[Pollinator] Why Biodiversity Matters

[ladadams at aol.com]

Telegraph-Journal - Saint John,New Brunswick,Canada
Why biodiversity Matters
By Laurence Packer, Ph.D.

In 1992, Canada committed "to achieve a significant reduction of the 
current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national 
level as a contribution to poverty alleviation and to the benefit of 
all life on Earth" by 2010. The United Nations proclaimed 2010 as the 
International Year of Biodiversity and targets were endorsed by the 
World Summit on Sustainable Development, and incorporated under the 
Millennium Development Goals by the United Nations General Assembly. To 
date, the importance of meeting target seems absent from government 
priorities - budgets have been re-directed and activity for next year's 
review is minimal, at best.

Enlarge Photo N.B. ImagesA frog rests in a New Brunswick pond. The 
term, and concept of, 'biodiversity' became popular more than 15 years 
ago with the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity. In 
concert with the sustainable development paradigm, the maintenance of 
biodiversity was seen as essential for a healthy environment, and, by 
extension, a healthy economy. Biodiversity is the means towards clean 
water, abundant wildlife, resilience to damage caused by human activity 
and the productivity of agriculture, fisheries and forestry.

All the species in an area are the result of ecological and 
evolutionary processes and each has its own interactions, and its own 
role. Like a puzzle with missing pieces, an ecosystem with lost species 
is incomplete.

While biodiversity is essential for the productivity of the natural 
resources that everyone uses, its loss is no longer restricted to 
organisms living in remote habitats but is becoming so widespread as to 
impact urban environments where most people live.

Pollinators are responsible for 30 per cent of the food we eat and 70 
per cent of our crop species require pollination. Most of this 
pollination is performed by bees. While honey bees are commonly used, a 
series of diseases and parasites casts some doubt on the wisdom of such 
a narrow focus for our pollinator needs. Native wild bees (20,000 
species worldwide, 800 in Canada) are responsible for an increasing 
proportion of agricultural pollination and most pollination of wild 
plants. But there have been dramatic declines in wild bees worldwide. 
In Canada, two of the bumble bees that were among the commonest urban 
bees 15 years ago are now on the verge of extinction.

Unbelievably, most of the bats found in north-eastern North America 
could be essentially gone in the next 10 or so years. Many people 
loathe bats but they play an important ecological role as consumers of 
numerous insect species, many of which carry diseases such as West Nile 
virus, malaria and dengue fever. In 2006, introduction of a fungus, 
possibly from Antarctica and accidentally introduced by tourists in New 
York, led to massive declines in several common bat species that 
overwinter in caves. The fungus is spreading hundreds of kilometers 
each year and experts worry that we will lose the principal consumers 
of nocturnal insects.

Declines in aerial insectivorous birds have preceded those of bats: 
most such species are making their way onto Canada's Species at Risk 
Act because of well-documented declines in their numbers. Chimney 
swifts and the nighthawk are just two examples of aerial insectivorous 
birds that until recently could be commonly found in Canadian cities. 
Just as the case with bats, many disease-carrying insects will benefit 
from the loss of these predators.

Diverse freshwater fish communities are being replaced by introduced 
smallmouth bass. Chytrid fungus is spreading among frog populations 
with devastating effects in parts of North America. The list goes on. 
Our point is that we are beginning to see problems with previously 
common species. Biodiversity loss is happening at a large scale. It is 
happening not just to previously endangered species that society 
recognizes as in need of conservation, but also to common backyard 
creatures that most of us grew up with.

This article is a reminder of the importance of biodiversity. It is a 
call for a reaffirmation by governments and the public for the goals of 
the Convention on Biological Diversity, a re-assessment of the health 
of biodiversity in Canada, and a more rigorous response to foster the 
maintenance of native biodiversity upon which, ultimately, all of human 
life depends.

Laurence D.M. Packer, PhD, is Professor of Biology and Environmental 
Studies at York University if one of Canada's foremost experts on bees, 
a member of COSEWIC, and a Director of the 5-Year NSERC Canadian 
Pollination Initiative.Graham Forbes, PhD, is Director of the 
University of New Brunswick's Sir James Dunn Wildlife Research Centre 
and Associate Professor in the Faculty of Forestry and Environmental 
Management.