Biological diversity as the most important factor in sustainable development. Species, role, decline and protection of biological diversity

The variety of species in nature, its causes. The influence of human activities on the diversity of species. Biological progress and regression

Biological diversity

Biodiversity is a concept that denotes all the diversity of life on Earth and all existing natural systems. The biodiversity we see today is a product of evolution over billions of years, driven by natural processes and increasingly by human influence. It represents the fabric of Life, part of which we are and on which we completely depend.

It is said that there are many more species of life on Earth than there are stars in the sky. To date, about 1.7 million species of plants, animals and microorganisms have been identified and named. We are one of those species too. The exact number of species living on Earth is still not known. Their number ranges from 5 to 100 million!

Biodiversity is an invaluable global asset for present and future generations. But today the number of threats to the gene pool, species and ecosystems is greater than ever before. As a result of human activities, ecosystems are degraded, species are dying, or their numbers are declining at an alarming rate to levels of nonviability. This loss of biodiversity undermines the very foundation of Life on Earth and is truly a global tragedy.

According to various sources, from 100 to 200 species become endangered every 24 hours! They disappear forever! Their disappearance in most cases goes unnoticed, since only a small part of them have been identified. Live species were disappearing at a rate of 50 to 100 times their natural rate, and it is expected to increase significantly more. Based on current trends, an estimated 34,000 plant species and 5,200 animal species (including one eighth! Of bird species) are at risk of extinction. Humanity will certainly suffer (and already suffer) from such losses, and not only because the world will become poorer without polar bears, tigers and rhinos. Depletion of the world's biological heritage will limit the emergence of new useful products... Only a small proportion of plant and animal species have been studied for public utility. Only 5,000 of the approximately 265,000 plant species are cultivated for food. Even the smallest species can play crucial role in the ecosystems to which they belong. People just have no idea what they are neglecting. Natural wealth land is not only a variety of species, but also genetic codes that ensure each Living being traits that allow him to survive and develop. These genes can be used to develop drugs and expand the range of foods. More than half of all are obtained from plants medicines... According to UNEP, more than 60% of the world's people are directly dependent on plants from which to obtain medicines. In China, for example, more than 5,000 of the 30,000 identified domestic plant species are used for medical purposes. More than 40% of US prescriptions contain one or more drugs derived from wild species(fungi, bacteria, plants and animals). Besides medicinal, wild plant and animal species also have other high commercial value. They are very important to the industry as sources of tannin, rubber, resin, oils and other commercially valuable components. The potential for new industrial products from unknown or poorly known plant and animal species is enormous. Such products may even contain hydrocarbons that could replace oil as a source of energy. For example, a tree that only grows in northern Brazil produces about 20 liters of sap every 6 months. This juice can be used as fuel for engines. Brazil also produces methane from grain, which they then sell for use in machines. The production and use of methane saves the country $ 6 million in foreign currency each year. Loss of biodiversity reduces the productivity of ecosystems, thus reducing the natural basket of goods and services from which we constantly draw. It destabilizes ecosystems and reduces their ability to withstand various natural disasters... We are spending huge amounts of money to repair damage from hurricanes and floods, which are on the increase as a result of deforestation and global warming. Losing diversity, we lose cultural identity, which is rooted in the biological environment around us. Plants and animals are our symbols, their image exists on flags, in sculptures and other images of us and our society. We draw inspiration from admiring the beauty and power of nature. The disappearance of biodiversity is irreversible in the present conditions, and with our dependence on agricultural crops, medicines and other biological resources, it poses a threat to our well-being.

Causes of biodiversity loss

The predominant causes of loss of biodiversity and degradation of biological resources (and simply LIFE on Earth) are large-scale deforestation and burning of forests, destruction of coral reefs, uncontrolled fishing, excessive destruction of plants and animals, illegal trade in species wild fauna and flora, use of pesticides, drainage of marshes, air pollution, use of corners untouched nature for agricultural needs and the construction of cities.

