ENVS 1126 Chapter : LBN Chapter 6
Document Summary
Wild species and biodiversity have value: ecosystem capital: all goods and services provided to humans by natural systems, the basis of natural capital = ecosystems. The basis of ecosystems = wild species: ecosystem sustainability means maintaining: Biological wealth: two million species have been examined, named, and classified. 5 30 million species may exist: biota: species of living things that are responsible for ecosystem structure and maintenance, biological wealth: biota plus their ecosystems. The ecosystem capital that sustains human life and economic activity. Represents a major part of a country"s total wealth. This richness of living species constitutes biodiversity. Humans have always used wild species: 12,000 years ago, humans started converting forests, savannas, and plains to fields and pastures, as human populations grew and culture developed. Others disappeared as their habitats were destroyed: between 1642 and 2001, 631 north american species and subspecies went extinct, global biodiversity loss costs . 5 trillion/year.
