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Why Study Plant Diversity? |
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Thoughts on diversity, ecology and evolution
Andrew L. Hipp, PhD
Plant Systematist and Herbarium Curator
The Morton Arboretum
Plant diversity is the focus of my work, and I have been asked from time to time why I or anyone else should be interested in it. Why bother studying the biological limits of and evolutionary relationships among plant species? Why worry about how species traits evolve and how those traits—flowering time, for example, or a particular chromosome arrangement—influence plant diversity? My answer is that these questions are the heart of understanding how species come into existence, how they persist over time, and how we can hope to preserve them.
There are many practical outcomes of this research. Biodiversity research tells us what species there are and how they can be identified. It identifies risks to their continuing existence. It tells us how important population genetic structure is to the restoration of plant communities. It tells us which are the dominant species of our forests and woodlands, how they adapt to changes in environment across their range, how they cohere genetically and ecologically, and how they assemble together to form communities. This is the baseline data needed to conserve biodiversity.
“But why,” you may ask yourself, “should I care about biodiversity in the first place?” There are many reasons. Communities that are diverse in species are more productive and more stable than communities that are simpler. This means that the plant communities with more species in them are more resistant to disease, to natural disaster, and more able to support more animals and, consequently, more people. Communities that are genetically diverse likewise support a greater diversity and greater abundance of herbivores and have greater flexibility to evolve in response to the changing climate. These communities do the practical work of protecting our water supply and atmosphere, feeding the animals we depend on, and moderating our climate. Finally, people are happier and their lives are richer when they come to know a greater diversity of life, just as knowing a greater diversity of people makes our lives richer. This strikes me as reason enough to study and protect biodiversity.
In a 2007 interview with Bill Moyers, the eminent naturalist E.O. Wilson observed that the human-caused extinction event we are currently living through is similar in magnitude to the meteor-induced extinction 65 million years ago that drove the dinosaurs to extinction. The result by the end of the century may be a loss of half of the species currently existing. Moyers asked, “How would that change life on earth?” Wilson responded, “We would just live in an impoverished environment. It would be a lot tougher. We wouldn’t have as many pollinators. We wouldn’t have as many future crops and genes to feed ourselves. We wouldn’t have the same kind of security given to us free in terms of water management… It should be a horror to people.”
To answer the question posed at the top of this posting, the study of biodiversity, ecology and evolution are central to understanding what makes the world livable, and how we can keep that world livable and at the same time enrich our own lives. In this series of articles I’ll focus on recent or ongoing research in diversity, ecology and evolution that may not be immediately available outside of the technical literature, but that provides us important tools and/or insight into making our natural world richer, healthier and more beautiful.
I’d like to hear from you. Please post your comments right here!
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December 4th, 2008 at 4:14 pm
Recently I have been exploring native plants. As a gardener, I planted lots of nonnative plants, but now am beginning to understand that diversity of native varieties may have a more positive impact on returning threatened species of plants, bugs, animals, etc., back to the environment. I would love to learn more about this, especially in terms of green communities and green urban planning.
December 5th, 2008 at 8:46 am
I have been a gardener all my life, and always left a small area for “volunteers”, wild plants that just arrive in my garden. Over the years the much more healthy and less high maintenance plants have become my favorites. The north east side of my home gets less sun, but the low growing wild flowers prosper there and are beautiful. By the tulip/daffodil patch I plant parsley that grows early and hides tulip leaves, you can easily find caterpillars. I keep only a couple of milk weed stems for the butterflies. Last year we had 9 Monarchs and many other butterflies, we were lucky enough to find the cocoons and later watch as the buterflies dried their wings. Bee conventions every day! The real secret is that I have composted for many years! We have only been at this new house for five years, but composting continues. Thank you for your work, you understand how life works and are able to explain it to us.
December 5th, 2008 at 10:55 am
I think of biodiversity as a net completely encircling the earth. Each of the knots connecting the strands of the net are a species of some kind. As those species disappear, the knots break and the net starts to fall apart. When enough of the net is destroyed, the earth starts to break through the net and eventually will be gone. A little melodramatic, perhaps, but do we really know?
I will be looking forward to learning more about current research.
December 8th, 2008 at 6:20 am
Thank you for the intriguing subject, Dr. Hipp. I am currently studying for an MS in Horticulture at the University of Illinois. I am at a point in my study to make decisions about a specialty. Plant diversity and its study involve examining existing species genetically for purposes of identifying desirable genes. This kind of research is also used in plant cytogenetics. I suspect plant pathologists may also collect this kind of data. These are vast subjects and even a lifetime would not be long enough to learn everything one would like. We are really in the infancy of biodiversity study. Thanks to researchers like you, more people are being made aware of the consequences of unmitigated human population growth.
December 8th, 2008 at 9:35 am
There is a great deal of interest in how native landscaping fosters biodiversity. Terri (and others interested in pursuing the topic) might enjoy Noah’s Garden: Restoring the Ecology of Our Own Backyards, by Sara Stein. Stein gave the keynote lecture at the Ecology Society of America meetings when they were held in Madison, WI several years ago, and she was very inspiring. The book touches the topics you are interested in. Another is The Forgotten Pollinators by Stephen L. Buchmann and Gary Paul Nabhan. The book explains many of the interconnections that influence biodiversity, and it’s a great read.
April 25th, 2009 at 1:24 am
I have been struggling with this for a long time. I appreciate the encouragement – it gives me hope. Maybe someone else will figure this out.
August 15th, 2009 at 8:04 pm
Dear Dr. Hipp,
I study diversity as well on islands. I have enjoyed the dialogue and encourage people to take classes on plant identification and evolutionary biology. Recently I enjoyed a speaker who believes gardeners can make a difference(particularly in suburbia) by planting native plants.
see:
(http://www.bringingnaturehome.net/
Keep up the great work!
November 24th, 2009 at 5:53 pm
nice post!