Take a minute and think about a team sport you enjoy playing or watching. What would happen if, all of a sudden, you were the only person on that team or your teammates decided to quit doing their jobs? Chances are you would lose.

Biodiversity within an ecosystem works similarly to a team sport. Biodiversity is the interaction between all of the organisms in an ecosystem, their differences, and how they relate to each other. Just like the members of a team, each organism has a specific role to fill. This roll is called a niche. Unfortunately, in an ecosystem, if one of the organisms is no longer able to fulfill its job, there is a lot more at stake than losing a game. When biodiversity is changed or damaged, it can cause loss of plant species that could be a source of medicine or other resource of economic importance. Plus, the bottom line is, something beautiful is being destroyed as well as a species upon which other species depended.

Biodiversity occurs in three different levels: Genetic, Species, and Ecosystem. Genetic diversity refers to the differences within members of a species and their ability to adapt to changes. Species diversity refers to the total number of plant, animal, and insect species that can be found in a particular region. Ecosystem refers to the specific natural communities and the diverse species found there. From the basic genetic level, to the broad ecosystems level, biodiversity plays an extremely important roll in our world.

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