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Biodiversity Snapshot 2002
Biodiversity encompasses all organisms, including us, and our health as a species depends on a healthy biodiversity, for all species are interconnected. Biodiversity affects us in many ways, from the oxygen that we breathe, to the food we eat, our economic well-being and even favorite outdoor recreational pursuits.
Another important step towards recognizing and protecting our rich natural history was taken last month with the release of Biodiversity in Pennsylvania: Snapshot 2002. This colorful 50-page document is published by the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership, a coalition of environmental organizations, government agencies, business and industry, scientists and academic organizations, sportsmen and women, and private landowners.
In Pennsylvania, biodiversity refers to the total of over 25,000 species of animals, plants, microorganisms, and fungi that exist in our state. All of these organisms contain unique genetic information, and they all interact in complex ways to form what ecologists call the web of life. The biodiversity initiative is a push to identify the life forms, understand the complexity of the interrelationships that occur and to make everyone aware of the importance of preserving this diversity.
The Pennsylvania biodiversity waters have been very cloudy. It’s difficult for anyone to get a clear picture of our natural variety with so many different agencies overseeing different aspects of the subject. There is no clear leader and little coordination between agencies.
For example, the PA Fish & Boat Commission is responsible for fish, amphibians, reptiles and aquatic insects; the PA Game Commission manages game animals, 1.4 million acres of state game lands and is responsible for non-game birds and mammals; and the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources manages over 2.1 million acres of forests, protects unique ecological areas, and has authority over wild plants. This only scratches the surface. More than a dozen other agencies and departments at the state and federal level manage, protect, or greatly influence biodiversity.
During the 1990s, two individual efforts, The Atlas of Breeding Birds in Pennsylvania (1992, Daniel W. Brauning, editor) and The Vascular Flora of Pennsylvania (1993, Ann Fowler Rhoads and William McKinley Klein, Jr.) made great strides documenting the biodiversity of their individual areas.
More recently, the director of the Centre for Biodiversity Research at Penn State’s Environmental Research Institute, Ke Chung Kim, authored Biodiversity, Our Living World: Your Life Depends on It! This 16-page booklet contains an attractive, easy-to-read explanation of the entire concept of biodiversity and our role in it.
Another positive reflection on the importance of biodiversity occurred in 2001 with the creation of a position and the hiring of the first Biodiversity Director by the Department of Conservation and Natural Resources.
The Fish & Boat Commission has a pretty good handle on fish diversity, and a study is currently being done salamanders. In fact, the level of knowledge about all vertebrate groups is pretty high, but these organisms make up only three percent of the total number of species in the state. Knowledge in many areas, such as insects, algae, lichens, and fungi, remains spotty or absent.
The Pennsylvania 21st Century Environment Commission recognized the gaps in knowledge and coordination and recommended that a broad-based public-private partnership be formed to remedy this situation. The Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership was created in response to that recommendation.
The PBP currently has 26 board members, including Larry Schweiger (Western PA Conservancy), Cindy Dunn (PA Audubon), Vern Ross (PA Game Commission), Michelle Cohen (PA Wildlife Society), Ke Chung Kim (Center for Biodiversity Research, PSU), Blaine Puller (Kane Hardwood) and others.
Department of Conservation and Natural Resources Secretary John Oliver praised the group at a December news conference, “The Pennsylvania Biodiversity Partnership is an unprecedented collaboration of people who understand the need to conserve Pennsylvania’s natural diversity in order to maintain the state’s economic vitality and quality of life for all citizens.”
The coalition’s mission is to accomplish this conservation goal by fostering communication and cooperation among everyone concerned with natural resource issues throughout the state. They hope to educate the public, determine the status of our biodiversity, promote voluntary biodiversity conservation, and develop a scientifically-based biodiversity plan.
According to board member Michelle Cohen, with whom I spoke recently, “We need our natural resources to survive. Snapshot 2002 is an important first step in filling the knowledge gap and developing a plan.”
The report summarizes what is known about the current state of our biodiversity and serves as a base on which to build the Pennsylvania Biodiversity Conservation Plan.
Biodiversity in Pennsylvania: Snapshot 2002 is an impressive document that can be viewed at the organization’s website. It is filled with facts, figures and explanations, but it is probably more important for what information isn’t included, for those are the gaps that need to be filled.
The report, no matter how good, is only paper and ink and nearly worthless unless additional action is taken. The authors of Snapshot 2002 hope that their document and its supporting data provide a baseline for Pennsylvania diversity. The next steps are to develop a biodiversity conservation plan (target 2006) and, of course, implement the plan.
I support this group’s important efforts. Pennsylvania will be a better place if they succeed. As board member Ke Chung Kim said, “Biodiversity is something that should be nurtured and cultivated.” I couldn’t agree more.
Mark Nale can be reached at MarkAngler@aol.com
The entire report, Biodiversity in Pennsylvania: Snapshot 2002, is available on the PA Biodiversity Partnership website at www.pabiodiversity.org
Speakers are available from The PA Biodiversity Partnership to discuss Biodiversity in Pennsylvania: Snapshot 2002. Contact MaryLinda Gangewere at 412-481-4100 or gangewere@pabiodiversity.org
Additional information can be obtained in the booklet [italics] Biodiversity, Our Living World: Your Life Depends on It! This free publication is available from the Publications Distribution Center, The Pennsylvania State University, 112 Agricultural Administration Building, University Park, PA 16802. Call (814) 865-6713 for more information.