Forests are inhabited by most of the known terrestrial species however, 45% of the Earth's natural forests have disappeared, mostly deforested over the past century. Despite all efforts, the world's forest area is rapidly declining. Up to 10% of coral reefs - one of the richest ecosystems - have been destroyed, and 1/3 of the rest will die in the next 10-20 years! Coastal Mangroves - Vital habitat habitat for the young of many animal species is also under threat, and half of them have already disappeared. Ozone depletion leads to penetration more ultraviolet rays to the surface of the Earth, where they destroy living tissue. Global warming is changing the habitats and distribution of species. Many will die if promoted average annual temperature on the ground.

How the Convention came about

Back in November 1988, the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP) organized an Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on Biological Diversity to study the need to develop international convention on biological diversity. In May 1989, it established an Ad Hoc Working Group on Technical and Legal Issues to prepare an international legal instrument for conservation and sustainable use. biological diversity.

Since February 1991 Special working group became known as the Intergovernmental Negotiating Committee. The result of the committee's work was the convening of the Conference on the Agreement on the Text of the Convention on Biological Diversity on 22 May 1992 in Nairobi, Kenya. The Convention on Biological Diversity was signed on June 5 by the leaders of 150 nations at the historic 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro.

Introduction

The diversity of life has long been a subject of study. The first systems of living nature, known, for example, from the works of Aristotle (384-322 BC), already refer to the analysis of this phenomenon. The scientific and methodological basis for the description of biodiversity was created by K. Liney for his "System of Nature". And in the future, there was an accumulation of knowledge.

And in the last decade, the term "biodiversity" has become extraordinarily popular. Since the signing of the Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992 by many states, this word has been constantly resounded in government decisions, documents of state and public organizations, in mass media. Scientific research proved that a necessary condition for the normal functioning of ecosystems and the biosphere as a whole is enough level natural diversity on our planet. At present, biological diversity is considered as the main parameter characterizing the state of supraorganismic systems. In a number of countries, it is the characteristic of biological diversity that serves as the basis for the environmental policy of the state, which seeks to preserve its biological resources to ensure sustainable economic development.

Biodiversity conservation is discussed at the global, national and regional levels. However, the meaning of this word is not understood correctly by everyone. Why biodiversity is given such attention, what role it plays in the lives of people and the planet, how it changes, what threatens it and what needs to be done to preserve it - my work is devoted to the answers to these questions.

The aim of the work was to study methods and assessments of biodiversity

In the course of the work, the following tasks were set:

1) consider the concept of "biodiversity";

2) identify the features of biodiversity;

3) explore methods and assessments of biodiversity.

The object of the study was biological diversity as a variety of natural ecosystems on the globe.

The subject of study was state of the art biological diversity.

biological environmental policy

Biological diversity

Biodiversity concept

The phrase "biological diversity", as noted by N.V. Lebedev and D.A. Krivolutsky, first used by G. Bates in 1892 in famous work"Naturalist in the Amazon," when he described his impressions of meeting seven hundred species of butterflies during an hour-long excursion. The term "biodiversity" came into wide scientific use in 1972 after the Stockholm UN Conference on the Environment, when ecologists were able to convince political leaders countries of the world community that the protection of wildlife is a priority task for any country.

Biological diversity - the totality of all biological species and biotic communities formed and emerging in different environments habitat (terrestrial, soil, marine, freshwater). This is the basis for maintaining the life-supporting functions of the biosphere and human existence. National and global problems biodiversity conservation cannot be realized without basic research in this area. Russia with its vast territory, which preserves the main diversity of ecosystems and species diversity Northern Eurasia, needs the development of social research aimed at inventory, assessment of the state of biodiversity, the development of its monitoring system, as well as the development of principles and methods for the conservation of natural biosystems.

As defined by the World Fund wildlife biodiversity is “all the diversity of life on earth, millions of species of plants, animals, microorganisms with their sets of genes and complex ecosystems that form wildlife". With such a broad understanding of biodiversity, it is advisable to structure it in accordance with the levels of organization of living matter: population, species, community (a set of organisms of one taxonomic group in homogeneous conditions), biocenosis (a set of communities; biocenosis and environmental conditions are an ecosystem), territorial units of a higher rank - landscape, region, biosphere.

