How do ecologists measure biodiversity?

Given the ongoing biodiversity loss that seems to be happening everywhere around the globe, it's really no wonder that ecologists try to measure biodiversity as they hope that this may lead to more success in conservation and help many species from going extinct.

Measuring biodiversity focuses on three main factors:

-          - the number of species in a given area (the richness of species).

-          - the relation between the species in an area (how close is relation between one species to another).

-          - different variations in biological and ecological characteristics across an area or the so called trait diversity (this mostly refers to ecosystem resilience against disturbance from non-native elements).

Why is important to measure biodiversity in as much areas as possible? The answer is quite simple – Measuring biodiversity gives researchers the knowledge so they can prioritize the areas that need the most protection, so these areas could be turned into national parks, reserves or some other forms of protected areas.

However, it is very difficult to quantify these three factors and decide which areas need protection the most. The current practice was all about protecting areas with the largest number of threatened species but the things aren’t that easy.

There are also several major environmental issues that need to be put into the biodiversity equation such as climate change, pollution, deforestation and ocean acidification. This makes measuring biodiversity extremely complex and often leads to inadequate conservation efforts.

From the current point of view, it is very difficult to recognize the methods that could lead to successful protection of threatened species. The interaction between so many different factors often leads to guesses and estimates, even despite the advanced scientific approach.

Science, however, still remains our only weapon against the biodiversity loss. New studies will hopefully help conservations to better protect threatened species across the globe.

Invasive species occupying UK rivers

Invasion of foreign species is affecting ecosystems from all over the globe, even the vast kingdom of ice at Antarctica is no longer exception to this rule. The invasive species are not only causing major environmental but also major economic damage because they disrupt vital services that ecosystems provide, causing economic losses of billions of dollars.

The latest negative example involving invasion of foreign species refers to England's longest river Thames. The latest study done by researchers at the Queen Mary, University of London says that river Thames is invaded by at least 100 non native freshwater species.

The researchers say that the main reason behind this large number of invasive species is globalization. Dr Michelle Jackson, the lead author of the study, says that there is a positive correlation between shipping activity and population size and the growth in number of invasive species.

Invasive species usually have major impact on biodiversity of affected ecosystems because they compete with native species for food and resources, which often leads to serious decline in population of many native species. The loss of native species leads to loss in many of vital ecosystems services, which in turn causes major economic damage.

The 2010 CABI report claims that invasive species cost British economy £1.7bn every year.

The main problem with this major environmental issue is the fact that it often gets overlooked. Other environmental issues such as climate change and pollution receive lot more public attention than the problem of invasive species.

If we continue this trend of ignorance invasive species will continue doing harm to many native species, which will result in even bigger biodiversity loss. Solving this issue, however, is anything but easy because of the complex interaction between the species and numerous factors that play their role in spreading invasive species all over the globe.

What is causing this big decline in Earth’s biodiversity?

The ongoing loss of biodiversity is one of the biggest environmental issues of our time with latest reports claiming that there are more than 5.000 endangered animals in the world today.

The endangered animals list includes many famous names such as polar bears, tigers, sharks, rhinos and elephants.

Why are all these animals finding it hard to survive these days? The main reason for this situation is poor, almost tragic state of our environment characterized by several major environmental issues.

Climate change, pollution, deforestation, habitat loss – animals need to cope with all these environmental issues to survive, and things are becoming increasingly worse as these problems are becoming more and more serious.

Behind all these problems are we, the humans. We just do not care enough for our environment because we do not want to think about what our environment really means to us. We seem to be constantly forgetting that clean, healthy environment rich with animal and plant species is one of the main prerequisites for our future wellbeing, and that we can't survive alone on this planet.

True, there have been some notable conservation efforts in recent years but given the magnitude of today's environmental issues these efforts mean very little on global scale of things. A lot more effort and a joint work off all countries in the world will be required to save many species from extinction.

For starters, world leaders should look for the ways on how to create more protected areas, where animals can live peacefully without human interference.

The current rate of extinction is horrifying with at least one animal going extinct each year.  

In order to change this trend we need to completely change our way of thinking. This means shifting our care from ourselves to our environment and our planet in general.

Can we rebuild our society’s main values before it’s too late?