As the newest member of the High Tech High Touch Team here in Asheville, NC I followed the tradition of choosing a science name that honors a part of our individual interests in science. So, why did I choose the name, “Biodiversity Britta?”
I have lived in this part of Western North Carolina since 2004 when I became a student at the University of North Carolina at Asheville, where I received a Bachelor of Science degree in Environmental Science with a minor in Economics. During my lifetime, I have witnessed a lot of changes in the natural world around me, and not all good. As an advocate for the health of our planet, I choose to honor biodiversity because of its importance for life on Earth.
The term “biodiversity” is short for biological diversity, and it refers to every single life on our planet. This includes each animal, plant, fungi, Protista (such as algae), and microorganisms (bacteria and archaea). Biodiversity not only refers to each organism; it also refers to the genetic variation within them. It is a fundamental and integral concept in the study of our natural world.
Earth is a unique place in our universe. It formed in the early days of our solar system, and is thought to be approximately 4.54 billion years old. The earliest known life forms on Earth existed at least 3.7 billion years ago, as evidenced by the existence of carbon molecules in rocks that are consistent with life. Since that time, life on this planet has evolved from the most basic microbes to the plant dominated world that we now live in, where animals also play a significant role in our biosphere. There is an interconnected relationship between every life on this planet.
Humans are a relatively new species on Earth. The first modern humans, Homo sapiens, originated sometime between 550,000 and 750,000 years ago, and have played a significant role in the change of biodiversity. There have been many periods of rapid change in biodiversity in the history of Earth, but within the span of human existence, the most significant change has occurred within the last 100-150 years. This change is the world we know today.
Asheville, NC exists in the Southern Appalachian region of the Blue Ridge Mountains. This area has experienced its own unique changes in biodiversity. In 1995, the Hemlock Woolly Adelgid (HWA), Adelges tsugae, was discovered in North Carolina in three counties adjacent to Virginia. The HWA originated from Southern Japan, and as such, is invasive to eastern North America. They are small, aphid-like bugs that attach to the base of the pine needles and feed on the starches of the branches. It is estimated that 80% of all eastern and Carolina hemlocks in Western North Carolina are now dead, and much of the blame for that decline can be placed on the HWA.
The implications of this decline are far reaching and is something that I have intimately witnessed over the past two decades living in WNC. By the time the woolly adelgid was discovered in the Great Smoky Mountain National Park in 2002, the largest record-breaking old growth hemlocks were on their deathbeds. Hemlocks are a riparian tree, meaning they grow in the moist soils along stream banks. Hemlocks are shade-tolerant evergreens, and one of their most important ecological contributions was shading mountain streams. This contributed to the low water temperatures where native aquatic animals, such as Hellbenders and Brook Trout, thrive.
This is not the first rapid change in biodiversity that this region has experienced in recent human history. In the early twentieth century, the chestnut blight wiped out the American Chestnut tree, which had once dominated forests in the eastern United States. Chestnuts had once provided an abundant nutrient-dense food source to humans and animals alike. The loss of species is not limited to plants: we have seen Passenger pigeons, the Carolina parakeet, and bison eradicated. Countless other species are threatened or endangered. There has also been an undesirable proliferation of invasive species beyond the HWA, from feral swine to kudzu, that can be attributed to a loss of biodiversity. Experts estimate that the decline of 42% of threatened or endangered species can be attributed to exotic, invasive species.
The health of our natural world can be measured by biodiversity. Change is inevitable: some as part of the natural evolution of our species on our planet and from anthropogenic causes. Just in my lifetime, I have observed the transformation of the forests I grew up hiking through. What changes have you witnessed in your lifetime? How has your region of Earth changed?
Stay tuned for Part II where we’ll explore why biodiversity is so important for humankind
“Biodiversity” Britta Spencer
https://wordwildlife.org https://earthguide.ucsd.edu https://www.planetary.org/articles/how-old-is-the-earth https://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/essential-timeline-understanding-evolution-homo-sapiens-180976807/ https://savehemlocksnc.org/hemlocks-hwa/hemlock-woolly-adelgid/ https://www.americanforests.org/article/the-last-of-the-giants/ https://tacf.org/history-american-chestnut/ https://ncwf.org/blog/extinct-wildlife-in-north-carolina/