Section 2: BIODIVERSITY and HEALTH SOCIETY
Desired learning Outcomes
At the end of this session, the students must have:
1. determined the interrelatedness of society, environment, and health;
2. created a diagram that would show the relatedness of species in forming up a
diverse and healthy society without compromising one another; and
3. identified everyday tasks and evaluate whether they contribute to the wellness and
health of biodiversity and society or not.
Lesson Proper
Biodiversity and Ecosystem
Biodiversity is defined as the vast variety of life forms in the entire Earth. Its definition is
in the structural and functional perspective and not as individual species. It is the source of the
essential goods and ecological services.
Significant decline in biodiversity has direct human impact when ecosystem in its insufficiency
can no longer provide the physical as well as social needs of human beings.
While cities only occupy two per cent of the Earth's land surface, they draw on their hinterlands
for goods and services. Waste and emissions produced by urban dwellers, moreover have an
impact on ecosystems elsewhere, even at the global level. For this reasons, cities depend on so
called ecosystem services - benefits that nature provides us for free.
Those ecosystem services have provisioning (such as food and water), regulating (as
flood control), cultural (such as for recreation) and supportive characters (like nutrient cycles).
Healthy ecosystems and a rich biodiversity, i.e. the multiplicity of living organisms and
ecosystems, are vital for cities to function properly. Not only do ecosystem services provide
urban residents with food and clean water, they also play an important role for the quality of life
in a city: ecosystem services regulate a city's climate, filter emissions and can protect a city
against flooding. Despite the importance of a healthy ecosystem, little is done to mitigate the
negative impact that by factors including over-exploitation, climate change, land use change,
urban sprawl, traffic, air pollution and invasive species have on it.
Figure 1: Ecosystem Hierarchy
(classroom.google.com)
Threats to Biodiversity
1. Habitat loss and destruction
The process by which natural habitat is damaged or destroyed to such an extent that it no longer
is capable of supporting the species and ecological communities that naturally occur there. It
often results in the extinction of species and, as a result, the loss of biodiversity.
2. Alterations in ecosystem composition
Alteration of ecosystem structure can occur whenever an action changes the species composition
of an area. Because of the interwoven relationships between structure and function, the
ecological functions will also be affected by changes in composition and structure.
3. Over-exploitation
Overhunting, overfishing and over-harvesting contribute greatly to the loss of biodiversity,
killing off numerous species over the past several hundred years. Poaching and other forms of
hunting for profit increase the risk of extinction.
What can we do? Conservation and continued awareness surrounding overexploitation, especially
poaching and overfishing, are key. Governments need to actively enforce rules against such practices, and
individuals can be more conscious of what they eat and purchase.
4. Pollution and contamination
From the burning of fossil fuels (releasing dangerous chemicals into the atmosphere and, in some
cases, depleting ozone levels) to dumping 19 billion pounds of plastic into the ocean every year,
pollution completely disrupts the Earth's ecosystems. While it may not necessarily cause
extinction, pollutants do have the potential to influents species' habits.
For example, acid rain, which is typically caused by the burning of fossil fuels, can
acidify smaller bodies of water and soil, negatively affecting the species that live there by
changing breeding and feeding habits.
What can we do? The average person can do a number of things to fight atmospheric and
hydrologic pollution, such as recycling, conserving energy at home and using public
transportation.
5. Global climate change
Changes in climate throughout our planet's history have, of course, altered life on Earth in the
long run — ecosystems have come and gone and species routinely go extinct.
But rapid, manmade climate change speeds up the process, without affording ecosystems and
species the time to adapt. For example, rising ocean temperatures and diminishing Arctic sea ice
affects marine biodiversity and can shift vegetation zones, having global implications.
Overall, climate is a major factor in the distribution of species across the globe; climate change
forces them to adjust. But many are not able to cope, causing them to die out.
What can we do? Individuals can take various steps to fight climate change, such as reducing
their carbon footprints (like practicing reduce, reuse and recycle), promoting education and
contacting elected officials. International governments and cities can lead the charge, however,
and the 2015 United Nations Climate Change Conference in Paris will hopefully be a turning
point.
Health, Biology, and Biodiversity
- Basic needs of living organisms such as air, water, food, and habitat are provided by its
environment.
- Lack of basic necessities is a significant cause of human mortality.
- Environmental hazards increase the risk of cancer, heart disease, asthma, and many other
illnesses.
- The interrelation between human health and biological diversity is considerable and
complex.
Environment-Related Illnesses
Some human illnesses that are found to be related with its environment include
Parkinson’s disease, heart disease, cancer, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, asthma,
diabetes, obesity, occupational injuries, dysentery, arthritis, malaria, and depression.
Many of the issues at the intersection of health and the environment have to do with
managing benefits and risks:
Pesticides play an important role in increasing crop yields, but they can also pose hazards
to human health and the environment.
Energy production and use helps sustain human life, but it can also pose hazards to human health
and the environment.
Increasing taxes on fossil fuels would encourage greater fuel efficiency and lower carbon
dioxide emissions, but it would also increase the price of transportation.
Managing benefits and risks also raises social justice concerns:
People with lower socio-economic status have greater exposure to certain harmful
environmental conditions.
Synthesis
• We have to consider the entire Earth as a single unit, a loss of single-celled species or a
family of wild grass can have adverse effects in the entire biosphere.
• Biodiversity loss will have a great negative effect especially to us humans.
• We must recognize the value of the organisms with which we share the planet.
• A mitigating plan and a workable plan of action should be studied in order to not
compromise biodiversity, while at the same time, promote good health among the
society.
For additional materials you may go to the following links below:
• https://populationmatters.org/the-facts/biodiversity?
gclid=CjwKCAjwk6P2BRAIEiwAfVJ0rP6td98gcMhr3qTrAQbUkbEIMTJy6fHUsrytv
MrxbSSxdjdGRY9k_RoCETEQAvD_BwE
• https://www.unenvironment.org/explore-topics/resource-efficiency/what-we-do/cities/
biodiversity-and-ecosystems