The biological diversity of the biosphere includes the diversity of all types of living beings inhabiting the biosphere, the diversity of genes that form the gene pool of any population of each species, as well as the diversity of biosphere ecosystems in different natural areas... The amazing variety of life on Earth is not just the result of the adaptation of each species to specific environmental conditions, but also the most important mechanism for ensuring the stability of the biosphere. Only a few species in the ecosystem have significant numbers, high biomass and productivity. Such species are called dominant. Rare or scarce species have low numbers and biomass. As a rule, dominant species are responsible for the main flow of energy and are the main habitat formers, strongly influencing the living conditions of other species. Small species constitute, as it were, a reserve, and when different external conditions they can become part of the dominant species or take their place. Rare species mainly create species diversity... When characterizing diversity, such indicators as species richness and even distribution of individuals are taken into account. Species richness is expressed by the ratio of the total number of species to the total number of individuals or to a unit area. For example, in two communities with equal conditions inhabited by 100 individuals. But in the first, these 100 individuals are distributed among ten species, and in the second, among three species. In the given example, the first community has a richer species diversity than the second. Suppose that both the first and the second community have 100 individuals and 10 species. But in the first community, individuals between species are distributed by 10 in each, and in the second - one species has 82 individuals, and the rest by 2. As in the first example, the first community will have a greater evenness of distribution of individuals than the second.

The total number of currently known species is about 2.5 million, moreover, almost 1.5 million of them are insects, another 300 thousand are flowering plants. All other animals are about the same as flowering plants. A little more than 30 thousand algae are known, fungi - about 70 thousand, bacteria - less than 6 thousand, viruses - about a thousand. Mammals - no more than 4 thousand, fish - 40 thousand, birds - 8400, amphibians - 4000, reptiles - 8000, molluscs - 130,000, protozoa - 36,000, various worms - 35,000 species.

About 80% of biodiversity is land species (land-air and soil environments life) and only 20% - species aquatic environment life, which is quite understandable: the variety of environmental conditions in water bodies is lower than on land. 74% of biological diversity is associated with tropical belt... 24% - from temperate latitudes and only 2% - with polar regions.

Since tropical forests are disappearing catastrophically quickly under the onslaught of plantations of hevea, bananas and other highly profitable tropical crops, as well as sources valuable wood, most of the biological diversity of these ecosystems may die without receiving scientific names. This is a depressing prospect, and so far the efforts of the world environmental community have not yielded any tangible result for the conservation of rainforest... The lack of complete collections also does not allow us to reliably judge the number of species inhabiting marine environments, which have become "... a kind of border of our knowledge of biological diversity." V last years it is in marine environments that completely new groups of animals are found.

To date, the planet's biodiversity has not been fully identified. According to forecasts, the total number of species of organisms living on Earth is at least 5 million (and according to some forecasts - 15, 30 and even 150 million). The least studied are the following systematic groups: viruses, bacteria, nematodes, crustaceans, unicellular, algae. Molluscs, fungi, arachnids and insects are also insufficiently studied. Only vascular plants, mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians have been well studied.

Microbiologists have learned to identify fewer than 4,000 types of bacteria, but studies on the analysis of bacterial DNA, carried out in Norway, have shown that more than 4,000 species of bacteria live in 1 g of soil. The same high diversity of bacteria is predicted in samples of marine sediments. The number of bacterial species that are not described is in the millions.

The number of species of living organisms inhabiting marine environments has not been fully identified. " Marine environment has become a kind of border of our knowledge about biological diversity ”. New groups of marine animals of high taxonomic rank are constantly being identified. Communities are not known to science organisms in recent years have been identified in the canopy of tropical forests (insects), in geothermal oases deep sea(bacteria and animals), in the depths of the earth (bacteria at a depth of about 3 km).

The number of species described is indicated by the filled parts of the columns.

