Biodiversity impacts many aspects of the wellbeing of our planet, but its effects are especially seen through its protection of human health. Biodiversity plays a vital role in helping prevent diseases, providing essential medicines, and supplying us with nutritious food sources.
Zoonotic Spillover Risk
Pathogens rely on specific hosts in order to thrive until that host dies and the pathogen jumps to a new one. As biodiversity is rapidly decreasing, the chances of different pathogens infecting humans is only increasing as other possible hosts are dying out. Lyme disease, Ebola virus, influenza, and rabies are examples of diseases that originated in animals but spilled over to humans. Reservoir hosts are animals that can sustain pathogens within themselves long enough to pass them on to other animals without facing negative consequences on their health. Reservoir hosts tend to be animals with larger populations such as bats, birds, and rodents. They can survive the harsh impacts of human activities such as pollution and deforestation unlike many other species of animals. The stronger durability of reservoir host animals causes them to outlive non reservoir host animals. With fewer animals present to manage the reservoir animal populations, the reservoir hosts quickly multiply and increase the chances of zoonotic diseases spreading to humans. Over time, pathogens have become dependent upon reservoir animals to multiply and infect other organisms. Reservoir animals spread disease at much higher rates than non-reservoir animals, so when biodiversity is high, diseases get diluted and disappear within non-reservoir animals. To summarize, diseases are more likely to spread to humans from animals when reservoir host populations are multiplying which tends to occur with biodiversity loss.
Medical Resources
Loss of biodiversity reduces the available resources that can be used for medicine, drug discovery, and biotechnology. A prime example of biodiversity providing a useful source for medicine is the case of the Pacific yew. Old forest growth was being cut down and thrown away and with it went the Pacific yew. Later it was discovered that the Pacific yew contained the compound taxol which could kill cancer cells by preventing cell division after disassembling the mitotic spindle. The discovery of taxol has led to the creation of many taxol-like compounds which are even more powerful than taxol. Another example is the discovery of peptide compounds in the venom of cone snails. These peptide compounds are able to block many ion channels, receptors and pumps in neuromuscular systems, and have become valuable tools in neurophysiological research. About 40% of medicine today is derived from plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms. With biodiversity decreasing by the day, there are now fewer and fewer resources for advancements in healthcare.
Nutritional Health
Biodiversity is fundamental in sustaining human nutrition. Diverse soil organisms increase the amount of carbon in soil which improves soil fertility and soil structure. This results in water being able to easily flow through the soil and also helps the soil firmly hold itself together. These properties allow for greater and healthier crop production which contributes to our survival. Genetic diversity of crops helps humans meet all our nutritional needs through providing us with varieties of fruits, vegetables, grains, and animal products containing different vitamins, minerals, proteins, fats, and other essential nutrients. Some varieties of crops and livestock are more naturally packed with nutrients than others. For example, certain strains of rice have higher levels of vitamin A such as Golden Rice, and some livestock produce meat with higher omega-3 fatty acid content. Genetic diversity allows the breeding of these nutrient-rich sources which enhances humans’ dietary quality. Long term food security and health are maintained with the nutrition that biodiversity provides us with.
Here’s what you can do to take part in the conservation of biodiversity
Build a green space or garden in your backyard and plant native species
Remove weeds in your backyard
Only let water run down a drain
Restore habitats by bringing back animals and plants that were originally found there
Vote on legislation that outlaws human exploitation of natural habitats
Research about different species and how they interact with their environment to understand how to protect them
Work towards reducing the effects of climate change
Purchase sustainable products
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