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The Value of Biodiversity

© Kenneth Friedman

Somewhere in this complex web of biodiversity, all the insects that eat my apples, apple trees and leaves have some relationship to biocontrol of pests (crops) - worth $12 billion U.S. ($100 billion worldwide); biocontrol of pests (forests) - $5 billion U.S. ($60 billion worldwide); host plant resistance (crops) - $8 billion U.S. ($80 billion worldwide); host plant resistance (forest) - $800 million U.S. ($6 billion worldwide). My apples fit into these numbers somehow.

We're not done yet. Crops and forests fix nitrogen. That's worth $8 billion U.S. ($90 billion worldwide). Wood products are worth $8 billion U.S. ($84 billion worldwide). And CO₂ separation is worth $6 billion U.S.($135 billion worldwide). My apples fit into these numbers somehow.

I can't really image what small, small part my apples play in all of this but it's worth thinking about.

More Information
Biodiversity: World Resources Institute.

Biodiversity Programs of the Smithsonian Institution.

Biodiversity American Museum of Natural History.

Biodiversity Defenders of Wildlife.

Biodiversity Millenium Whole Earth Catalog.

Biodiversity and Conservation, a Hypertext Book by Peter J. Bryant.