Biodiversity: Diverse? Yes. Simple? People are Trying

Biodiversity is, at once, a seemingly simple and straightforward concept, and yet one that is so complex and overarching as to touch every aspect of our lives. At first blush, we all know what it means to live in an environment with a large number of flourishing plant, animal, and fungus species—and, for those of us old enough to remember when fireflies were more abundant, a decreasing number of species.[1] Simultaneously, biodiversity is the underpinning of all life on this planet, which exists in a mutually supporting web.[2] The direct impacts to human life and livelihood are extensive and well-documented. More than three-quarters of food crops around the world rely on pollinators (and not just the cute honeybees), while over half of modern medicines derive from nature—including fungus-based antibiotics, antimalarial drugs derived from sweet wormwood, and even ziconotide, a powerful analgesic that is used to relieve pain in cancer patients, which is derived from the venom of predatory cone snails.[3] Further, food security is enhanced by biodiversity, as crops grown in diverse environments are vastly more successful and sustainable than industrial monoculture crops.[4] Biodiversity also has positive impacts on individual humans’ health and well-being, and is an integral support to innumerable cultural traditions.[5]

An abundantly biodiverse ecosystem is a healthy, largely self-regulating one. In wetlands, algae and other species filter water, eliminating sediment, toxins, and excess nutrients for other species that rely on that water; even the humble oyster has its role in this system.[6] Relatedly, areas that are prone to flooding or intense rain events rely on biodiversity to keep them safe. In addition to minimizing erosion, biodiverse soils—those with an abundance of bacteria, insects, and fungi, some of nature’s smallest creatures—can absorb more water and prevent or mitigate flooding events.[7] However, biodiversity is under constant threat, from a warming planet, accelerated habitat loss, pollution, from illegal poaching, to name a few.[8] Even outdoor recreation, when enjoyed irresponsibly, can take its toll.[9] On the most extreme end of the scale is extinctions of entire species, where the biggest single culprit is invasive species, which are linked to some 60% of extinctions every year.[10] In addition to direct impacts, like kudzu smothering native plant species or feral pigs eating local birds, invasive species may have cascading effects on entire ecosystems as they replace native food supplies, often without providing any nutritive or other value in exchange.[11] This is all to say that while biodiversity is an issue that affects all of us, and all biomes, it’s also an intensely local matter, as the number and role of the species in any given region is place-specific. For that reason, today’s blog will focus on three regional organizations: BiodiversityWorks in Martha’s Vineyard, Mass., the Wetlands Initiative in Chicago, and the Portland, Ore., Wild Salmon Center.

Though it is best known as a vacation destination for the rich and famous, Martha’s Vineyard is home to a vast and diverse array of plants, animals, fungi, and seaweeds, including nearly 300 species of fish, more than 400 bird species, and a population of coastal otters.[12] Because of its location along coastal migration routes, Martha’s Vineyard is a critical spot for nesting birds.

This is particularly true for the Atlantic Coast Piping Plover, a threatened species that lays its eggs on open, sandy beaches such as those on Martha’s Vineyard.[13] Once the eggs are laid, both mother and father plovers take part in incubating eggs for 26 days before taking care of their newborn chicks.[14] While plovers and other birds have laid eggs on Vineyard shores for generations, their habitats are threatened by erosion, predation, and human recreation.[15] To combat this, BiodiversityWorks surveys and protects dozens of nesting pairs every year, ensuring that their chicks are given the best chance to thrive.[16] Martha’s Vineyard is also a nesting location for Northern Long-Eared Bats, a species that has seen its numbers reduced by as much as 95% since the introduction of the fungus that causes white nose syndrome in 2006.[17] While they may not be the most charismatic of mammals, bats are important pollinators and can eat more than 3,000 insects a night, including mosquitos and other pests.[18] Because white nose syndrome strikes bat populations while they are hibernating, BiodiversityWorks has spent years tracking migration and nesting patterns, culminating in the construction of new hibernation chambers where volunteers can check in on bats’ wellbeing.[19]

Moving west, a group in Chicago is focusing its efforts on maintaining the health and biodiversity of wetlands in the Midwest. The Wetlands Initiative (TWI), founded in the mid-1990s, is dedicated to rebuilding and augmenting wetlands in and around the Chicago area, a region that was filled with swamps and marshes for thousands of years before Europeans arrived in the 17th century.[20] In the ensuing centuries, however, settlers drained more than 90% of Illinois’s wetlands, siphoning water off for agriculture, and drying out those swamps and marshes for residential and commercial development.[21] In the Calumet Region, an intersection of biomes that stretches east from Chicago’s Far South Side, decades of manufacturing and other high-impact industries have left huge swathes of land and water degraded, and, in many cases, uninhabitable by native flora and fauna.[22] TWI has been the backbone of the conservation community’s efforts to rebuild the Calumet wetlands in the wake of deindustrialization. Beginning in 2015, TWI led the planning stages of the project, assessing conditions in Illinois and Indiana to determine potential restoration sites in the region.[23] Subsequently, TWI and partner organizations such as the Audubon Society have been tracking bird populations in the Calumet Region to guide future planning and assess ongoing recovery efforts in the area.[24]

While some organizations focus on the biodiversity of entire regions or biomes, others look at particular species. One such example is the Oregon-based Wild Salmon Center, which took a group of animals—salmonids, which comprise salmons and certain trout and steelhead species— and decided to target the protection of these fish and their habitats.[25] Salmon are what is known as a keystone species, meaning their health is directly related to the overall health of their ecosystems.[26] Recognizing this, the Wild Salmon Center identified over 100 river systems with large, diverse salmon populations and which sequester over six billion tons of greenhouse gases.[27]

As the organization’s name suggests, the group works to promote the health and flourishment of wild salmon populations in the northern Pacific region, spanning across North America and Asia.[28] Critically, the Center works with local coalitions across its coverage region, which brings together stakeholders that include governments, Tribal leaders, activists, and the business community, among others.[29] The Wild Salmon Center has been successful in obtaining official recognition and prioritization for 89 rivers across the world, and protected millions of acres of habitat in the Pacific Northwest and the Russian Far East.[30] The Wild Salmon Center has also been at the forefront of melding new technologies with traditional knowledge; in British Columbia, the Center works with the Heiltsuk Nation to develop a system for obtaining accurate, real-time salmon population counts along rivers in the province’s North and Central Coasts.[31] Called Salmon Vision, the system starts with fishing weirs, a centuries-old trapping system that was previously banned by the Canadian government, but which represent a revitalization of First Nations’ sovereignty and traditional foodways.[32] Equipped with cameras and deep learning technologies, the weirs allow the Wild Salmon Center, the Heiltsuk Nation, and their employees and volunteers to review accurate counts of Coho and Sockeye salmon in the region’s rivers, allowing them to assess and update their conservation strategies accordingly.[33]

Biodiversity is an incredibly complex and all-encompassing topic, touching every aspect of environmental health and conservation. While these organizations—and many others— undoubtedly do critical work, this is one issue that requires deep and sustained involvement from activists and scientists across the world.