PASTRANA, Christian R.

Jan 14, 2019

AR – A42

FOOD SECURITY AND BIODIVERSITY

Preserving biodiversity has direct benefits for food security and human population. Species are
all directly and indirectly interacting in an ecosystem. It's not just interactions between species;
ecosystems play an integral role in natural cycles. This includes removing carbon from the atmosphere,
cycling nitrogen and other nutrients through soil, and altering the water cycle, which are all essential in
agriculture for the production of food.

Ecosystems with more of their biodiversity intact are more stable. In an agricultural setting,
increasing local biodiversity can be used to combat crop pests, making a local environment more
habitable for the pests’ enemies. This can increase the yield and quality of crops. Greater biodiversity
means healthier, more resilient ecosystems which can produce better goods for people such as food,
fuel, timber, fibre, and water. A new form of agriculture needs to be found to feed the ever-so growing
population of the world for both efficiency and equitability.

A diverse ecosystem has more species in it, which can adapt to a wide variety of different
circumstances, take advantage of more ecological niches, and produce a wider variety of food and
nutrition. Monocultures (all one species, often with very limited genetic diversity in that population as
well) are highly susceptible to disease, climate change, new pests, new parasites, and have little variety
in what they produce as well. Think of biodiversity as our supermarket. Would you rather go to a
supermarket that has only row after row after row of peanuts, or one that has multiple brands of
multiple products in multiple sections?