The biodiversity crisis

The natural world is vanishing before our eyes. We are seeing an alarming
acceleration in the extinction rate of plants and animals, and a dramatic erosion of natural
habitats.
Biological diversity is a resource for living. We depend on it for our food, clean air
and water, shelter, warmth and a variety of medications, clothing and building materials, not
to mention those intangible aspects of our lives such as pleasure in the beauty of nature.
The United Nations defines biodiversity as "the variability among living organisms
from all sources including, inter alia (among other things), terrestrial, marine and other
aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes
diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems."
As the range and diversity of living things diminish, we suffer a reduction in the
"goods and services" provided by the Earth's ecosystems, which make human survival, health
and prosperity possible. It is an impending disaster which affects every continent of the
world.

The impact of human activity on biodiversity

The Earth's ecological systems are constantly changing over time, reflecting climatic
conditions and geological, biochemical and biological processes.
Several major biodiversity extinction events have taken place in our planet's history,
and each of them has led to profound shifts in life forms. We appear to be facing a new
biodiversity crisis, and scientists believe this to be a result of human activities.
In Europe, more than in any other continent, human beings have shaped biodiversity,
as settled agriculture and animal husbandry spread from south-east to north-west Europe
between 10,000 and 5,000 years ago.
The landscapes that were created many thousands of years ago were relatively stable
until the agricultural and industrial revolutions that began in the 18th century. Since then, and
even more dramatically since the 1950s, there has been an intensification of agriculture,
industry (with its associated pollution), building, land abandonment and movement to towns
and cities.
This changing relationship between human activities and nature is thought to be the
main reason for the current biodiversity crisis in western Europe.
Maintaining the abundance and health of our ecosystems is no longer simply a target
of nature conservation but a major challenge for society.

Pressure on resources
If we think in terms of an 'ecological footprint' - the total area required to produce the
food and fibre that we consume, to absorb the waste from our energy consumption, and to
provide space for our infrastructure - humanity's ecological footprint was 2.5 times larger in
2001 than in 1961, and exceeded the Earth’s biological capacity by about 20 per cent. We are
spending natural capital faster than it is being regenerated.
On top of this expansion in resource use, the world population is expected to grow
from six billion in 1999 to almost nine billion in 2050, and this will put greater pressure on
land use and the amount of arable land per person, which has already decreased from 0.24
hectares in 1950 to 0.12 hectares today.
In North America a person needs around 9 global hectares for support on average, a
Western European needs 5 hectares, and a Central or Eastern European needs around 3.5
hectares.
 Around 1.3 billion people around the world live in conditions of extreme poverty,
generally in areas of high biodiversity. Enough food is now produced to feed the world's
population, but people still go hungry and many of the resources exploited in these regions –
fish, timber, soy and palm oil to name but a few - are used to meet the constantly growing
consumption needs of richer countries. As a consequence, the ecosystems of poorer countries
are being depleted.
The net loss in forest area at the global level during the 1990s has been estimated as
up to 94 million hectares - an area larger than Venezuela and equivalent to 2.4% of the
world's total forests.

The loss of species

Species have important roles to play within their systems. Each one of them interacts
in a complex way with other plant and animal species within a community, either as a prey, a
parasite, a pollinator, a producer of food and energy, a decomposer, a nutrient or a
competitor.
During the last decade, because of modern land use and management practices and
wildlife protection measures, we have witnessed positive trends in the population and
distribution of a number of plant and animal species, some of which were thought to be on
the verge of extinction.
However, while some species populations have increased, many others are declining,
the most vulnerable being those at the top of food chains such as large carnivores, species
found only in one geographical area and with a very limited distribution, species with
chronically small populations, and migratory species.
Some 10 to 30% of mammal, bird and amphibian species are thought to be currently
threatened with extinction.
A rich variety of cultivated plants and domesticated animals serve as the foundation
for agricultural biodiversity. Yet people depend on just 14 mammal and bird species for 90%
of their food supply from animals. And just four species - wheat, maize, rice and potato -
provide half of our energy from plants. But this focus on monocultures means that species,
varieties and breeds may die out.
Another food production issue we face is the use of Genetically Modified Organisms:
plants, animals and micro-organisms such as bacteria, which have been artificially altered to
give them a useful new property. These pose potential threats to their naturally occurring
relatives when they are introduced into nature or if they escape from controlled environments.
Just 14 mammal and bird species account for 90% of our food supply from animals. And just
four species - wheat, maize, rice and potato - provide half of our energy from plants.

