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Science 10 December 1993:
Vol. 262. no. 5140, pp. 1676 - 1680
DOI: 10.1126/science.262.5140.1676
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Articles

Biological Diversity, Soils, and Economics

Michael Huston 1

1 Environmental Sciences Division, Oak Ridge National Laboratory, P.O. Box 2008, Oak Ridge, TN 37831

Terrestrial biological diversity is supported by solar energy captured by plants growing in soil. This soil-based plant productivity also provides the foundation for human societies through production of food and renewable forms of energy. Variations in plant productivity, resulting from differences in inherent soil fertility, variations in climate and weather, and differences in chemical inputs and agricultural practices, produce patterns of biological diversity that are associated with the agricultural component of economic productivity. Ecological processes lead to a generally negative relation between the diversity of plant species and potential agricultural productivity at both local and global scales. One implication of this negative relation is that preservation of areas of high plant biodiversity does not require the sacrifice of productive agricultural lands.


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