Why geodiversity matters in valuing nature's stage.
Geodiversity--the variability of Earth's surface materials, forms, and physical processes-is an integral part of nature and crucial for sustaining ecosystems and their services. It provides the substrates, landform mosaics, and dynamic physical processes for habitat development and maintenance. By determining the heterogeneity of the physical environment in conjunction with climate interactions, geodiversity has a crucial influence on biodiversity across a wide range of scales. From a literature review, we identified the diverse values of geodiversity; examined examples of the dependencies of biodiversity on geodiversity at a site-specific scale (for geosites <1 km(2) in area); and evaluated various human-induced threats to geosites and geodiversity. We found that geosites are important to biodiversity because they often support rare or unique biota adapted to distinctive environmental conditions or create a diversity of microenvironments that enhance species richness. Conservation of geodiversity in the face of a range of threats is critical both for effective management of nature's stage and for its own particular values. This requires approaches to nature conservation that integrate climate, biodiversity, and geodiversity at all spatial scales.
Department of Geography, University of Oulu, P.O. Box 3000, 90014, Oulu, Finland. jan.hjort@oulu.fi.
Jan
J
Hjort
School of Geography & Geosciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, Fife, KY16 9AL, United Kingdom.
John E
JE
Gordon
School of Geography, Queen Mary, University of London, Mile End Road, London, E1 4NS, United Kingdom.
Murray
M
Gray
Department of Wildlife, Fisheries, and Conservation Biology, University of Maine, Orono, ME, 04469, U.S.A.
Malcolm L
ML
Hunter
D044822:Biodiversity; D002980:Climate; D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources; D017753:Ecosystem; D055593:Geological Phenomena
abiotic ecosystem services; amenazas para la geodiversidad; biodiversidad; biodiversity; cave; cueva; geosite; geositio; hot spring; manantial; metalliferous soils; servicios ambientales abióticos; suelos metalíferos; threats to geodiversity