The biological diversity of the planet includes intraspecific genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Genetic diversity is due to a variety of traits and properties in individuals of one species, an example is the many varieties of herbaceous bell - more than 300 species and subspecies of woodpecker - about 210 (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Genetic diversity of bellflower and woodpecker

Species diversity consists in the variety of species of animals, plants, fungi, lichens and bacteria. According to the results of research by biologists, published in the journal PLoS Biology for 2011, the number of described living organisms on the planet is approximately 1.7 million, and the total number of species is estimated at approximately 8.7 million. It is noted that 86% have yet to be discovered. land dwellers and 91% of ocean dwellers. According to biologists for full description unknown species will take at least 480 years enhanced from (c) followings. Thus, the total number of species on the planet will be unknown for a long time. The biological diversity of ecosystems depends on natural and climatic conditions, ecosystems are distinguished in structure and functions, in scale from microbiogeocenosis to biosphere (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Biological diversity of natural terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems

Biodiversity is the planet's main natural resource that enables sustainable development and has important ecological, social, aesthetic and economic importance... Our planet can be imagined as a complex multicellular organism, which, through biological diversity, supports the self-organization of the biosphere, which is expressed in its restoration, resistance to negative natural and anthropogenic influences. Biodiversity allows you to regulate water streams, control the process of erosion, form soil, perform climate-forming functions and much more.

Genetic intraspecific, species and diversity of ecosystems are interconnected. Genetic diversity provides species diversity, the diversity of natural ecosystems and landscapes creates conditions for the formation of new species, and an increase in species diversity increases the overall gene pool of the planet's biosphere. Therefore, everyone certain kind contributes to biological diversity and cannot be without (c) useful or harmful. Each individual species will perform certain functions in any ecological system, and the loss of any animal or plant leads to an imbalance in the ecosystem. And the more species die out for an unnatural reason, the greater the imbalance. This can be confirmed by the words of the Russian scientist Nikolai Viktorovich Levashov, that "... the ecological system is nothing more than a balance between all forms and types of living organisms and their habitat ...". One cannot but agree with these words.

The distribution of species over the planet's surface is uneven, and their biological diversity in natural ecosystems is greatest in rainfall rainforest occupying 7% of the planet's surface and containing up to 70-80% of all animals and plants known to science. This is not surprising, since tropical forests are home to many plants, which provide a huge number of ecological niches and, as a result, a high species diversity. On initial stages formation ecological system planets and before today there was and is a natural process of the emergence and disappearance of species. The extinction of some species was compensated by the appearance of new species. This process was carried out without human intervention, very long time... This fact is confirmed by the fact that in different geological epochs there was a process of extinction and appearance of species, which we can judge by the found fossils, prints and traces of life (Fig. 3).

Fig. 3 Fossils of ammonites and shells bivalve molluscs that lived on the planet about 150 million years ago, in the Jurassic period

However, currently under the influence human factors there is a reduction in biological diversity. This became especially noticeable in the twentieth century, when, under the influence of human activity, the rate of extinction of species exceeded natural, which led to the destruction of the genetic potential of the biosphere of our planet. The main reasons for the decline in the planet's biodiversity can be considered hunting and fishing, forest fires (up to 90% of fires happen through human fault), destruction and change of habitats (construction of roads, power lines, without (c) decent construction of residential complexes, deforestation, etc.) , chemical pollution of the components of nature, introduction of alien species into unusual ecosystems, selective use natural resources, the introduction of GMO crops in Agriculture(with insect pollination, genetically modified plants spread, which leads to the displacement of natural species plants from the ecosystem) and many other reasons. In confirmation of the above reasons, one can cite some facts of violations of natural ecosystems, of which, unfortunately, there are a huge number. So, on April 20, 2010 in the Gulf of Mexico, there was a major man-made disaster caused by an explosion on the Deepwater Horizon oil platform at the Macondo field (USA). As a result of this accident, in 152 days, about 5 million barrels of oil spilled into the Gulf of Mexico, as a result of which an oil slick with a total area of ​​75 thousand square kilometers was formed (Fig. 4). This is, according to the most conservative estimates, how much actually spilled out is unknown.

The ecological consequences for the ecosystem of the bay and coastal areas are difficult to assess, since oil pollution disrupts natural processes, changes the habitat of all types of living organisms and accumulates in biomass. Oil products have a long decay period and quickly enough cover the water surface with a layer of oil film, which prevents the access of air and light. As of November 2, 2010, 6,814 dead animals were collected as a result of the accident. But these are only the first losses, how many animals and plant organisms have died and will die when toxic substances will end up in food chains - unknown. It is also unknown how such a man-made disaster will affect other regions of the planet. The natural ecosystem of the Gulf of Mexico and its coasts is capable of self-recovery, but this process can drag on for many years.

