Biodiversity: Our Most Promising Investment

According to E.O. Wilson, biodiversity means simply “the stuff of life.” Biological diversity is everything that’s alive; the rest is the physical world.

So, biodiversity encompasses the varieties of life on Earth found at all levels from genes to species, to the functions they perform in an ecosystem as foragers, nutrient recyclers, pollinators, predators, etc., to the ecosystem itself.

In this series from the Norwich Conservation Commission, we’ll be exploring local examples of species, their functions and the diverse ecosystems of our town.

The organisms around us provide indispensable goods to humans – we could not survive without them. These include food, shelter, fuel and medicine. All of these benefits depend in turn upon additional ecosystem services such as climate regulation, water purification, plant pollination, and nutrient cycling.

Quite aside from the many useful ways we humans rely on biological diversity, we also recognize the intrinsic value of our living world.

The biodiversity of life on Earth is currently threatened by a variety of broad factors, chiefly climate change, land management practices and habitat loss, pollution, invasive species and wildlife trafficking. Then there are local, particular worries. Here in Norwich, for example, we can include deer overbrowsing as a significant threat to biodiversity.

When biodiversity declines an ecosystem gets weaker. It can suffer an increase in invasive species, a greater likelihood of disease, and decreased resistance to stresses such as floods, heat waves and drought. Soil and water quality decline.

Thriving ecosystems, in contrast, support healthy soils and wetlands. These, in turn, provide better water filtration and water quality, absorb more water reducing flood and drought risk, and grow more food. Ecosystems in balance are able to withstand sustainable hunting, fishing, harvesting and recreation.

In Norwich, deer overbrowsing and land management practices have resulted in increasingly unhealthy forests. Unprotected forests have an impoverished understory, which cannot support the insects and animals that depend on the understory. Invasive species, which deer do not eat, have moved in. As the deer eat most of the native tree seedlings, only nonpreferred species can grow to maturity. Maples, hickories, poplars, oaks, basswoods, among others are being eliminated from our woods. As mature trees of these species die, there are no new ones available to take their place. In more open areas, non-native grasses and flowers like Wild Chervil, Queen Anne’s Lace, and Dame’s Rocket predominate. Native grasses and wildflowers cannot compete with them. Our local animals and insects did not evolve with these plants. They either do not recognize them as food, or these plants do not meet their nutritional requirements.

What are effective ways to conserve biodiversity? Temperate mixed forests like those found in New England have been identified as some of the highest priority areas worldwide to conserve biodiversity, store carbon and preserve water resources.

• Learn the native plants and animals in your area. Find out their needs and work to provide them on your property and in your town
• Support the conservation of priority land blocks, especially wildlife corridors and special habitats.
• Remove non-native species from your property and help remove them from public lands. Replace them with native plants.
• Reduce use of pesticides, herbicides and single-use plastic.
• Urge legislators to support enforcement of the Endangered Species Act, the Clean Air Act and the Clean Water Act.

Future articles will concentrate on different plant and animal species native to Norwich and ways you can support them.