Biodiversity and the fraying web of life

This planet is unique, at least as far as we will probably ever know. It contains life, which is maintained through self-regulating flows of energy and chemical connections, the science of which is well described by Tim Lenton (1998). We also know that these webs of life are frayed (World Resources Institute 2000). We are by no means clear as to how much these life-maintaining flows and fluxes are damaged. An assessment by the World Resource Institute (2000: 9) entitled Pilot Analysis of Global Ecosystems (PAGE) indicates that there is still a fundamental ignorance of how this web joins, and of what it consists at any scale of analysis, or of human action. The Board on Sustainable Development of the US National Research Council (1999: 208, 220–1) points out that this ignorance is all th more worrying because of the complex multiple causes and consequences of this disruption. One of the major threats to ecosystem goods and services is our lack of understanding about how specific ecosystem functions may change with ecosystem transformations. Another cause for concern is our hesitation about deciding on options for coping with and ameliorating these fundamental changes. A third limitation is lack of knowledge about, or incorrect valuation of, the ‘worth’ of ecosystem functioning for social well-being and economic advantage.