THE VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY

Everyone of us depends on biodiversity in some way — the air we breath, the water we drink, the food we eat, the medicines we use, the work we do — every single day.

NEW!
Read Dr. Kimberly Johnson's article on the value of medicinal plants and ethnobotany.

Ecosystem Services

Read Ecosystem Services: Benefits Supplied to Human Societies by Natural Ecosystems, a paper by Gretchen Daily, Susan Alexander, Paul Erlich, and others.

Sources of Medicine

Of the 150 most commonly prescribed drugs in the U.S., 57% contain one or more active ingredients derived from natural compounds:

• Pilocarpine, the anti-glaucoma drug of choice, is isolated from a tropical plant long-used in traditional medicine by curanderos and shamans in South America.
• Capoten, used to treat hypertension, is derived from the venom of a neotropical rainforest viper.
• Quinine (once the only effective treatment for malaria) and quinidine (still one of the most effective drugs in treating cardiac arrhythmias) are derived from the bark of the neotropical Cinchona tree.
• Streptomycin, neomycin, and erythromycin are derived from tropical soil fungi.
• Aspirin (from willow bark), digitalis (from foxglove), and curare (variations are derived from tropical vines or poison dart frogs), and herbal remedies (i.e. gingko biloba, echinacea, St. John’s wort) are just a few more of the many examples of the value of biodiversity to health care.
  

  Traditional medical systems, using medicines from natural sources, provide primary health care for 80% of the world’s population.

  The study of medicinally active plants is one of the most active and potentially beneficial (both economically and socially) areas of inquiry into the benefits of preserving biodiversity. Read Dr. Kimberly Johnson's article on medicinal plants.

Natural Checks and Balances

When nature’s balance (such as that between predators and prey) is disrupted, the results can lead to the emergence of new diseases or the resurgence of old diseases previously held in check:

• AIDS/HIV is the human version of simian immunovirus (SIV). SIV jumped to humans when African hunters used chimpanzees as “bush meat” during deforestation efforts.
• Lyme disease, the most reported vector-borne disease in the United States, is spread by ticks on deer, which no longer have effective predator control.
• Hantavirus emerged in the Southwest when rodent predators such as coyotes and wolves were eliminated. Without any natural predators, particularly coyotes, to control their population, the number of deer mice grew exponentially. The massive deer mouse population explosion exposed people to the rodents, who carry the hantavirus and eliminate it in their feces and urine. Aerosolized dry urine, such as can occur when sweeping old garages and basements, is the primary mechanism of infection.
• Viral hemorrhagic fevers, like Ebola and Machupo, are among the newest emerging infections that are almost always fatal to humans. Like hanta, these are carried by previously-rare mice that have grown common due to habitat disruption and the removal of natural checks and balances.

Biological Controls

• Fungi and bacteria can be used to control termite infestations.

In the News:

• Africa Unlocks Herbal Secrets to Fight AIDS. There is a growing belief among African herbalists that ancient wisdom could turn the tide of a modern disease.
• Smelly white fungus could help farmers — and the environment. Researchers at Montana State University say a stinky fungus from Honduras may provide farmers with an alternative to an effective but ozone-damaging soil fumigant.
• Groups discuss extinction threat to medicinal, aromatic plants. Ten members of a Native American Elder Circle took part in a U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service Medicinal Plant Working Group discussing ways to protect threatened plants. The group also includes representatives from industry, government, academia, and environmental organizations.