Two decades of research indicate that our ecosystems are
paying the price for “business as usual”

The loss of the planet’s biological diversity is increasingly
threatening Mother Nature’s ability to provide humans with goods
and services like food, water, fodder, fertile soils, and
protection from pests and disease, according to a sweeping review
of 20 years of research by an international team of ecologists,
including biologists from McGill University and the University of
British Columbia.

The 17 researchers present their findings in the June 7 edition
of the journal Nature in a scientific consensus statement
that summarizes evidence that has emerged from more than 1,000
ecological studies conducted since the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil.

“We believe that ongoing loss of biological diversity is
diminishing the ability of ecosystems to sustain human societies,”
says Andrew Gonzalez, Associate Professor with the Department of
Biology and the Quebec Centre for Biodiversity Science at McGill
University and author on the paper.

“We’ve reached a point where efforts to preserve species and
biological diversity might no longer be an act of altruism,” says
Diane Srivastava, Professor with the Department of Zoology and the
Biodiversity Research Centre at University of British Columbia and
author on the paper. “This research review dramatically underscores
the importance of strengthening–not weakening or
curtailing–environmental assessment processes in order to stem the
tide of the loss of species and diversity that so many humans
benefit from and depend on”.

The balance of evidence reviewed in the study shows that genetic
diversity increases the yield of commercial crops, enhances the
production of wood in tree plantations, improves the production of
fodder in grasslands, and increases the stability of yields in
fisheries. Plant diversity also contributes to greater resistance
to invasion by exotic plants, inhibits plant pathogens such as
fungal and viral infections, enhances above-ground carbon
sequestration through enhanced biomass, and increases nutrient
re-mineralization and soil organic matter.

“As much as the consensus statements by doctors led to public
warnings that tobacco use is harmful to your health, this is a
consensus statement by experts who agree that loss of Earth’s wild
species will be harmful to the world’s ecosystems and may harm
society by reducing ecosystem services that are essential to human
health and prosperity,” says Bradley Cardinale, Associate Professor
at the University of Michigan and leader of the research effort.
“We need to take biodiversity loss far more seriously – from
individuals to international governing bodies – and take greater
action to prevent further losses of species.”

The call to action comes as international leaders prepare to
gather in Rio de Janeiro on June 20 for the United Nations
Conference on Sustainable Development, known as the Rio+20
Conference. The upcoming conference marks the 20th anniversary of
the 1992 Earth Summit in Rio, which resulted in 193 nations
supporting the Convention on Biological Diversity’s goals of
biodiversity conservation and the sustainable use of natural
resources.

This research was supported by grants from the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council of Canada and the National Science
Foundation in the United States.