humanity’s most thorough efforts to track the status of Earth’s biodiversity. Of the 128,500 species on the Red List, 35,500 species, or over 27% of them, are considered as being threatened with going extinct. This is an increase of 6% from the 21% that were threatened in 2010.
To me, this is particularly alarming because ecosystems are incredibly dynamic. One seemingly small change can have cascading impacts across the entire food web. For instance, if woodpeckers were removed from a particular environment they were native to, the populations of its predators might decrease in size, and the populations of its prey might increase. These decreases and increases in populations would then have further impacts on the rest of the food web and other resources in the ecosystem. Furthermore, woodpecker activity, such as the creation of cavities in trees that act as homes for other birds and small mammals, would cease, dramatically altering the lifestyles of those animals and potentially driving them out of the ecosystem altogether. It’s important to remember that even if a change to an ecosystem doesn’t directly impact an organism, there is still a chance that it indirectly affects them due to the heavily interconnected and innumerable processes that occur in the environment. So as more species face extinction, other species who share the same ecosystems may be at risk as well.
The good news is that because an overwhelming majority of this biodiversity loss is caused by human activities, we can also work to revert the damage done. The better news is that in some cases, simply reintroducing a species that was lost from an environment can go a long way in restoring that area’s biodiversity, largely due to that dynamic nature of ecosystems we just discussed. One of the most widely shared examples of this (and for good reason) is the reintroduction of wolves to Yellowstone National Park after they had been absent for 70 years. Here is a link to a short video describing the reintroduction of the wolves, and I’d encourage you to watch it before you continue reading. If you can’t watch it now, to summarize, the returning wolves reduced the overwhelmingly large deer population in certain parts of the park, which allowed shrubs and trees to grow in just a handful of years because the deer were no longer overgrazing in those areas. Those new trees and shrubs attracted birds and beavers, which in turn helped the populations of more and more native species in a cascading manner to the point that the shapes of the rivers in the area were changed for the better, all thanks to the wolves being reintroduced.
Now obviously most of us don’t have the ability to reintroduce wolves back into their native habitats, but there’s still so much we can do to help promote biodiversity. Here at the SLA we carry out lots of different conservation activities. We remove invasive plants to promote the growth of native plants, which in turn can act as food and shelter for other native species. We build birdhouses to provide habitats for birds who may have lost some of their natural habitats due to land clearing for development. We are planning to create a pollinator garden full of native plants to help out the populations of important native insects and birds. We monitor the quality of the water in Squam Lake to ensure that any species who live in or use the lake can thrive. All of these things help promote the biodiversity of the Squam Lakes region.
Many of these activities can be done in your own backyard, so you too have the power to help improve the biodiversity of your own community. I encourage you to learn about the native species in your area, particularly those whose populations might be hurting, and try to think about ways you can help. Small actions like planting native plants in your backyard, putting out a birdfeeder in the winter, volunteering at a local conservation organization, or even just cutting down your trash production, water use, and greenhouse gas emissions can all go a very long way to help preserve biodiversity.
So why is this important? To me, there are a number of reasons. Healthy, biodiverse ecosystems are what allow humans to thrive thanks to the resources they provide for food, shelter, medicines, technology, and so much more. They also power naturally occurring processes that we heavily rely on, such as water filtering, flood prevention, pollination of plants, and climate stability. There are the cultural benefits of biodiversity too. Just think about all the animals and plants found in songs, movies, books, or really any art medium you can think of. Heck, over half the NFL teams have an animal as their mascot. The point is, a biodiverse planet provides countless benefits to humanity and to the stability of nature itself, and we ought to try to protect the species in our communities for the betterment of our own lives and the lives of those to come.
Daniel did his homework before joining the LRCC program back in November—in order to get better acquainted with working with tools, he built a bench! You can learn more about Daniel here.