Importance of Biodiversity

Jimena Herrera

Nov.10, 2010

Importance of Biodiversity

Biodiversity refers to the variety of all the different species of animals, fungi, and microbial organisms living on Earth and the different habitats in which they live. Biodiversity is very important because it provides the necessity that makes life possible. It also supports to us fresh water, clean air and nutrients. Without all of these things, it is impossible for human to survive. Biodiversity helps us fight the changes may have on ecosystems like the weather and climate that is caused by humans. Biodiversity has allowed the continued existence of life. If all beings were equal to us, we all quickly extinguished little by little. Besides biodiversity let us discover all kinds of environments and allows us to learn more about how life evolves and change with the time.

Biodiversity affect us directly because this process is a cycle and humans are directly related to a life chain. A good example of why biodiversity affect us can be the excessive overfishing and the destruction of many species that are expensive. The demand of the people is becoming a necessity and the people need to produce more products.

The general similarity among diversity patterns with latitude and region suggests that these patterns are controlled primarily by factors operating over large spatial and temporal scales. In the last years, the number of species in a region is set by a balance between origin through speciation, loss through extinction, and migration of species among regions, all of which operate over long time scales.

We have to take care of biodiversity, not only because is the right thing to do; it is because we are part of the biodiversity and if we kill little by little our world we also are damaging us. We need to realize and do something to protect the environment, we are the ones that are devastating forests, polluting and damaging the animals and also killing plants.

Biodiversity contributes directly through provisioning, regulating, and cultural ecosystem services. It also do it indirectly through supporting ecosystem services of human well-being, including security, basic material for a good life, health, good social relations, and freedom of choice and action. Many people have benefited over the last century from the conversion of natural ecosystems to human dominated ecosystems and the exploitation of biodiversity. At the same time, however, the lose on biodiversity and changes in ecosystem services have caused some people to experience a bad well being that are not get used to, with poverty in some social groups being exacerbated.

Biodiversity is important for us, because we get the food from it. Animals provide us their meat, plants provides us vegetables, fruits. But one of the major providers of food is the ocean, in the ocean there is a huge diversity, from there we get fish, oysters, and several animals that are delicious and really expensive in some other places.

To preserve and maintain biodiversity we can make groups and green movements in order to people put interest and want to contribute and participate to help maintain the biodiversity and the ecosystem. Plant trees are another good idea because it helps the environment to support and we are returning the favor by the activity of courting trees. Also recycle water would help people to become more responsible about the resource that are excessively wasting. Use solar panel in order to not use a lot of electricity that produce a lot of contamination to the environment. I think we should use the resources and the production that the environment is giving to us and not depend of what we can produce of machines and technology.

Biodiversity is important in ecosystems and for the provision of ecosystem services including climate regulation. It can therefore play an important role in reducing climate change and its impacts, and protecting and improving societal wellbeing. However, there is growing concern that efforts to address climate change may have the unintended consequence of exacerbating biodiversity loss, and so reduce future options for responding to climate change.

"Each one [of the Earth's 5 million invertebrate species] plays a role in its ecosystem. It's like we're tearing the cogs out of a great machine. The machine might work after you tear out ten cogs, but what happens when you tear out a hundred?"
— Scott Black

http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions

<p>Anup Shah, <a href="http://www.globalissues.org/article/171/loss-of-biodiversity-and-extinctions">Loss of Biodiversity and Extinctions</a>, <cite>Global Issues</cite>, Updated: October 04, 2010</p>

http://www.eoearth.org/article/Biodiversity?topic=49480

http://www.globalissues.org/issue/169/biodiversity

 (720 words). No including the references.

Sickle cell disease

Sickle cell disease

The malaria disease has been study for a long while and the objectives for this study are principally to find a cure for this disease and to know how this disease is changing over the time.

Some studies of malaria disease have discovered the behavior of the genes that make hemoglobin and other studies focus on the central part of red blood cells. For this studies and experiments are required different sciences like computer science, biology, chemistry and ethics. For these types of science we need the different branches that are applied to know exactly which branch study what and how.

