Understanding Biodiversity

Conservation of biodiversity in forest ecosystems is an essential criterion of sustainable forest management. Although definitions of biodiversity are many and diverse (e.g. http://ceres.ca.gov/biodiv/Biodiversity/biodiv_def2.html), biodiversity is defined here as the diversity of species, genes, ecosystem function, and habitats (Angelstam and others 2002). Habitat plays the largest role in maintaining ecological diversity. Habitat is characterized in terms of size, quality, total area, distance between habitat areas, and the nature of the terrain between habitats.

Species need a critical amount of habitat in order to survive, maintain health, and maintain a stable population size. Critical habitat size varies by species, in that some require smaller habitat areas, while other species require larger areas.

Habitat quality also affects the biodiversity of a forest ecosystem. Vegetation quality, water quality, and those factors that affect the amount of shelter and food available throughout the year define habitat quality.

Maintaining biodiversity requires a large number of habitat areas or a large overall habitat area. Small areas can result in problems such as inbreeding depression and may not be adequate to sustain large populations. Also, if the distance between suitable habitats is large, species may not be able to move freely and could overpopulate an isolated habitat area. Habitat areas should be connected in a way that allows for easy travel from one area to another. If the travel route is difficult to traverse, species may not move from area to area.

Ensuring adequate habitat area and connectivity is one way to mitigate extinction and cultivate ecological biodiversity. It is important to understand the concept of habitat because the loss of acceptable habitat is the leading cause of extinction among species. According to Websters online dictionary, extinction is the loss of an animal or plant species from a landscape area. The conservation of habitat will be the most important method of maintaining biodiversity in intensely managed forest landscapes.