Threats to biodiversity

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Created on Thursday, 02 February 2012

»The consequences of declining biodiversity are the depletion of food resources, climate changes, natural disasters and instability of our lives.« (IRSNC 2010)

The fact is that biodiversity is declining. Why? There are many reasons; the main reason is the human. With the start of the industrial age the human impact on nature has increased. The growth of mankind has led to increased use of natural resources, causing a change and shrinking of natural habitats. Natural habitats have begun to disappear gradually due to construction, expansion of settlements and agricultural surfaces, mineral excavations, woodland clearance. The remaining habitats are changed daily due to other human activities (logging, mowing, sailing, recreation ...). Although species have become extinct over time, the rate of extinction in recent times is much higher than the natural average (estimated at 2-3 species per year). Therefore humans are the cause of the "sixth mass extinction." The current extinction rates are namely 100-1000-times faster than the natural rate. According to the known data at least 58 animal and plant species became extinct by the year 2001 in Slovenia and there are around 2700 taxa on the Red List of which four-fifths of all known species of amphibians and reptiles, and almost half of the mammalian species. In 2002 635 species of vascular plants from the 3266 total known species were on the Red list of the Republic of Slovenia. In addition to the Red List species of the Republic of Slovenia we protect species through various conventions and directives, which involve more than 300 species. The most common cause of threat is the loss of habitat. One of the most endangered habitats in Slovenia is flowing waters and the associated wetlands.

Slovenian Environment Agency (2001) states the main causes of threats to biodiversity in Slovenia to be as follows:

• lack of awareness of the importance and meaning of biodiversity;

• changes in the agriculture (technology, intensification of production, abandoning the cultivation of suitable agricultural land, use of new cultivars and hybrids, promoting monocultures, marketing and social changes);

• the introduction of agriculture in areas of preserved nature (ex. areas of primeval forest in Kočevje); development of infrastructure (highways, hydropower facilities);

• regulation of watercourses (safety against floods, increase of agricultural land, non-natural embankments);

• drainage of wetlands;

• uncontrolled urbanization, mainly dispersed colonization;

• introduction of alien and invasive plant and animal species (in the country and between different areas within it);

• excessive removal of plant and animal species from the nature (hunting, fishing, clamming etc..);

• air, water and soil pollution, and climate changes;

• failure to implement regulations and lack of controlling measures;

• poor coordination among the concerned public on preserving biodiversity;

• disorganized education, training and raising awareness.

All these activities and the shortcomings have a direct and indirect effect on destruction and changing of not only the ecosystems of inland waters, but also on other ecosystems. Ecosystems and habitats are getting fragmented. With the loss of habitat, the species that inhabit it begin to disappear. The excessive exploitation of natural resources leads to decline in biodiversity. The overexploitation is present in Slovenia as there is a calculation that confirms it. It states that theoretically there is one hectare of land available for each inhabitant, but he actually exploits the ecosystem services of 4.5 hectares of land area.

»There is a sufficiency in the world for man's need but not for man's greed.« (Mohandas K. Gandhi)

Sources:

Slovenian Environment Agency 2001. Review of the status of biodiversity and landscape diversity in Slovenia. Ljubljana, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of Slovenia, Slovenia Environmental Agency: 224 pages. In Slovene.

Slovenian Environment Agency 2008. Environmental Indicators in Slovenia. [NB02] Endangered species. Available on the Internet, 15/03/2012. In Slovene.

European Commission 2011. Communication from the Commission to the European Parliament, the Council, the Economic and Social Committee and the Committee of the Regions. Our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020. COM (2011) 244 final. Brussels: 17 p. Available on the Internet, 15/03/2012. In Slovene.

The Institute of the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation (IRSNC) 2001. People with nature, nature for people. Biodiversity is our life. Ljubljana: 40 pages. Available on the Internet, 01/02/2012. In Slovene.

Pomen

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Ko si točite vodo v kozarec, pomislite od kje je prišla? Kaj jo je očistilo? Kaj je omogočilo, da nam je ta voda na voljo? To je le nekaj vprašanj, na katera bi morali pomisliti ob vsakdanji uporabi vode. Kajti odgovor na to je lahko tudi biodiverziteta.

Kot smo že omenili, se biodiverziteta izraža na večih ravneh, med drugimi na ekosistemski ravni. Biodiverziteta ima namreč pomembno vlogo pri funkcijah ekosistemov in tudi storitvah, ki jih ekosistemi nudijo. Ekosistemske storitve so številne in težko ovrednotene. Kot primer lahko navedemo mokrišča, ki so s svojo raznolikostjo prava zakladnica biodiverzitete. Zanje je ocenjeno, da vrednost njihovih številnih storitev (preprečujejo suše in erozijo, čistijo zrak in vodo, napajajo podtalnico ...) doseže 16 000 €/ha na leto. Storitve večje reke pa lahko dosežejo ocenjeno vrednost 16-60 milijonov € v enem letu. Vsako leto se tako z izgubljanjem biodiverzitete svetovni BDP zmanjša za 3 %.

