Biodiversity Is Crucial

In research presented at the proceedings of the National Academy of Science, scientists from Brown University have concluded that an ecosystem’s productivity is directly linked to its diversity of plant species. The discovery has granted biodiversity a newfound significance in the fight against climate change—in short, the more varied and prolific the ecosystem, the more carbon it captures.  The results support previous findings and also suggest that the effect of biodiversity in natural ecosystems may be much larger than currently thought

 

The study was conducted for six years in Patagonia, a region of vast steppelike plains located in the southernmost reaches of South America.  The scientists divided an area into ninety plots, and then began to systematically remove native species from each plot and chart the changes in the plot’s productivity. Productivity dropped as species were removed.  The scientists believe that productivity is linked to the diversity of species because of “niche complementarity”. In other words, in a healthy environment each species has evolved its own niche without interrupting other species’ niches. This harmony between species allows them to positively interact with each other and fully utilize the resources of a given space.

“It’s a double whammy,” Osvaldo Sala explained. “We not only are disturbing our planet by putting more carbon into the atmosphere, but we’re reducing the ability of ecosystems to capture and store it.” Sala is the director of the Environmental Change Initiative and the Sloan Lindeman Professor of Biology at Brown.
  
The findings appear to have important ramifications beyond plant species, since high biodiversity of plants depends on non-plant species. Insects, birds, and bats are major pollinators for plant species; some plant species depend on a single insect or animal species for pollination. So, to have a truly productive ecosystem all of the region’s biodiversity must be retained.