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Biodiversity

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Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in the world or in a particular habitat or ecosystem. It is necessary for life to thrive on Earth.

Aldo Leopold, one of the great thinkers of conservation, observed more than half a century ago the importance of protecting species. "To keep every cog and wheel is the first precaution of intelligent tinkering," he wrote. Losing species is like throwing away one by one the engine parts of an airplane while flying.

Biodiversity is a major initiative of Conservation International.

Biodiversity conservation provides substantial benefits to meet immediate human needs, such as those for clean, consistent water flows; protection from floods and storms; and a stable climate. 

Curated by mokiethecat

That's Wild: These Sharpshooters Make Pee, Not War
August 09, 2023
#ThatsWild: Glassy-winged sharpshooters — insects known partly as crop pests — drink 300 times their body weight in xylem sap every day, so they’re frequent urinators. And as a biophysicist named Saad Bhamla recently discovered, they pee extremely efficiently by using an anal stylus (what Bhamla calls a “butt flicker”) to fling away the droplets at high speed — much like using a catapult. The pee’s movement is so fast it qualifies as “superpropulsion.” Learn more ➡️ https://research.gatech.edu/super-fast-insect-urination-powered-physics-superpropulsion 📽️ courtesy Saad Bhamla, Georgia Institute of Technology 🎵 Underground Academy Featured in #ThatsWild, Endangered Earth Online, No. 1,205 (Aug. 10, 2023): https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/publications/earthonline/endangered-earth-online-no1205.html