Research And Study Of Biodiversity
Evolution
Biodiversity indicates a measure of the variety of plant and animal species in the biosphere it is the result of long evolutionary processes. Evolution is the mechanism that more than three billion years allows life to adapt to changing conditions on the ground and that should continue to work because it can still accommodate forms of life in the future. The diversity of life on earth is the set of living beings that inhabit the planet. This difference is called the Biodiversity ‘, BIODIVERSITY English, this word can be translated “variety of life”.
Biodiversity is not only as the result of evolutionary processes, as well as the reservoir from which to draw the evolution to implement all the morphological and genetic changes that give rise to new species. Biodiversity can be considered in at least three different levels:
– At the level of genes in a species (or population)
– At the level of species
– At the level of ecosystems
The morphological characteristics, ie all the visible features of living things such as eye color and hair human hair color of cats, are examples of the variety that exists at the level of genes within each species . The variety of species of butterflies that frequent our garden, the incredible number of different flowers that can be found in a field are examples of biodiversity at the species level. Finally, the variety of environments in a specific area is the natural expression of biodiversity in ecosystems.
The land is populated by numerous living beings, animals and plants that we know today have been ranked just one million species, but estimates made by biologists from 5 to 10 million. It then becomes even more urgent and important to deal with the conservation of species and environments at risk of disappearing forever because of man, even before they are discovered. And ‘well known that some biomes are more important than others in terms of species richness: coral reefs, estuaries, and tropical forests that receive more than half of the living, while covering 6% of the Earth’s surface, are the most important. Why diversity in a biological community can be considered a resource to be characterized by an appropriate number of species, a high ecological value and a link with the environmental conditions. Also required is a uniform and thorough knowledge of the basic data and the availability of recent data.
Biodiversity is life insurance on our planet. So biodiversity conservation must be pursued without limits because it is a universal heritage, which can offer immediate benefits to humans:
- mantenimento degli equilibri climatici sia a scala locale che planetaria; infatti le specie vegetali oltre ad essere l’unica fonte di ossigeno sul nostro Pianeta, hanno anche un ruolo fondamentale negli equilibri idrici e in quelli gassosi.
- Source of study material: the study of biodiversity allows you to have basic knowledge for understanding biological mechanisms similar in humans.
- Sustainable use of plants for food and medicines as regards the use of the plant to the power we have to say that today is exploited only a small part of the infinite possibilities provided by the food plants. Instead better use of these resources could meet the nutrition problems in many parts of the world, without altering the essential balance to the environment.
With regard to the use of plants for medicinal purposes instead there is a risk of losing before you even discover plants that supply needed in the fight against diseases such as cancer and leukemia.
- meeting the growing demand for natural areas: The establishment of protected areas for tourism, eco-friendly, can meet the growing demand for space to carry out activities such as hiking and bird watching.
Resource
A resource is any asset that exists in nature for use by man. Such as air, soil, water and energy. There are various types of natural resources that can be classified according to different criteria. A first distinction can be made between:
- Raw materials intended as the sum total of all the material components of the environment
- Resources, raw materials when the man uses them to meet their own needs, they are considered as resources.
- Reserves or that part of the exploitable resources with the tools and technologies available at a given moment in history.
The resources are not evenly distributed over the Earth, many of them are finite (eg oil), and others, though renewable, may deteriorate, sometimes due to human intervention (water and forests). In fact, the irrational exploitation of the environment proved to be harmful to the man himself, sometimes producing damage outweigh the advantages (eg desertification). The consumption of natural capital available to man produces so an increase in current wealth, but also a decrease in the capital on the planet will have in the future. For this reason, any work environment needs to be done in order to tie together use and protection of the resource.
A classification of resources based on ecological criteria identifies two main categories which are: non-renewable and renewable resources. The first can be found on the planet in limited quantities and with very long recovery times. Renewable resources are instead always available as linked to the cycles of matter which cause just a quick renewal. It should be noted that the timing of the use of non-renewable resources can be extended if the use is rational and, in some cases, providing for the recycling of waste materials. As for renewable resources availability may be affected by irrational use by humans that can cause so exhausted.
