One planet, one experiment. E. O. Wilson Current estimates are that we are in the midst of a mass extinction at least as great as any in the geological record. Estimates that half of all species will die off in the next 40 to 100 years are reported repeatedly in the literature. The Earth has undergone five extinctions since multicellular organisms evolved some 600 million years ago. Biodiversity has many meanings.
Plants provide food, clothing, shelter, and medicine.
Plants, animals, and microorganisms clean our water, regulate the composition of the atmosphere, control the structure and fertility of the soil, and regulate pests disease often flourishes when ecosystems lose insect predators. We use microorganisms, natural and genetically modified, for bioremediation fixing our mistakes. We breed wild and commercial plants together to maintain crop yields. The loss of biodiversity means that the ability of the Earth to provide for us will be compromised in each of these categories. It is also a story of how genetic diversity helps species survive.