Another reason for the decline in biological diversity is deforestation for the construction of roads, housing, agricultural land, etc. The construction of the Moscow - St. Petersburg highway through the Khimki forest can be cited as a confirmation fact. Khimki forest was the largest undivided natural complex, which is part of the forest-park protective belt of Moscow and the Moscow region, and allowed to preserve high biological diversity (Fig. 5). In addition, it served as the most important regulator of purity atmospheric air, a recreational natural complex for more than half a million residents of the nearby settlements able to provide a favorable living environment.

Fig. 5 Khimki forest before the construction of the high-speed road

As a result of the construction of a high-speed highway, the Khimki forest park suffered irreparable environmental damage, resulting in the destruction of the only corridor running along the floodplain of the river. Klyazma and connecting the Khimki forest with neighboring forests (Fig. 6).

Rice. 6 Construction of a high-speed road through the Khimki forest

The migration routes of such animals as elk, wild boar, badger and other organisms have been disrupted, which will eventually lead to their disappearance from the Khimki forest. The construction of the road further led to fragmentation woodland, which will further increase the adverse edge effects on natural ecosystems (chemical pollution, exposure to acoustic noise, decay of forest walls adjacent to the highway, etc.) (Fig. 7). Unfortunately, there are a huge number of such examples across the country and around the world, and all this together gives irreparable environmental damage to biological diversity.

The fact of biodiversity reduction is also confirmed by (c) the results, which can be found in the works and. According to a WWF report, the world's total biodiversity has declined by about 28% since 1970. Considering that a huge number of living organisms have not yet been described and the fact that in the assessment of biodiversity only known species, it can be assumed that the decline in biodiversity occurs mainly at the regional level. However, if a person continues to develop in a technocratic and consumer way and does not take real action to change the situation, then there is a real threat to global biodiversity, and, as a consequence, the possible death of civilization. A decrease in the diversity of life leads to a decrease in the maintenance of the functions of the biosphere in its natural state. Ignorance and denial of the laws of nature often leads to the false belief that the loss of one species of animal or plant in nature is interchangeable. Yes, this is so if it is caused by the natural course of the evolution of living matter. However, today "reasonable" human activity began to prevail. I would like to recall one of the environmental laws of the American ecologist Barry Commoner: "Everything is connected with everything." The law shows the integrity of the ecological system of the living organisms and habitat that form it. I would like to finish my little reflection with the words of the Bulgarian aphorist Veselin Georgiev: "Take care of nature in yourself, and not yourself in nature."

BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

What is biodiversity? Why is it important? And why should we support him? In its most general sense, biological diversity refers to the “diversity of life”. This concept covers genetic diversity different types and higher taxonomic units (families, classes, types, etc.), as well as a variety of habitats and ecosystems. Since “biological diversity” is too broad a concept, there is no strict definition; it all depends on what specific area it is used in. In practice, biological diversity refers primarily to the diversity of species.

Biodiversity means much more than just having different forms life. It not only determined the directions of applied research, but also acquired the status of a special assessment: it is good when there is biological diversity, and it is necessary to support it in every possible way, since the lack of diversity is bad. In nature conservation measures, priority is now given not so much to the preservation of individual (typical) species as to the preservation of the entire diversity of the ecosystem. Many arguments have been put forward in favor of this, starting with the assertion that the diversity of life is valuable in itself and we have a moral and ethical responsibility for its conservation, and ending with the usual anthropocentric pragmatism - a person makes full use of the biological diversity of ecosystems (see article “ Ecosystem ") for their economic needs, such as: the development of drugs for cancer or the development of ecotourism.

How can biodiversity be preserved? One approach is to focus primarily on maintaining and conserving the best of the many ecosystems available. Another suggests taking care primarily of "hot spots", that is, of the areas with the greatest concentration of representatives rare species threatened with extinction. By carrying out a complex of protective measures in "hot spots", it is possible to preserve more rare species than in other regions.

See also the articles “Gradient of latitudinal diversity”, “Environmental protection”, “Ecological redundancy”, “Ecosystem”.