It is also possible to classify the resources in: natural resources, energy and mineral resources.
Environmental resources
Among these are both renewable resources such as water and vegetation, which exhaustible resources such as soil. The climate and the landscape rather than real resources can be considered “conditions” that are subject to change.
Water
so it is a renewable but limited resource through its endless cycle. The distribution of fresh water on land is not uniform, its presence depends on several factors such as the nature of the soil, winds, latitude, altitude and vegetation.
The water requirement is very broad and ranges from domestic, to the urban industry. In particular the consumption of a nation depend on various factors which are: the number of inhabitants, the rate of urban population and economic development. The man finally has developed techniques to bring this valuable resource, even where there was not. Among these techniques has developed irrigation that is implemented with different shapes.
The Soil
The Soil that for plants is the storehouse of nutrients, water and air that absorb through the roots. For men, it is primarily a resource for his work as a farmer, but the value of the land has gradually expanded, extending to services. The soil is a limited resource because the rate of formation is less than that of degradation; Despite this, the loss of land has increased tremendously.
The Climate
The Climate is important not only for man but for the whole biosphere because, along with the soil and water is one of the most important physical factors that affect the structure and function of terrestrial ecosystems.
The Vegetation
The Vegetation is the supreme renewable because, by means of solar energy and photosynthesis, and continuously produces new biomass regenerates oxygen to the atmosphere. It is also a resource because it preserves the indirect soil erosion.
The Landscape
The Landscape that geography gave a modern definition, considering all the factors such as the physical, biological and anthropogenic define and characterize a part of the earth’s surface. It should therefore be regarded as an entity that actually exists in a part of the biosphere, which often includes more of an ecosystem.
For preservation or control the transformation has been the subject of protective measures such as national parks, reserves and so on. The landscape as a resource is ultimately the result of the combination of various natural resources.
Energy Resources
The primary sources of energy are the Sun, the Earth and the Moon. This energy is then stored on secondary sources such as wind, tidal, wood fossil fuels, and so on. The winds are triggered by solar irradiation, which causes the flow of water in the hydrological cycle. The wood, coal fossil oil, natural gas, oil shale accumulated heat of the sun.
The energy sources to which man draws are mostly secondary and can be transformed into different forms of energy:
- Chemical energy developed by the combustion of wood, coal fossils, and produces heat
- Geothermal energy derived from the heating of fluids or gases in the subsurface rock masses into contact with high temperature
- Mechanical energy produced by the movement of wind and water flowing.
- Electricity is a form of energy not directly used by man
- Nuclear energy which is free from the material as a reaction between the particles that constitute, for cleavage of the nuclei of heavy elements, for union of the nuclei of light elements.
The largest consumers of energy are developed countries, whose high standard of living depends on the availability of energy. In the eighties there has been a new trend: the energy consumption has slowed. In developing countries, industrialization and high population growth on the other hand, during the same period there has been a rapid growth in energy consumption.
Mineral resources
The earth's crust is of great economic importance to the man who gets out of the rocks that make up the building materials and ornamental and minerals, key elements of industrial processes. The terrestrial matter, the amount of which is fixed and determined, changes shape and structure: for example, the trees become coal, but the time of this transformation is very slow. For this reason the mineral resources on Earth are finite resources and therefore finite. The distribution of resources on Earth is not homogeneous: it is estimated that in the first world is on about 40% of the mineral resources in the world. Because early exploitation of a field this must be cost-effective; parameters to evaluate the convenience are the amplitude of the reservoir, the content of the ore, the position of the reservoir, which must be feasible and not too far from the communication lines or from markets. The value of these parameters is not fixed, but varies according to the market needs and technological advances.
In the Foundation are, as in any other sector, technicians and specialists for research and study of bio diversity, so and so as to ensure any project the right expertise and the right penalty.
Dr. Enrique De La Caridad Angulo Borrero
