Biodiversity and Landscape

The Earth is undergoing a mass extinction that could see up

to a million species disappear in the coming decades – and
humans are contributing heavily to this.

During the 20th century, extinction rates were about 100

times higher than they would have been without humans
significantly altering most of the planet’s surface.

What is Biodiversity?

The U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) defines :

“Biological diversity” means the variability among living

organisms from all sources including, inter alia,
terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the
ecological complexes of which they are part.

Biodiversity provides four main types of benefits to humans:

nutritional, cultural, health, and climate-related.
 Biodiversity – WHY?

Healthy and functional ecosystems play a crucial role In

sustaining human livelihoods through providing
necessities and benefits such as food, water, energy
sources and carbon sequestration, known as ‘ecosystem
services.’

Humans have caused the planet to warm by around 1

degree Celsius since pre-industrial times – and
biodiversity is already bearing the brunt of that
warming. Climate change is reducing the distribution of
many species (the geographical area in which they can
survive), including almost half of all endangered
mammals.

Changes in the ecological balance can also result in

species that can beneficial turning into pests and
plagues once their natural enemies are reduced or
disappear: think locusts, mosquitos, algae.
 Ecology and Landscape

Ecology is the study of interaction between living and non-

living components of Earth’s natural systems. The science
of ecology can be broken into four sub-headings:
Populations, communities, Ecosystems and Landscapes.

Equilibrium is the steady-state of an ecosystem where all organisms are in

balance with their environment and with each other. In ecology, two
parameters are used to measure changes in
ecosystems: resistance and resilience.

The ability of an ecosystem to remain at equilibrium in spite of

disturbances is called resistance.

The speed at which an ecosystem recovers equilibrium after being

disturbed is called its resilience.

Ecosystem resistance and resilience are especially important when

considering human impact. The nature of an ecosystem may change to
such a degree that it can lose its resilience entirely. This process can lead
to the complete destruction or irreversible altering of the ecosystem.
 Sustainability and Landscape

Sustainable landscapes are designed to thrive in local

temperatures, rainfall and weather patterns. A good
sustainable landscape works with nature, not against it,
and does well with little or no human help. By reducing the
amount of resources needed to keep up your landscape,
creating usable spaces is what is called sustainable
landscapes.

Sustainable landscapes are responsive to the

environment, re-generative, and can actively contribute to
the development of healthy communities. Sustainable
landscapes sequester carbon, clean the air and water,
increase energy efficiency, restore habitats, and create
value through significant economic, social and,
environmental benefits.
Why has Biodiversity, ecology & sustainability become a
focus point in Landscape Architectural field?

Nature cities Human actions/interventions

Landscape within cities – designed/ managed and

planned by the specialized ‘landscape field’

- With knowledge of all natural

systems and human-made systems,
landscape architects are looked
upon to / need to bring in a
solutions that are balanced enough
to allow co-existence.