Does biodiversity matter?
Long since have I marvelled
How of ten thousand creatures there is not one
But has its tune; how, as each season takes its turn,
A hundred new birds sing, each weather wakes
A hundred insects from their sleep.
Ouyang Xiu (1007-1072) The Cicada
This poem by Ouyang Xiu conveys the essence of biodiversity, though it was written many centuries before the term was used in any language. Yet despite this early conceptual grasp of the earth`s immense variety, 21st century humans still struggle to come to terms with how and why biodiversity matters to us.
photo by Beth Loft
A broad definition – “the variety of living forms, their populations, and individual variations in appearance and behaviour” – presents difficulties to scientists asked to quantify biodiversity, who can only guess at the number of tropical rainforest insect species and the ecological roles that each may play. Our knowledge of the oceans and of seabed biology is in its infancy.
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