Here is where you can get all you need for when you're out in the mountains breathing in the fresh air and admiring your surroundings.
Be sure to check out our Bear In Mind page for our hiking tips and tricks to make sure you're all prepared for your adventures. Also take a look at our Flora and Fauna pages for our identification guides (including seasonal changes) to help you identify that cool thing you just found. Unfortunately, we cannot help you find a cellphone signal as mountain wifi is hard to come by and data doesn't come cheap, however, we've created PDF versions of these pages for your offline convenience! Have fun observing your world!
REMEMBER TO DOWNLOAD THESE BEFORE LEAVING ON YOUR TRIP!
The Importance of Diversity
-
Biodiversity is the variability of species within an ecosystem. Increased diversity improves the productivity and stability of the ecosystem; the stronger and healthier it is, the quicker it can recover from disturbances.
-
Ecosystems consist of relationships of organisms and their physical environments. They contain a number of niches, or roles, that need to be filled and each species within the ecosystem takes on one of those roles, and contributes to the function of the entire system.
-
Some important roles include pollinators, predators, prey, seed dispersers, consumers, producers, decomposers, and many others.
-
Species run a risk of being extirpated or becoming extinct, and without a replacement, the system becomes unstable and decreases productivity.
-
Species rely on each other, and they exist in some form of symbiosis which allows them to remain "balanced".
-
If one niche is not filled, it has repercussions for other species fulfilling other niches.
-
Having an abundance of species ensures that there are many opportunities for niches to be filled, and that there is stronger sustainability across all life forms in an ecosystem.
-
Understanding diversity and the role of species is the first step to conservation. Understanding the impact of our actions and knowing how to help is the next step in making sure our ecosystems, and the species in them, have the opportunity to thrive.
-
We want to ensure that we protect species in order for them to thrive, so that diversity can continue to grow. This way, we can continue to enjoy the marvels of nature and all it has to offer us.
-
Don't just observe your world. Understand it. Protect it.