Environmental Quality and Natural Biota

Abstract

Public desire for a healthful, pleasing environment makes preservation of environmental quality a recognized objective of national policy. Maintenance of a quality environment depends upon a myriad of complex natural systems composed of more than 200,000 species of plants, animals, and protists (HEW 1969, King et al. 1979). We cannot survive with only our crop and livestock species, but we do not know how many of the 200,000 species native to the United States are absolutely essential to our survival. Natural biota, the nonmanipulated or uncultivated organisms, perform many essential functions for agriculture, forestry, and other segments of human society, such as preventing the accumulation of wastes; cleaning water and soil of pollutants; recycling vital chemical elements within the ecosystem, including biotic nitrogen as fertilizer; buffering air pollutants and moderating climatic change; conserving soil and water; serving as sources of certain medicines, pigments, and spices; preserving genetic material for agriculture; and supplying food via the harvest of fish and other wildlife. In addition to these important ecosystem functions, the natural biota are of great aesthetic value to society. Concern for preserving the natural environment is reflected in recent passage of numerous state and federal laws, including the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) of 1969, the Marine Mammal Protection Act of 1972, the Endangered Species Act of 1973, and the Fishery Conservation and Management Act of 1976. NEPA mandates that national government agencies by concerned with any Federal actions significantly affecting the quality of the human environment . .. (Orloff and Brooks 1980). This interest manifests itself in the activities of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the preparation of environmental impact statements (EIS). On the federal level, EIS preparation is coordinated by the Council on Environmental Quality (CEQ). Many state agencies and some locales also are legally directed to prepare similar statements. CEQ has directed that attention be paid to such aspects as the social, economic, physical, and biological effects that proposed environmental manipulations might have. Biological factors have included possible effects on fish and wildlife, plant conservation, and endangered species. No mention is made of microorganisms, pollinators, and many other small species of life, though the general nature of the guidance does not exclude their consideration. If environmental policy is to include all significant of an action, then it should consider the potential impacts on all organisms vital to the total ecosystem. We must assess and understand the ecological role of major species groups, especially in relation to the vitality of the total ecosystem, so that we can identify those that are essential for a viable ecosystem. To make this assessment, we will need all the available, though limited, data concerning the abundance, distribution, and roles of all natural biota. The preliminary survey reported here attempts to ascertain the relative importance of major species groups in the ecosystem and to identify potential human impacts upon these biota. Although this information clearly highlights the need for additional data, it should be helpful to those making policy decisions concerning the priorities accorded to various natural biota that are essential to a quality environment.