In katere so te storitve, ki dosegajo tako visoke vrednosti? V splošnem lahko ekosistemske storitve razdelimo na štiri različne skupine:

1. Oskrbovalne storitve so dobrine, ki nam jih nudijo ekosistemi. V primeru celinskih vodá so to voda in vodni organizmi. Vodo uporabljamo za pitje, kuhanje, domačo rabo, kmetijstvo, industrijo, plovba in pridobivanje energije. Ribe, raki, školjke in številne rastlinske vrste so le del naše prehrane in vir zdravilnih učinkovin.

2. Uravnalne storitve skrbijo za uravnavanje kvalitete vode (naravna filtracija in čiščenje vode), preprečevanje poplav in erozije, uravnavanje podnebja (npr. vlaženje ozračja).

3. Kulturne storitve predstavljajo nematerialne koristi ekosistemov, ki vplivajo na našo duhovno blaginjo. Sem štejemo predvsem rekreacijo (kajakaštvo, rafting, plavanje, športni ribolov, ...), turizem (obiskovanje jezer, rek, mokrišč), izobraževanje (npr. naravoslovni dnevi v naravi) ter »osebno zadoščenje«, ki ga čutimo ob opazovanju, obiskovanju vodnih okolij.

4. Podporne storitve so podlaga za preostale storitve, saj vključujejo kroženje vode in hranil (npr. ohranjanje rodovitnosti poplavnih ravnic), primarno produkcijo, odnose med plenilci in plenom, prožnost ekosistema (npr. zmožnost povrnitve v prvotno stanje po ekstremnem dogodku). Prav pri slednji storitvi ima eno ključnih vlogo biodiverziteta, saj večje število organizmov in povezav med njimi poveča prožnost in stabilnost ekosistemov. Že znotraj iste vrste se osebki razlikujejo, kar pomeni večjo prilagodljivost ekosistema na spremembe ter hitrejšo obnovo v primeru poškodbe ali uničenja. Na primer kaljivost semen. Če bi vzklila vsa semena hkrati in bi nastopila zmrzal, bi propadli vsi poganjki. Tako pa z različnim časom kaljenja vrste omogočijo lasten obstanek v spreminjajočem se okolju. Narava namreč spodbuja zdaj ene, drugič druge lastnosti in s tem se razvija raznolikost.

Z raznolikostjo ekosistemov celinskih voda se poveča tudi raznolikost storitev, ki nam jih nudijo. Tako imajo predvsem mokrišča vlogo zadrževanja vode v pokrajini, kar se kaže kot preprečevanje erozije in poplav, napajanja podtalnice ter čiščenje vode. Črpanje CO₂ in sproščanje O₂, odstranjevanje težkih kovin iz vode, zadrževanje usedlin je še nekaj storitev mokrišč, ki jih omogočajo predvsem rastlinske vrste, zato se z njihovim odstranjevanjem te storitve zmanjšajo ali celo izginejo.

Da bi se res zavedali pomembnosti biodiverzitete, jo je Evropska komisija v Strategiji Evropske unije za biotsko raznovrstnost do leta 2020 poimenovala kot »naše življenjsko zavarovanje, naš naravni kapital«. Zato premislimo, kako ravnamo z biodiverziteto.

Viri:

Agencija Republike Slovenije za okolje 2001. Pregled stanja biotske raznovrstnosti in krajinske pestrosti v Sloveniji. Ljubljana, Ministrstvo za okolje in prostor Republike Slovenije, Agencija RS za okolje: 224 str.

Chapter 7. Freshwater Ecosystem Services. V: Chopra K., Leemans R., Kumar P., Simons H. (ur.) 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Policy Responses: findings of the Responses Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Volume 3. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, ZDA: 213-255

Gerbrandy G-J. (poročevalec) 2011. Osnutek poročila o našem življenjskem zavarovanju, našem naravnem kapitalu: strategija EU za biotsko raznovrstnost do leta 2020 (2011/2307(INI)). Evropski parlament, Odbor za okolje, javno zdravje in varnost hrane: 8 str. Dostopno na internetu, 6.2.2012.

Mokrišča nas povezujejo. Zgibanka. Ministrstvo za okolje in prostor, Ljubljana, 2009. Dostopno na internetu, 1.2.2012.

Thompson, I., Mackey, B., McNulty, S., Mosseler, A. 2009. Forest Resilience, Biodiversity, and Climate Change. A synthesis of the biodiversity/resilience/stability relationship in forest ecosystems. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal. Technical Series no. 43: 67 pages. http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/cbd-ts-43-en.pdf, 13.3.2012.

