Welcome to Biodiversity Guide
Concept Of Biodiversity Article
. For a permanent link to this article, or to bookmark it for further reading, click here.
Aquatic Biodiversty: The Changing Shape Of Our Planet
from:Aquatic biodiversity is important to the health and well-being of our planet, but is being threatened at an increasing rate. It is affected by many variables, including irrigation, contamination, and evaporation.
Irrigation
Irrigation is, possibly, the most subtle threat to aquatic biodiversity. Until recently, most irrigation issues were considered strictly from an engineering standpoint, with little regard to how construction and maintenance of irrigation channels would affect aquatic biodiversity. The channels were just earthworks, with no seepage protection. Over time, seepage affects a body of water's aquatic biodiversity by changing its composition, affecting all life in or sustained by it.
Contamination of the body of water
In the past, lakes were often used as dumping grounds for waste materials. These materials are ingested by native animal and plant life, directly affecting aquatic biodiversity by killing off entire species. According to Philip Micklin and Nikolay V. Aladin's article in the Scientific American, over the last thirty years animal life has decreased as follows: Fish species, from 32 to 6; bird species, from 319 to 160; and mammal species, from 70 to 32.
Evaporation
If rate of evaporation exceeds rate of rainfall, snowmelt, or groundwater supply, aquatic biodiversity is threatened.
When a body of water's volume decreases (transforming the area into first a marsh, then dry ground, then eventually a desert) aquatic biodiversity changes as well. Micklin and Aladin state that the Aral Sea has actually suffered sufficient evaporation that it split into two smaller bodies, the Small and Large Aral Seas. The Large Aral Sea split again, into a “deep western basin, a shallow eastern basin, and an isolated gulf.” None are as deep as the original body of water and damage has been done to both plant and animal sectors. They further note that the marshland has decreased from 100,000 hectares in 1960 to 15,000 hectares in the 1990s.
Second, the percentage of salinity (the ratio of salt to water) can rise. Two of the smaller bodies are no longer habitable largely due to this aspect. According to Micklin and Aladin, the salinity of the Large Aral Sea has risen from about 14 grams per liter (g/l) to over 100. A typical ocean's salinity is about 53 g/l, so this is devastating. What were once lush expanses of plant life sustained by the lake's water are now barren except for the few varieties able to thrive in either saline soil, dry conditions or both.
If damage was restricted to this one body of water, the threat to aquatic biodiversity would not necessarily be world-threatening. The problem (exceedingly costly to fix once the damage has begun), however, is spreading. The latest victims are Central Africa's Lake Chad and California's Salton Sea. Unfortunately, even economically fortunate countries are cautious in allocating funds for remedying the problems. Unless ways can be found to help smaller countries, where immediate survival is often more urgent than long-term effects, we can expect these changes to continue, with disastrous effects.
Concept Of Biodiversity News
Losing natural biodiversity could cost us the Earth - Bizcommunity.com
 GreaterKashmir.com | Losing natural biodiversity could cost us the Earth Bizcommunity.com Biodiversity loss may just be a foreign concept to you. In fact, it might not be on your agenda at all. But it should be. For this year's International Day for Biological Diversity, which falls on 22 May 2012, perhaps it's time you sat up and smelt the ... Celebrating World Biodiversity Day |
New tool for visualizing the distribution of vascular plants in Belgium - Phys.Org
New tool for visualizing the distribution of vascular plants in Belgium Phys.Org Pensoft Publishers have detailed their "Data Publishing Policies and Guidelines for Biodiversity Data", with the goal to introduce this concept to authors and to help them to start using it effectively. The data paper combines the static, ... |
We must set planetary boundaries wisely - Nature.com
 Nature.com | We must set planetary boundaries wisely Nature.com The concept of environmental thresholds is compelling, but it has the potential to shift political focus to the wrong areas, says Simon L. Lewis 21 . As pressure on resources increases, pollution accumulates and humanity's impact on Earth escalates, ... |
Sikkim celebrated International Biodiversity Day - isikkim
Sikkim celebrated International Biodiversity Day isikkim Peter McCarter, Team Leader, Project Management Consultant SBFP, briefed the gathering on concept and importance of biodiversity, present conservation scenario and needs for conservation within global perspective. Katherine Lepcha, DFO, Biodiversity ... |
Urban Conservation and Biodiversity Is Right Around the Corner - Center Square Journal
Urban Conservation and Biodiversity Is Right Around the Corner Center Square Journal Even if they don't fully understand biodiversity – and would much rather make “dirt angels” than weed and water – introducing kids to the concept of conservation will reap benefits later. “What they don't know, they can't care about,” said Ross. |