Terrestrial Biodiversity - Land Ahoy!

Source: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, 2013, Saadia Iqbal, You Think!, The World Bank,   "The Youth Guide to Biodiversity" 1st Edition (Chapter 6) Youth and United Nations Global Alliance. Reproduced with permission.

A praying mantis in greece.

© Jonas Harms (age 20)

Chapter 6. Verbatim. 

As you know by now, biodiversity can be classified in three different ways (refer to Chapter 1). In Chapter 5 we learned that one way to classify it is by ecosystems, which includes the important category of terrestrial biodiversity. It might sound a bit creepy, but guess what: you’re part of it! And so am I. That’s right – unless you happen to be a fish, or maybe some super-intellectual seaweed (in which case you really should be on TV ), you count as a member of this group. So who are they (uh, we) anyway?

Terrestrial biodiversity refers to animals, plants and micro-organisms that live on land, and also land habitats, such as forests, deserts and wetlands.

Not so creepy after all! At least… not always.

Terrestrial biodiversity is mind-bogglingly vast. Eachanimal and plant species, and the ecosystem in which it lives, has a unique contribution to our world, and plays a part in keeping the delicate balance of things intact. Let’s take a closer look at some of the differentkinds of terrestrial biodiversity, why they are important and the threats they are facing.

Forests 

Forests are one of the Earth’s greatest treasures – rich habitats teeming with animal and plant species, herbs, fungi, microorganisms and soils. They provide people with food, wood, medicine, fresh water and clean air, and millions of the world’s poorest people rely on forests for their livelihoods. To say that forests help to nurture all life on the planet is no exaggeration.

Forests also influence nature’s capacity to cope with natural hazards. Their destruction could cause altered rainfall patterns, soil erosion, flooding of rivers and the potential extinction of millions of species of plants, animals and insects. 

As if all this weren’t enough, forests are also huge storehouses of carbon, which means they absorb carbon from the atmosphere and convert it into plant tissue. This is very important for reducing the impact of climate change, a change in the overall state of the Earth’s climate caused by a build-up of greenhouse gases in the Earth’s atmosphere. Widespread deforestation, therefore, may increase global warming.