Name: Orla McCarney
Student No: B00803447
“Research indicates that Northern Ireland has lost 50% of its biodiversity based upon a 1970 baseline.” -Office of Environmental Protection
Northern Ireland’s biodiversity is in crisis and globally there are one million species threatened with imminent extinction.
Biodiversity provides a natural defense against the effects of climate change. Trees, shellfish, and bees play critical roles in CO2 conversion, water purification, and pollination, respectively, making protecting them essential.
There are areas of farmland, towns and cities of N. Ireland that could be used to increase our biodiversity. Many gardens are full of non-native plants and green spaces in towns/cities use only a few species of flowers and manicured grass. Simple changes like growing native wildflowers and stopping use of weed and bug killing sprays, could create better homes for the organisms we need.
Pollution by pesticides used in agriculture is the main cause of the decline of insect-eating birds and farmland birds. Fertilizer run-off into water is a big cause of water pollution. Government schemes are already in place to minimise land and water pollution from farmers but this conflicts with the economic needs of the farmers. Therefore, my product will be mostly focus on unfarmed land.
A non-indigenous species may be introduced for a particular purpose such as removal of a pest species or for hunting. These new species will take over habitats and kill native species.
Extreme weather and rising sea levels affects animals and plants. Amphibians, birds and bats are the most affected species by droughts and changes in rain patterns.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is being used to analyse information collected by wildlife conservationists. It uses data from camera trap, satellite images and audio recordings to identify rare species and pinpoint animal calls. This hugely reduces manual labour.
Environmental DNA (eDNA) can collect a wealth of biodiversity data quickly and easily, by scanning samples of water or soil. A few small samples can contain the DNA of dozens of species and give a detailed summary of an ecosystem quickly and efficiently.