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The Role of

Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services

Maintaining genetic diversity offers multiple benefits that contribute to the regulation of ecosystem services. Ecosystem functioning delivers a range of services that benefit human livelihoods including the provision of breathable air, potable water, fertile soils, productive lands and ocean seas.

Biodiversity enhances ecosystem services in the biological sense through the provisioning of genetic resources and at the livelihood security level through risk mitigation and ensuring the resilience of agriculture in the face of growing demands for food production. Declines in biodiversity forebode major implications for future scenarios threatening crop pollination, nutrient cycling, and the filtration of pollutants. Cultural services that include recreational and aesthetic values for knowledge and educational gain are also at risk of declining. Within the Andes, biodiversity features are valuable for their cultural importance, existing as living representations of the blend between ancient cosmology and contemporary lifestyle choices. 

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The potato, for example, is an Andean biocultural expression that is used for medicinal and ceremonial purposes. The transmission and conservation of traditional knowledge related to cultural services is a livelihood strategy that minimizes risk and enhances productive systems and outputs. Protection of the biodiversity-ecosystem linkage becomes more critical as climate change places further stress on biodiversity resources.