The changing face of the countryside

We are still changing the way we use our land in Europe, though not as fast as in the
mid to late 20th century. Recent analyses show that land is becoming a more scarce resource:
800,000 hectares of Europe's land cover was converted to artificial surfaces from 1990-2000,
taking over agricultural and natural areas, and wetlands in particular.
Grasslands continue to be converted to arable land, inevitably accompanied by the use
of fertilizers and pesticides as well as the destruction of hedgerows, walls, lanes and ponds
that historically have been home to a wide range of species.
More land has been converted to agriculture since 1945 than in the 18th and 19th
centuries combined.On the other hand, more farmland has been abandoned in Europe than
has been created – a result of younger people moving to urban areas and the ageing of rural
populations. Allowing previously intensively managed fields or forests to go wild may be
good for local biodiversity, but the effects are generally negative when they occur on a large
scale.

The effects of pollution

Pollution by oxygen-consuming substances and phosphorus has been markedly
reduced in recent years due to lower discharges from waste water treatment plants and
industry. Pollution by heavy metals and some other heavily regulated chemicals is also
decreasing and has improved the water quality in European rivers and lakes.
On the other hand, the deposition of nitrogen compounds, released through fossil fuel
combustion and fertilisers, has not reduced noticeably. Excess nitrogen in the environment
causes acidification and over-fertilisation and is a threat to sensitive ecosystems and species.

Climate change – the greatest threat of all?

We do not know exactly how ecosystems and species will react to climate change. But
there is a strong probability that it will be even more damaging than habitat destruction,
pollution and over-harvesting.
The changes are likely to affect biodiversity and ecosystems in different ways across
Europe.
In the Arctic, higher temperatures have already brought a greater variety of plants to
Arctic lakes and new niches may continue to open up as the permafrost thaws, glaciers retreat
and temperatures warm. But there will also probably be a loss of some native Arctic plants,
and as sea-ice conditions change, marine mammals will find themselves in a precarious
position. Polar bears, for example, will be left without sea ice from which to hunt.
Mountain regions are likely to be affected dramatically. One study suggests that a
one-degree warming in the Alps will result in a loss of 40 per cent of native plants and that a
five-degree warming would produce a 97 per cent loss.
Marine ecosystems will suffer complex changes as temperatures go up. Rising sea
waters will invade freshwater ecosystems, storms will become more intense, and there will be
water quality changes as fresh water flows down rivers.
Some Atlantic coastal wetlands may cope well with flooding because they have
evolved protective features like sand spits. But both the Mediterranean and Baltic Seas are
virtually tide-less and have no coping strategies.
The Mediterranean region as a whole, while prone to coastal changes, is also likely to
face more droughts and fires, loss of wetlands, land degradation due to desertification and
spreading salinity in newly irrigated areas. Even small changes in temperatures and rainfall
could have severe consequences for some typical Mediterranean tree species.

Halting the loss of biodiversity

With the signing of the UN Convention on Biological Diversity in 1992, concerns for
biodiversity achieved a high political profile, and the World Summit on Sustainable
Development in 2002 endorsed the target of reducing the rate of loss of biodiversity by 2010.
But we all have the power to help, and one area where we can influence political
decisions is in changing the way we consume. For example, with so many types of foods on
offer in our markets and supermarkets, we should take into account the real social and
environmental costs involved in making these products available to us.

Bibliography
EEA Annual Report 2006