The Importance of Biodiversity
Science: KS3, topic 1.3.21
Biodiversity
It is important to maintain high biodiversity in habitats on Earth, so that we can use genetic information in the future.
The importance of biodiversity
- Natural selection over time is important and shows why a population must have variation, or genetic diversity, if it is to evolve over time.
- This is why we have seed banks, large chilled rooms where we keep a sample of seeds from thousands of plants.
- At some point in the future we may need a plant's gene to help our own crops survive.
- This could happen if temperatures rose and we needed heat resistant crops.
- If that plant and its gene is extinct, we couldn't use it.
Why maintain biodiversity?
- Important medicines come from plants.
- By keeping a high biodiversity, we are making sure that a plant that might lead to a new drug development is still available.
- With genetic engineering - putting genes from one organism into another - we again want to make sure we have a big selection of genes to choose from.
- By keeping a high biodiversity, we are keeping options open for future scientists to solve problems.
Test yourself on The Importance of Biodiversity
Why do we have seed banks?
What is not a future benefit of keeping high biodiversity?
Why do seed banks store a sample of a plant's seeds before it becomes extinct?