1.+Biodiversity

Biodiversity toc Biodiversity is the totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region. It includes every living organism from the smallest plant to the largest animal in the region. Biodiversity is not evenly distributed across the globe, there are places with abundant biodiversity and places with barely any, which depends on the location of the region. It is important to protect and conserve biodiversity in places such as Monteverde. = media type="youtube" key="HA3xNMJnFuo" height="315" width="420" =

=What is biodiversity, why is it important to protect? Why does Costa Rica have such a high biodiversity percentage? = As mentioned before,Biodiversity is the totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region. It includes every living organism from the smallest plant to the largest animal in the region. Biodiversity is important to protect for many reasons. First, after many years of research it has become clear that biodiversity is important for human sustainability. Also, the human curiosity requires biodiversity because we are always discovering new species and are always wanting to know more. In Costa Rica there is such a high biodiversity percentage due to several key concepts. The most important is microclimates which are a large scheme of climates. For example, in Costa Rica there are cloud forests, beaches, valleys, humid areas, dry areas, etc. Also, in Costa Rica there is rain all year, which means more crops and more food to sustain so many species as well as no extreme climates such as snow or deserts. In Monteverde, we had an activity to calculate the biodiversity of two different settings and see which had more.  =How does development impact biodiversity in Monteverde? =

Monteverde is one of the most biodiverse regions in Costa Rica to which over 70,000 tourists visit every year. For this same reason, many hotels, universities, restaurants, buildings, research sites, among many other structures are being made for development of the region. As years go by, more attention is attracted to Monteverde, bringing in more tourists, which require more infrastructure and roads in the area. This helps the Monteverde community economically greatly since all of Costa Rica's economy is based on economy. For many people, making Monteverde a more developed area seems like a very good idea, but these people don't think about the rest of the species. By making roads and buildings we are changing the species' habitat and making it more dangerous for them to live there because these animals are not used to living in these environments. For example, if a sloth needs to cross from one side of the forest to the other, which is split by a road and there are no trees in the canopy for the sloth to pass by, it will probably have to cross the road and most likely get run over by any vehicle passing by. For this reason, at our visit at Monteverde we helped complete a project called "Living Fences". In this project we helped plant 497 live posts in order to create a biological corridorfor these animals to be able to live closer to humans with not as much complications. media type="custom" key="19092814"

My Product was made to give an explanation about what we did in Monteverde. The Prezi presentation contains information about biological corridors and several pictures taken in Monteverde. @http://prezi.com/za34bmgb0bzl/present/?auth_key=lmfvjw8&follow=2itjjb1zylqy

 

=What is the 2010 biodiversity target? = The [|2010 biodiversity target] was a commitment from the Parties to the Convention in 2002 to, by 2010 decrease drastically the current biodiversity rate loss at a global, regional, and national level to help reduce poverty and to improve all kinds of life on Earth. This commitment was made by World Summit on Sustainable Development and United Nations General Assembly and was set as a new world target under the Millennium Development Goals.  <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">media type="youtube" key="l8mEr1PhHPU" height="515" width="760" =<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">What is sustainability and how is it measured? =

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">[|Sustainability] is the capacity to endure or the ability to be maintained at a certain rate or level. It is measured by the Environmental Performance Index (EPI). The EPI is used to measure numerically on environmental public health and ecosystem validity. Variables considered to get the EPI of each country are: environmental burden of disease, water (adequate sanitation, water stress, water quality, and drinking water), air pollution (effects on humans and ecosystems), biodiversity and habitat, forestry, fisheries, agriculture, and climate change. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">

=<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">How are biodiversity and climate change related? =

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Biodiversity is closely related to climate change for one simple reason. Climate change affects biodiversity in a negative way. This is because when climate changes it affects species that need certain temperature and humidity to survive. When this changes these species must migrate or become extinct. For example, the Bellbird in Monteverde has had to search for higher elevation in order to live in colder temperatures that it needs to survive. Also, climate change is affecting biodiversity not only to certain species, it is also affecting ecosystems as a whole. For example, many coral reefs around the Earth have been loosing color and dying, which is also killing the fish living in these reefs. media type="youtube" key="Xra87liAopM" height="315" width="420"

=<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">How is biodiversity crucial to human wellbeing, sustainable development and poverty reduction? =

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Changes humans make to biodiversity are, in most cases, irreversible. These changes have been faster in the past 50 years than ever in history. Biodiversity is crucial to human well-being indirectly and directly. It benefits human well-being by giving us security, basic material for a good life, health, good social relations, and freedom of choice and action. Many people have benefited over the last century from the conversion of natural ecosystems to human-dominated ecosystems and the exploitation of biodiversity. It is also essential to sustainable development. Biodiversity is a measure of sustainable development. Sustainable development is regarded as a major target for industry and the planning system, and measuring biodiversity is the only way to be sure that this target is being achieved. Amongst its many benefits, biodiversity is also crucial to poverty reduction. This is because of the basic goods and ecosystem services it provides. Biodiversity gives food, fiber, medicine, soil formation, air quality and climate regulation, the regulation of water supply and quality and the cultural and aesthetic value of certain plants and species. Biodiversity is also key factor in agriculture, livestock, tourism, fishery, and forestry. Roughly over 1.3 billion people depend on biodiversity to sustain their lives with needs such as land to live in, water to drink, and plants and animals. All this is just a fraction of the evidence that we must take care of the biodiversity surrounding us for our survival, especially in countries such as Costa Rica, whose major economical income is from tourism. <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">

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<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;"> <span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Biodiversity." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 July 2012. Web. 09 May 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Biodiversity>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Why Conserve Biodiversity?" Why Conserve Biodiversity? Web. 16 May 2012. <http://www.cnhp.colostate.edu/biodiversity.asp>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Costa Rica Monteverde." Costa Rica Monteverde. Web. 01 June 2012. <http://guiascostarica.com/monteverde.htm>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Sustainability Information." EPA. Environmental Protection Agency. Web. 01 June 2012. <http://www.epa.gov/sustainability/basicinfo.htm>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Sustainability." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 06 Jan. 2012. Web. 01 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sustainability>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Environmental Sustainability Index." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 31 May 2012. Web. 01 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Sustainability_Index>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Environmental Performance Index." Environmental Performance Index. Yale University. Web. 06 June 2012. <http://epi.yale.edu/>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Environmental Performance Index." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 29 May 2012. Web. 06 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Environmental_Performance_Index>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">Walsh, Bryan. "Coral Reefs Face Extinction." Time. Time, 11 July 2008. Web. 07 June 2012. <http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,1826263,00.html>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Three-wattled Bellbird." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 05 Sept. 2012. Web. 07 June 2012. <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Three-wattled_Bellbird>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Biodiversity and Human Wellbeing." Biodiversity and Human Wellbeing. Web. 07 June 2012. <http://www.global-greenhouse-warming.com/biodiversity-and-human-wellbeing.html>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"CapeNature - Home." CapeNature. Web. 07 June 2012. <http://www.capenature.co.za/biodiversity.htm?sm[p1][category]=595>.

<span style="font-family: Verdana,Geneva,sans-serif; font-size: 150%;">"Biodiversity for Development." Biodiversity for Development. Web. 07 June 2012. <http://www.cbd.int/development/>.

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