12 Feb 13 Biodiversity is a recent word. It was used for the
first time in Washington in 1986 by an entomologist (Edward O.
Wilson) and can be a misunderstood topic. In actual fact it
should be a simple concept, because at its essence, it signifies
nature, life itself, and the diversity of life on many levels -
from the smallest and most basic (genes - the building blocks of
life) to animal and plant species, up to the most complex levels
(ecosystems). All these levels intersect and influence each
other and each other’s evolution. Studies from the University of
Stanford have compared the species and varieties of an ecosystem
to rivets that hold an airplane together. If we remove the
rivets, for a while nothing will happen and the airplane will
continue to operate. But little by little the structure will
weaken and, at a certain point, just removing one rivet will
cause the plane to crash. In the history of the planet,
everything has a beginning and an end, and in every era, many
species have become extinct. B