Dear Mr Prime Minister Tony Abbott,
I am writing to express my concern over inadequate preservation of biodiversity. Biodiversity is the variety of plant and animal life in the world or in a particular habitat, a high level of which is usually considered to be important and desirable. According to Tim Flannery, between 1995 and 2008, the number of small mammals in Kakadu National Park declined by 75% and one third of the species that were recorded in 1995 can no longer be found. I find these statistics appalling and believe that biodiversity is a big contributor to our modern way of life and more funding should be allocated to preserve plant and animal species in Australia.
Firstly, plants provide many different elements needed for traditional and modern medicine. According to the International Union for conservation of Nature (IUCN), more than 70 000 plant species are used in traditional and modern remedies. Without medicine, slowly the human survival rate of diseases and even the common cold would decline and a lot of people would not survive their childhood. Biodiversity is essential for the survival of plant species needed for medicine.
Secondly, healthy ecosystems are more likely to recover from disaster. If a disaster such as a cyclone or volcanic eruption hits, larger areas and greater variety of plants and animals will help them to begin to regrow and flourish. If we reduce the biodiversity to only the species that we need, they won’t be able to survive if any type of disaster that restricts growth were to hit. These species may be needed for animals to survive or for medicine.
Furthermore, species depend on each other for survival and we depend on those species for our survival. If one or more species dies, those that feed off of that species will have a lack of food. If that second species dies of starvation, the species that feeds on it will starve. This will generate a domino effect and can kill or severely damage an ecosystem.
Additionally, Greater variety of crops and meat and helps provide raw materials such as natural resources, wool, etc. Insects are needed to help fertilise the grass to make crops healthy. Animals provide food and resources. A variety of crops and animals are needed for a healthy diet as they provide the necessary nutrients such as calcium, fibre, iron, protein and vitamins.
In conclusion, biodiversity is necessary for not only the survival of natural environment, but also the survival of humans. I urge the Prime Minister to allocate more funding to protecting and restoring biodiversity so that future generations can have a happy and healthy environment.
You May Also Find These Documents Helpful
-
Chapin III, F. S., Costanza, R., Ehrlich, P. R., Golley, F. B., Hooper, D. U., Lawton, J. H., ... & Tilman, D. (1999). Biodiversity and ecosystem functioning: maintaining natural life support processes. Washington, DC: Ecological Society of America.…
- 2012 Words
- 8 Pages
Better Essays -
Biodiversity is important to sustaining the ecosystem. According to UNDP.org (2010), the activities of microbial and animal species – including bacteria, algae, fungi, mites, millipedes and worms – condition soils, break down organic matter, and release essential nutrients to plants. These processes play a key role in the cycling of such crucial elements as nitrogen, carbon and phosphorous between the living and non-living parts of the biosphere. The gray wolfs of Yellowstone National Park are an example of what happens when one species is eliminated and how the absence of that species affects the ecosystem as a whole.…
- 532 Words
- 3 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
Ecosystems are constantly changing and developing in response to stress induced changes. In nature, change usually takes a long time to occur. The biome eventually adapts as animals and plants that have characteristics that aren’t suited to the occurring change eventually die out and those more suited to the change, remain alive and breed and pass their characteristics along to future generations. This is known as natural selection. Unexpected natural disasters have also caused whole species to die out almost instantly due to not having enough time to adapt. The damming of a river, the draining of a wetland or the cleaning of vast tracts of natural vegetation for agriculture are sudden and drastic changes that may result in loss of habitat and devastation of a species.…
- 685 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Conservation biology is the study of environmental problems that are caused by human actions. This would be the scientific study of the Earth’s biodiversity with the whole purpose from being extinct. In this field it helps in putting together many theories from other fields such as ecology, demography, taxonomy and genetics. This would help in the understanding of the management of species in their ecosystems, breeding, genetic analysis and their resoration of their habitat. The main reason for conservation biology is to help in establishing workable ways for preserving species and their biological communities, by protecting threatened species, creating breeding programs to help in maintaining the genetic instability in the small populations. Biodiversity is the the organisms in which are present in different ecosystems, it is the variety of life. It is studied in so many levels, in the highest it can look at the species throughout the entire Earth, in the lowest it can be an ecosystem such as a pond which identifys the understanding of the relationships between all species on Earth. Biodiversity has more that just species, it has genetic biodiversity which the varation of genes that exists within a species and ecological biodiversity which is the diverisity of ecosystems and it natural communities and habitats. The importance of biodiversity to people and the health of ecosystem would because it leads to happy and healy life, by contributing food and materials to the economy, research form plants and animals have helped in creating cures for diseases due to their biology and genetics. Biodiversity helps in allowing the ecosystem to adjust to disturbances such as wild fires and floods.…
- 616 Words
- 2 Pages
Satisfactory Essays -
