Earth University

Diversity noun the state of being diverse; variety.

We all know that diversity is always a good thing. We all have different perspectives, opinions, and stories. When we meet people with different backgrounds, we’re able to learn a thing or two that we didn’t know before. Diversity fosters creativity and discussion. It leads to better problem solving. This is why many educational institutions strive to achieve and maintain diversity. Afterall, they’re training the scholars that will tackle many of the seemingly unsolvable problems our world faces, such as climate change.

However, school isn’t the only diverse thing in our world. Many things are diverse. If you think about it, nature itself is pretty diverse. I mean after all, humans (and thus, by extension, schools) are a part of nature so it’s not too shocking to see that mother nature also has a liking for diversity. And nature’s diversity is called biodiversity.

Biodiversity noun the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem.

Biodiversity is a good thing for our world in ways similar to why diversity is important in society and schools. Think of it like this: our earth is a university that wants to produce the best of the best, the crème de la crème if you will. Why does earth want to do this? First of all, we don’t really know because that’s kind of like asking what the meaning of life is. Second of all, if earth didn’t want to produce the best of the best, we’d all probably be like our extremophilic prokaryote cousins feasting on the extrements of deep sea vents.

Anyways, back to the scenario: earth wants the best. So it starts getting diverse.

There’s another reason why biodiversity is good. When a student graduates from university, they’re not able to single-handedly take care of society. Sure, maybe they’re really good with biology and can somehow cure cancer but it’s not like they can produce the food that gives them energy, make the paper they take notes on, operate the planes they take for important trips, and do the countless other things necessary for everyday life. Likewise, a single organism simply can’t do it all. Biodiversity allows for the complexity of ecosystems where different organisms are responsible for different things.

So what happens when we lose diversity?

Well, when there’s no diversity in a school, there’s no opportunity for discussion and growth. Students aren’t able to achieve their full potential and there's little to no creativity. Students that graduate from that school obviously aren’t stupid, but they don’t have the best assets to contribute to society either.

When biodiversity loss occurs, ecosystems suffer greatly. They’re unable to be as productive and crucial components for survival (such as purification of water, production of food, maintaining soil quality, etc.) are threatened.

Also, let’s go back to the student that graduated that can cure cancer. Due to the loss of productivity, they now have to grow their own food, make their own paper, and learn how to drive a plane (I know this is kind of dramatic but hang in there!). If I were that student, I’d be stressed. Very, very stressed. Now say that a life-changing event like the death of a loved one was to occur to this student. To be honest, I’d probably snap and lose it.

This also happens when biodiversity is lost. Tasks that other organisms used to do now have to be done by a single organism. All this stress this one organism endures and the countless other organisms that are in similar situations decreases ecological resilience, an ecosystem’s ability to recover from disturbance or trauma.

Change in biodiversity is normal. For example, different species become more active or dormant as the seasons change. However, our planet is facing unprecedented levels of species extinction. Not only does this have a risk of mass famine and lack of access to clean water, it also hinders the resilience of our ecosystems, leaving them even more vulnerable and fragile.

Obviously, conservation efforts will help with maintaining normal levels of biodiversity loss. However, another thing we can do to combat this issue is to participate in or organize BioBlitzes. A BioBlitz is an period of time where scientists and citizen scientists carefully survey all species and organisms in an area. BioBlitzes can take place anywhere: urban parks, nature reserves, even your backyard! Not only are BioBlitzes enjoyable for the entire community, they allow for scientists to monitor and effectively document levels of biodiversity an area has. It’s a great way to bring public awareness to biodiversity and the danger it’s in. You can even participate in BioBlitzes right now. The iNaturalist app allows for citizen scientists like yourself to document the species and organisms you encounter in your everyday life.

Hopefully, once the pandemic is a thing of the past, you’ll be able to participate in a BioBlitz with other citizen scientists physically. But until then, it’s important to not give up the fight for our home and “school”: Earth.