Biodiversity: The Key to Saving Life on Earth (Donella Meadows)
Presented by Kayla Walleser and Colin Seidel 10/29/13
Definition
Biodiversity- refers to the variety of living organisms on our planet, measurable as the
variety within and among species, ecosystems, and genetic variety.
Why we should protect biodiversity
1. Biodiversity has economic value with both immediate and potential value.
a. Industries related to nature such as fishing and tourism rely on the protection
of biodiversity.
b. Biodiversity has potential future value because there are many species that we
haven’t yet discovered.
c. We don’t know about the potential existence and uses of species and we will
never know if we don’t protect that future value.
2. Biodiversity performs environmental services that are beyond price.
a. Without biodiversity, the simple role of pollination by honeybees could be
lost.
b. The loss of biodiversity would cause the free service of pollination by the
honeybees to turn into a cost for humans.
c. Many other services provided by species and the ecosystem such as pest
control and the cleansing of the air would also be inflicted to society as costs
that would otherwise be free.
d. Services provided by bacteria, molds, mites and worms are beneficial to all
life, if they ever stopped, all life would stop.
3. The informational value of biodiversity is essential to the future survival of nature.
a. “Biodiversity contains the accumulated wisdom of nature and the key to its
future.”
b. A one cell bacterium can carry genes for 1,000 traits and a flowering plant for
400,000 traits.
c. If biodiversity isn’t protected, then the variety of DNA in the future would
decrease and will cause a subsequent decrease in the variety of future species
and their ability to evolve and adapt.
d. “Biodiversity is the accumulation of all life’s past adaptations, and it is the
basis for all further adaptations.”
Should we preserve all species, even those that are harmful to human beings?
1. Ecological ethics states that non-human beings and all other living have intrinsic
value, and they are deserving of our respect and protection.
2. The only morally acceptable reason we would have for reducing the richness and
diversity of Nature is to satisfy vital human needs.
3. Even species that may harm a nation’s economy should be preserved because the
value of biodiversity is greater than the harm a species might cause to a nation’s
economy.
4. To put in simply, the best way to preserve biodiversity is to leave it alone. Human
activities alone are responsible for most of the loss in biodiversity.
Case Study
Mystery surrounds the death of 25,000 fish in a showpiece ornamental lake in the UK, which are
thought to have died of mass suffocation from a deadly form of algae. Tests were done and the
water was in fact contaminated from the algae, a bloom of blue green algae which had dramatic
impact on water oxygen levels. The Environmental Agency had monitored the lake and warned
people to stay away in case the water contained anything toxic.
What should be done about this?
Is it more important to save the fish from dying, or get rid of the fatal algae?
What would Meadows say about this situation?
Connection to Global Warming
We have learned about different factors that have effects on climate change since the beginning
of life. Climate changes have extreme affects and relationships with biodiversity and maintaining
species throughout the earth.