As biodiversity declines, the causes have become evident: habitat destruction, pollution and overexploitation. Humans have had a huge role in the decline in biodiversity, and a perfect example is coral reefs who fell victim to overharvesting, pollution, and global warming. With the coral reef being home to one-third of fish species, humans have severely impacted the fish species by destroying their homes. Overexploitation is a huge risk, and this became very evident when the wolf population in Yellowstone was wiped out. Every wolf was hunted and killed in Yellowstone, and once the wolves were gone, the ecosystem became very unbalanced and many species started to either die out or be overpopulated. As for methods to help sustain species, core reserves and wildlife corridors are very effective methods. Core reserves are natural areas for organisms away from human influences. Wildlife corridors are areas of protected and combined core reserves that enable the organisms to be more free and safe between habitats, without the isolation of core…
- 336 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
Biodiversity is an important contribution the the environment because it affects the biotic and abiotic factors in the particular environment.…
- 1163 Words
- 5 Pages
Better Essays -
Diversity of species plays an extremely important role in the human ecosystem. The extinction of one species may lead to the extinction of dozens of associated species. Thus, the demise of a certain species may result in the imbalance and even collapse of the entire ecosystem. Therefore, protecting and saving endangered species has a significant importance in maintaining the ecological balance and increasing the diversity of the ecosystem.…
- 1846 Words
- 8 Pages
Powerful Essays -
What is biodiversity and what are the impacts do invasive species have on biodiversity? Biodiversity is the variety of animal and plant life in a particular habitat; it also means all of the different natural processes on the earth. There is estimated to be more than 11000 tree species in the amazon rainforest, that a huge amount of different species and that’s only for one part of the world. It is important to have biodiversity, Biodiversity boost ecosystems productivity. What is productivity?…
- 958 Words
- 4 Pages
Good Essays -
Biodiversity has provided many services that have humans have utilized in order to make a better world and it importance should not be overlooked. The medical industry relies on biodiversity for research and resources to make new medications. For example advances in the treatment of osteoporosis, diabetes, renal disease and cardiovascular disorders all came from studying bears. Also research on cetaceans has been used to help divers when they suffer from decompression sickness. Maintaining biodiversity isn’t just vital used for research when developing medicines but many plants and animals are also used in the production of many medicines. Some plants that are used are Digitalis plants, which are consumed in the making of Lanoxin a cardiac drug, anti-cancer drugs use taxus trees to for Taxol and Hycamtin which is made from Camptotheca trees. One example of when an animal is used is when Zincontide, and inter alia pain killer…
- 2185 Words
- 9 Pages
Powerful Essays -
Every living organism on our planet, both plants (Flora) and animals (Fauna), are included when determining biodiversity. On our planet, there are 13.6 million species of plants, animals and micro-organisms, and Australia has about 7% (one million) of these (Australian Museum, 2017). Australia has a vast biodiversity because it is classed as a ‘megadiverse country’. Megadiversity is when a country has high levels of biodiversity. One way to measure Australia’s biodiversity is by looking at taxonomic groups. By looking at taxonomic groups, scientists can monitor the breeding rates of animals and compare them to recent years to see if their population has flourished or declined. Conserving biodiversity isn’t just about conserving endangered species, it’s about conserving entire habitats and ecosystems (Environment.gov.au, 2017). Some ways Australia is preserving their biodiversity is by introducing national policies for the management of Australia’s biological resources, whole farming linked to regional or catchment plans and catchment management such as for the Murray-Darling Basin (Environment.gov.au, 2017).…
- 1341 Words
- 6 Pages
Better Essays -
Ecology helps us understand the importance of mass extinction in evolution, and it also helps us understand some of the causes of extinction. Ecological niche is one of the most important concepts to understand. An animal or plant lives in a certain place is active at a particular times, and eats certain things; all these factors describe its ecological niche.…
- 750 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
If an animal or any species becomes extinct it can put the food chain out of order. Slowly, everything starts to fall apart…
- 523 Words
- 3 Pages
Good Essays -
Thus, biodiversity crisis means the large number of different animals and plants are decreasing or in other word it’s facing extinction or becoming endangered. It also means that the large number of animals and plants are in a great danger.…
- 2067 Words
- 9 Pages
Good Essays -
Natural selection takes the raw material of variations with a population and moulds it over a long period of time into a population that can compete most effectively with other species. This selection will favor the fittest individuals in a species to fit a particular biological niche. Any given environment will have a large number of niches, for example small variations in the temperature, humidity and exposure to sunlight will affect the ability of certain plants to grow and compete with other plants. Species that fit these niches will represent a very diverse population and therefore will have extensive genetic diversity. This diversity will be both at the level of an individual species and also at level of different species which co-evolved to fit a particular biological niche. Within a niche there are numerous different solutions to the problem of adaptation to that environment, and it is likely that different species will develop different methods of adaptation that enable them to survive in any particular niche. In summary, natural selection will drive the adaptation of any given population to fit the number of available niches, and this will create the biodiversity that is present in nature.…
- 420 Words
- 2 Pages
Good Essays -
1. The International Convention about wildlife protection is: Convention on Biological Diversity Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species, CITES Framework Convention on Climate Change Convention on Ozone Layer Protection Convention on Combat Desertification 2. The International Convention on control of persistent organic pollutants is: Stockholm convention Montreal protocol Convention on Biodiversity Kyoto protocol Convention on Combat Desertification 3. The International basic document about greenhouse gases control is: Kyoto protocol Convention on Biodiversity…
- 3114 Words
- 13 Pages
Good Essays