14 DAY TRIAL // When asked about why we should protect biodiversity, scientists have a wide array of answers, and most of them are concentrated around the benefits of doing so on the environment, economy, agriculture and so on. In a recent study, experts identify yet another positive aspect of biodiversity.
The investigation details the negative effects of biodiversity loss, why they matter, and also possible directions our society could go in for protecting the large number of animals alive today.
In recent times, the rate of biodiversity loss has accelerated, as phenomena such as global warming and climate change come into play. But direct human influences are also exerted, including overfishing, the destruction of habitats, poaching, excessive hunting, and so on.
Interestingly, it would now appear that protecting biodiversity also helps maintain a high quality of surface water. The new research explains the intricate link between the two in a paper published in the April 7 issue of the top journal Nature.
The study was led by University of Michigan expert Bradley J. Cardinale, which provides a set of strong evidence to support this claim. Primarily, he explains, biodiversity contributes to eliminating massive amounts o nutrients from streams.
These nutrients are oftentimes responsible for degrading water quality, experts say. “This is the first study that nails the mechanism by which biodiversity promotes water quality,” Cardinale explains.
“And by nailing the mechanism, it provides solid evidence of a cause-and-effect relationship between biodiversity and water quality that was previously missing,” he goes on to say. The expert adds that the bulk of his research was conducted on algae.
Whenever the algae population of stream increases, it spread around in the surrounding areas, and begins to clean the water very efficiently, through a pollution-removing effect that these organisms can produce.
The new study, funded by the US National Science Foundation (NSF), provides tangible, testable evidence that support the fight against biodiversity loss.
“As the different habitats in a stream are filled by diverse populations of algae, the stream receives more total biofiltration. It's as if the algae work as a better sponge,” Cardinale explains.
“Algae are the sort of thing that are easily overlooked, however Cardinale provides an elegant experiment that shows how the biological diversity of algal species greatly increases the removal of one of the most deadly and insidious toxins in our streams, lakes and rivers,” adds George W. Gilchrist.
The official is a program director in the NSF Division of Environmental Biology.
“One of the obvious implications of the study is that if we want to enhance water quality in large bodies of water, like the Chesapeake Bay watershed or around the Great Lakes, then the conservation of natural biodiversity in our streams would offer, among other benefits, help in cleaning them up,” the study leader concludes.