value of biodiversity

Question 1

direct use (biological resources)

Answer 1

direct role of biological resources in consumption or production ( marketable commodities )

scale - enormous/multifaced/difficult to evaluate

Question 2

direct use : food (biodiversity)

Answer 2

foundation os all food industries and relating services
veg, fruit meat, colourants, flavourings etc.

• mainly cultivated
• global agriculture 95% of plant/animal protein
• half of habitable land used for agriculture
• 99% of energy consumed by humans
• 1 billion people depend on ‘wild’ food

Question 3

direct use : medicine (biodiversity)

Answer 3

• 60% worlds population relies entirely on plant medicine for primary health care
• of new drugs approved 49% natural or derivatives
• 35% of medicines derived from natural products
• 1 in 125 plant species produced major drug

Question 4

direct use : biological control (biodiversity)

Answer 4

• use of natural enemies to control problem species; successful 30% weed biocontrol, 40% insect biocontrol

Question 5

direct use : industrial materials (biodiversity)

Answer 5

wide ranage e.g building materials , rubber

Question 6

direct use : recreational harvesting (biodiversity)

Answer 6

hunting/fishing
personal gardens
collection for display

Question 7

direct use : ecotourism (biodiversity)

Answer 7

Ecotourism is a form of tourism involving responsible travel to natural areas, conserving the environment, and improving the well-being of the local people

Question 8

indirect use : ecosystem services (biodiversity)

Answer 8

living things - modify physical / chemical conditions - create an environment suitable for life

completed changed earths physical and chemical conditions

indirect - provides surfaces crucial to human well-being and ‘ free ‘ ( i.e. not subject to direct trading )

Question 9

redundancy - biodiversity and ecosystem function

Answer 9

minimum number of species needed

most species equivalent

Question 10

Rivet popping - biodiversity and ecosystem function

Answer 10

losss of few species little effect but beyond threshhold losses, function fails

Question 11

idiosyncrasy - biodiversity and ecosystem function

Answer 11

function changes with diversity but is unpredictable as individual species have complex and varied roles

Question 12

non-use value : option value

Answer 12

retaining biodiversity for options for future use and non use that it may provide e.g genetic material as a source of novelty

( extinction = loss of information )

Question 13

non-use value : bequest value

Answer 13

John Locke - each generation should bequeath ‘ enough and as good for others to future generations as justice demands it ‘

Question 14

non-use value : intrinsic value

Answer 14

organisms have worth irrespective of use/non-use value

provalent view (secular and religous) - we have an absolute moral responsibility to protect what are our only known living companions in the universe