In other words, the emergy stored in biodiversity (and the
trophic network organization) is the emergy that supported in the
past (and sometimes in areas different than the regional one) the evolution
of a species over average times of thousands of years per species.
Conversely, the emergy of specific standing biomass and animals is
local and calculated over a short time interval, while the emergy of
agricultural areas (mainly arboricultural crops) is based on large inputs
of fossil fuels. The biodiversity storage should be compared to population
diversity in culture and traditions (not included in this work) that
represents a different qualitative level of the stock of human-made capital.
Similarly, the historical and artistic heritage (human-made capital)
could be associated with the landscape and land structures.In other words, the emergy stored in biodiversity (and the
trophic network organization) is the emergy that supported in the
past (and sometimes in areas different than the regional one) the evolution
of a species over average times of thousands of years per species.
Conversely, the emergy of specific standing biomass and animals is
local and calculated over a short time interval, while the emergy of
agricultural areas (mainly arboricultural crops) is based on large inputs
of fossil fuels. The biodiversity storage should be compared to population
diversity in culture and traditions (not included in this work) that
represents a different qualitative level of the stock of human-made capital.
Similarly, the historical and artistic heritage (human-made capital)
could be associated with the landscape and land structures.