The term “biodiversity”is a contraction of thephrase “biologicaldiversity”.
• Biodiversity means therichness and variety oflife - of genes, speciesand ecosystems.
The ability to maintainecological processes over long periods of time.
• Sustainability of anecosystem is the abilityof that ecosystem tomaintain its structure andfunction over time in the face of external stress.
The biodiversity of an ecosystem contributes to the sustainability of that ecosystem.
• Higher/more biodiversity = more sustainable.
• Lower/less biodiversity = less sustainable.
• High biodiversity in an ecosystem means that there is a great variety of genes and species in
that ecosystem.A great variety of genes and species means that the ecosystem is better able to carry out natural processes in the face of external stress.
• Thus, the ecosystem is more sustainable.The more sustainable an ecosystem is, the
better it is for the environment and for people.
• People use ecosystems as sources of food,medicine and economy.
• Thus, it is in everyone’s best interest toincrease the sustainability of ecosystems