For this disease we are going to use a lot of branches of biology. Biochemistry, that studies the chemical reactions required for life to exist and function, usually a focus on the cellular level. Genetics, that study genes and heredity, in my opinion is one of the most important because is the one that determines the genes and if their children would heredity the disease. Histology, study cells and tissue; used in this case to now the behavior of the cells when they are together to perform a specific function in the body.  Physiology, that study the functioning of living organisms and the organs and parts of living organisms; to watch how this organ is composed and to know the reaction of this disease. Ecology, study the ecosystem as a complete unit, with an emphasis on how species and groups of species interact with other living beings and non-living elements; we need this branch to know how the infected humans interact with the environment and with other humans. Microbiology, study microscopic organisms and their interactions with other living things; to perform how this microorganism will interact with the disease.  Virology, study viruses and some other virus like agent; we need virology to interpret this virus that is transmitted by the mosquito. Anatomy, that study the macroscopic structure of multicellular organisms; to study all the macroscopic cells that we cannot see. Cytology, study of living cells, in particular, their physiological properties, life histories, structures, organelles, and method of division; needed to observe the different cells that can be taken by the malaria to perform the disease, in this case the red blood cells. Molecular Biology The branch of biology that studies the formation, structure, and function of macromolecules found in living organisms, particularly nucleic acids and proteins; we need it to study the hemoglobin that is a protein and how it reacts to the disease. Bacteriology, studies bacteria in relation to disease; we want to know the bacteria that are infected and how the disease are performing it.

As you can see there are many branches involved in this disease and for that reason we know that some levels of matter are affected. We known that Malaria is caused by plasmodium, a protozoa, a single cell organism that can only divide within its host organism and principally affecting the red blood cells-(a cell) because they contain oxygen and without oxygen our body can´t bread. After, they are going true the tissue that it is composed by cells (damaged cell) and have a similar structure and a specific function in the body and if they are infected the tissues cannot work correctly. Then they will go true the organ that is a relatively independent part of the body that carries out one or more special functions and if they are not correctly they will not be able to produce the function that has determine and this is going to bring problems. Therefore, the system that is a group of interacting, interrelated, or interdependent elements forming a complex whole  would not work as it should because one of his element are damaged and it will harms the others elements. After, the organism that is an individual living thing would not satisfy correctly his functions because it don´t have a good system. Then, in the population that is a group of individuals or items that share one or more characteristics would not be equally than the others and cannot have the same life because they have the disease. After, it would affect the ecosystem; therefore it would contaminate the rest of the community as it´s children. Finally, the biome will be damaged by the disease that is already extended will never finish. Suddenly if it continues like this maybe it will affect the biosphere.

Sickle cell transmits a macromolecule that is involved in this case. Hemoglobin is a protein that is found in red blood cells. Hemoglobin molecule is a gathering of four globular proteins forming a tetrahedral arrangement. This protein acts as transport mechanism for oxygen and carbon dioxide in the red blood cells. The exchange process, where hemoglobin pulls in oxygen and releases carbon dioxide, this is the main function of hemoglobin.
In the malaria disease the level of protein structure that has been affected are nucleic acids and lipids and for the sickle cell the one is affected by the mutation is nucleic acid.

In conclusion, we can say that all the objectives and sciences that are applied to this disease help a lot to know how this parasite is transmitted and why is so dangerous. Also we can say which macromolecules are damaged. It help a lot the people that contain sickle cell, because if they want to marry someone and prevent one of his children’s not have the disease, the actual science can study the heredities of both parents and determine his DNA and prevent the disease. Furthermore, we can conclude that the sickle cell disease is not at all bad because it protect them from malaria if they have one single copy if they have two copies it can be a disaster because they will take the disease.

References:

http://www.sicklecelldisease.org/about_scd/index.phtml

http://kidshealth.org/parent/medical/heart/sickle_cell_anemia.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sickle-cell_disease

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1fN7rOwDyMQ&feature=player_embedded

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