Zavod RS za varstvo narave 2010. Ljudje z naravo, naravo za ljudi. Biotska pestrost je naše življenje. Ljubljana: 40 str. Dostopno na internetu, 1.2.2012.

The meaning of Biodiversity

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When you pour water into a glass do you think about where it came from? How was it cleaned? What has made this water available to us? These are only some of the questions that you should think about the everyday use of water. For the answer to this question may also be biodiversity.

As we have already mentioned, biodiversity manifests itself on several levels, among others on the ecosystem level. Biodiversity has a significant role in ecosystem functions and the services that the ecosystems provide. Ecosystem services are numerous and difficult to evaluate. Examples are wetlands that are a treasury of biodiversity with their diversity. It is estimated that the value of numerous services they provide (preventing drought and erosion, clean air and water, supplying groundwater...) reaches € 16,000 / ha per year. Services of a larger river can reach an estimated value of € 16-60 million in one year. Each year the loss of biodiversity causes a decrease of the global GDP by 3 %.

And what are the services that achieve such high values? In general the ecosystem services can be divided into four different groups:

1. Provisioning services are the goods that the ecosystems offer to us. In the case of inland waters, they are water and aquatic organisms. We use water for drinking, cooking, domestic use, agriculture, industry, sailing and for generating power. Fish, crustaceans, molluscs and numerous plant species are only a part of our diet and a resource of medicine.

2. Regulating services are in charge of regulating water quality (natural filtration and water cleaning), prevention of floods and erosion, climate regulation.

3. Cultural services represent immaterial benefits of ecosystems, which affect our spiritual well-being. This predominately includes recreation (kayaking, rafting, swimming, sport fishing ...), tourism (visiting lakes, rivers, wetlands), education (ex. science days in nature) and "personal satisfaction" that we feel when are watching and visiting aquatic environments.

4. Supporting services are the basis for all the other services, as they include the water and nutrients cycling (ex. maintenance of soil fertility in floodplains), primary production, the relationships between predators and prey, ecosystem resilience (ex. the ability to recover to its original state after an extreme event). Especially in the latter service biodiversity has a key role since larger number of organisms and their mutual relationships increase the flexibility and stability of ecosystems. Within the same species there are already differences between individuals, which means greater adaptability of the ecosystem to changes and a faster recovery in case of damage or destruction. Take for example the germination of seeds. If all the seeds germinated at the same time and frost appeared, all shoots would be ruined. Thus with different times of germination the species enable their own survival in a changing environment. Nature sometimes promotes one, sometimes the other characteristic and in doing so develops diversity.

With the increased diversity of inland aquatic ecosystems, the diversity of services they offer to us also increases. This way the wetlands especially have a role in retaining water in the landscape, which results in preventing erosion and flooding, supplying groundwater and water cleaning. Pumping CO₂ and releasing O₂, removing of heavy metals from the water, sediment retention are just some of wetland's services and are provided mostly by plant species, so with their disposal these services are reduced or even lost.

In order to really be aware of the importance of biodiversity, the European Commission has named it as "Our life insurance, our natural capital" in the European Union Strategy for Biodiversity until the year 2020. So we should reconsider how we treat biodiversity.

Sources:

Slovenian Environment Agency 2001. Review the status of biodiversity and landscape diversity in Slovenia. Ljubljana, Ministry of Environment and Spatial Planning of Slovenia, Environmental Agency: 224 p. In Slovene.

Chapter 7. Freshwater Ecosystem Services. V: Chopra K., Leemans R., Kumar P., Simons H. (ur.) 2005. Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Policy Responses: findings of the Responses Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment. Volume 3. Millennium Ecosystem Assessment, ZDA: 213-255. In English.

Gerbrandy G-J. (Rapporteur) 2011. DRaft report on our life insurance, our natural capital: an EU biodiversity strategy to 2020 (2011/2307(INI)). European parliament, Committee on the Environment, Public Health and Food Saftey: 8 p. Available on the Internet, 06/02/2012. In English.

Wetlands connect us. Leaflet. Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Ljubljana, 2009. Available on the Internet, 01/02/2012. In Slovene.

Thompson, I., Mackey, B., McNulty, S., Mosseler, A. 2009. Forest Resilience, Biodiversity, and Climate Change. A synthesis of the biodiversity/resilience/stability relationship in forest ecosystems. Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity, Montreal. Technical Series no. 43: 67 pages. http://www.cbd.int/doc/publications/cbd-ts-43-en.pdf, 13/03/2012. In English.

The Institut of the Republic of Slovenia for Nature Conservation 2010. People with nature, nature for people. Biodiversity is our life. Ljubljana: 40 p. Available on the Internet, 01/02/2012.