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News Release 11-071
Precedent-Setting Evidence of the Benefits of Biodiversity
New evidence that biodiversity promotes water quality suggests that accelerating species losses may compromise water quality
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The loss of biodiversity through species extinctions may be compromising the ability of the planet to cleanse itself of human-caused pollution.
Credit: © 2011 Jupiter Images Corporation
Bradley Cardinale of the University of Michigan discusses his recent study showing that biodiversity promotes water quality. This is the first study to nail a cause-and-effect relationship between biodiversity and water quality, and one of the few studies ever to rigorously document benefits of biodiversity.
Credit: University of Michigan/National Science Foundation