Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Biodiversity and Infrastructure: Eco-services

Description

This lecture explores the concept of biodiversity and its importance in providing ecosystem services, such as food, climate regulation, water regulation, and pollination. It delves into the economic valuation of these services and the policies needed to safeguard them. Additionally, it discusses the impact of infrastructure on natural resources, highlighting the need for sustainable financing and policies for a circular economy.

In MOOC

Building expertise on developing sustainable and resilient infrastructure

Official source

Related concepts (31)

Biodiversity

Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic (genetic variability), species (species diversity), and ecosystem (ecosystem diversity) level. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth; it is usually greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator. Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10% of earth's surface and contain about 90% of the world's species.

Biodiversity loss

Biodiversity loss includes the worldwide extinction of different species, as well as the local reduction or loss of species in a certain habitat, resulting in a loss of biological diversity. The latter phenomenon can be temporary or permanent, depending on whether the environmental degradation that leads to the loss is reversible through ecological restoration/ecological resilience or effectively permanent (e.g. through land loss).

Biodiversity banking

Biodiversity banking, also known as biodiversity trading or conservation banking, biodiversity mitigation banks, compensatory habitat, set-asides, biodiversity offsets, are conservation activities that compensate for the loss of biodiversity with the goal of biodiversity maintenance through a framework which allows biodiversity to be reliably measured, and market based solutions applied to improving biodiversity. Biodiversity banking provides a means to place a monetary value on ecosystem services.

Measurement of biodiversity

Conservation biologists have designed a variety of objective means to empirically measure biodiversity. Each measure of biodiversity relates to a particular use of the data. For practical conservationists, measurements should include . For others, a more economically defensible definition should allow the ensuring of continued possibilities for both adaptation and future use by humans, assuring environmental sustainability. As a consequence, biologists argue that this measure is likely to be associated with the variety of genes.

Biodiversity action plan

A biodiversity action plan (BAP) is an internationally recognized program addressing threatened species and habitats and is designed to protect and restore biological systems. The original impetus for these plans derives from the 1992 Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). As of 2009, 191 countries have ratified the CBD, but only a fraction of these have developed substantive BAP documents.

Related lectures (30)

Global Climate Issues: Course Overview

Covers global climate issues, impacts, policies, and mechanisms to slow down climate change through group work and project management.

Biodiversity and the Living Planet Index: Global Trends

Covers the Living Planet Index and its role in tracking global biodiversity trends and threats.

Urban Environment: Sustainability and Challenges MOOC: African Cities III, urban planning and management

Stresses the critical importance of integrating environmental considerations in urban planning and development.

Climate Change: Impacts and Urban Adaptation Strategies

Covers the impacts of climate change on urban areas and discusses adaptation strategies, including nature-based solutions and ecological infrastructure.

Impact Categories Contributing to Resource Depletion