According to the peer-reviewed article by Tilman, D., 2000, biodiversity is an essential factor in Earth’s productivity and ecosystem stability. Greater biodiversity leads to greater productivity in communities, especially in plant ecology. The author of the study was introducing the idea of biodiversity at the start of the 21st century to the public. So, they provided many examples of how greater biodiversity in plants retained greater productivity and stability of the environment/ communities of that ecosystem. They argued that more biodiversity meant fewer chances of extinction or endangered species as many of these communities are very complex and rely on the complex diversity of their biological vectors to thrive.
They also argued how human intervention and domination of Earth’s resources and natural habitats is destroying this much-needed biodiversity. Humans usually love simplifying things, which doesn’t work for wildlife. With increased human intervention in natural processes, many habitats are losing important organisms to ensure their survivability. This will in turn affect humans, as when biological processes fail to run as they’re supposed to, that will also stop humans from thriving in the long run. Since we rely on many of these plants for our daily resources and food security.
They ended their argument by talking about trade-offs and how current advantages will turn into future catastrophic damage to the human population. They urge the public to listen to science instead of societal expectations and ethics (meaning capitalism and an economy-driven world).
I decided to use this paper that was published in my birth year because I believe it is very relevant to applied plant ecology and its goals. I also believe that it’s a very intriguing insight to see how scientists began to try and educate the general public about biodiversity loss, which is now a much widely known event.
References:
Tilman, D. (n.d.). Causes, consequences and ethics of Biodiversity. Nature News. Retrieved March 5, 2022, from https://www.nature.com/articles/35012217
Applied Plant Ecology Winter 2020 