Who Will Protect the Web of Life?

The Intricate Web of Life

LIFE on earth is abundant and immensely diverse.  The term "biological diversity," or "biodiversity" for short, designates all the world's species, ranging from the smallest bacteria to the giant sequoias; from earthworms to eagles.

All this life on earth is part of one great interdependent web that also includes non-living elements. Life depends on non-living components such as earth's atmosphere, oceans, fresh water, rocks, and soils.  This community of life is called  the biosphere and humans are an integral part of it. 

Biodiversity embraces all the bacteria and other microbes. Many of these are known to perform vital chemical functions that keep ecosystems operating. Biodiversity, or the web of life, also includes the green plants that produce oxygen through photosynthesis, trapping solar energy and storing it in the form of sugars, which are the base of energy resources for most other forms of life.

Next time: Who Will Protect the Web of Life?/The Intricate Web of Life - Vanishing Variety

From the Awake! magazine