What is biodiversity?

When we talk about biodiversity, we mean all the varieties of life that exist on Earth. Earth's biodiversity encompasses an amazing wealth of plants, animals and microorganisms. Biological and genetic diversity is the basis for all food production. It makes the soil fertile, ensures the storage of water and carbon, ensures that food plants are pollinated and it makes plants and animals robust against changing climate and environmental conditions.

Photo: Kore Foundation.

There are probably 60,000 species in Norway, but we only know of 43,705 species. In Norway, we currently have 4438 red list species. 2355 species are threatened.

Where is the biodiversity in agriculture?

The biodiversity in agriculture includes both wild and cultivated species and varieties. Humans have been engaged in agriculture in one form or another for about 12,000 years. During this time, many species have found their niche in the cultivated landscape. For example, there are many species that are associated with meadows, hayfields and pastures, or that thrive on field islets, in stone fences and fencerows. After the use of large machinery became common, agricultural practices have changed quite a bit, and this makes it difficult for many of the species that have adapted to live in the agricultural landscape. 24% of the endangered species in Norway are associated with cultivated land.

In addition to the wild species we find in the cultivated landscape, agriculture is full of cultivars and varieties, refined over thousands of years.

The benefits of wild biodiversity

All our cultivated plants have their origins in wild plants. Then, over thousands of years, humans have selected the plants with the most favorable characteristics, those that provided the most and best food and that could withstand being grown where humans lived. The wild plants still have a genetic selection that can be useful to bring into the improved varieties.

Many of the wild species associated with the cultural landscape do important jobs for us. Among other things, they are pollinators, they are birds and predatory insects that eat harmful insects, they are homes or host plants for such birds and insects, they help with decomposition in the soil, and many other important jobs. Read more about this under “Variety of helpers”.

Genetic diversity in agriculture – the foundation for food security

Diversity in agriculture is one of the most valuable resources that farmers manage. Different plant varieties have different genes and therefore different characteristics. The genes and gene combinations that make up this diversity are called genetic resources. When you preserve a diversity of varieties, you are more likely to have varieties that can withstand changing growing conditions. Some plants may have special resistance to pests and diseases, while others can withstand poor soil, drought or flooding. Varietal diversity also provides a variety of smell, taste and color, height, ripening time and other characteristics

Photo: Kore Foundation.

Biodiversity is disappearing 

As much as 75 percent of the genetic diversity of plants in agriculture was lost in the last 50 years of the 20th century. Nearly half of the genetic variation within important livestock breeds has also been lost. When the genetic diversity of important food plants and livestock is lost, farmers also lose the ability to practice agriculture adapted to local conditions. In a small country like Laos, for example, farmers manage several thousand varieties of rice in their fields. Each variety of rice has a unique genetic makeup, which can provide: 

  • Different taste, smell and color 
  • Resistance to various diseases and pests 
  • Adaptation to different geographical conditions 
  • Adaptation to changes in climatic conditions 

It is not enough to store genetic resources in gene banks. Only through the use of diversity can a continuous evolution of genetic material be maintained. Agricultural biodiversity is the result of 12,000 years of practice in which farmers have selected and refined plant varieties and livestock breeds. This diversity is severely threatened today. Human-induced climate change is amplifying this effect in many places, and a reduction in biodiversity reduces farmers' ability to adapt to climate change. 

Sources

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