Defining and measuring biodiversity Biomedical Sciences Essay

Biodiversity
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Biodiversity
Biodiversity includes a variety of life on Earth, which includes all organisms, population and species, genetic variation, and their complex assemblages of communities and ecosystems (Gaston & Spicer 2004). It also refers to the count of varieties of organisms found in a specific region. Biodiversity is important to the well-being of life on the planet. It is responsible for boosting ecosystem productivity. It protects freshwater resources, contributes to climate stability, provides food to living organisms, provides medicinal value, promotes soil formation and provide nutrient for storage and recycling, supports the growth of tree species, increases ecosystem productivity, and offers places for tourism and recreation (Shah, 2014). There are numerous ways of measuring biodiversity. It can be measured in terms of its relation to species richness, or the number of species in a given region. The species diversity in a given area can be measured using the Simpson index and Shannon-Winer diversity index.
Extinction is a process whereby a family, species, or other groups of plants and animals cease to exist. Extinction is part and parcel of life on planet earth. Over the decades, most species that existed on earth have evolved gradually and went into existence. Species go through the process of extinction due to natural shifts in the environment that occur over long periods, for instance, ice ages. However, the recent environmental changes caused by human activities have led to an increased rate of extinction. Some of the activities that lead to extinction are overexploitation of natural resources, an influx of non-native species, and diseases (National Wildlife Federation, 2019).
The Endangered Species Act (ESA) is a federal law that is meant to provide programs to conserve the endangered plant and animal species and the habitat where they exist. The federal agencies that lead in the implementation of ESA are the U.S Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) and U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) Fisheries Service (U.S. EPA, 2018). A study conducted by the National Fish and Wildlife Foundation in 2011 found the total annual value of ecosystem services to be at $1.6 trillion in the U.S. The total value of national wildlife ref...