Biodiversity: It's the ecology, stupid  At every level, human
civilisation is underwritten by the planet's countless and still
mostly unidentified wild things  The water we drink falls as
rain, usually on higher ground, often designated as a catchment
area. The terrain would ideally be covered in vegetation,
because otherwise the runoff would be muddy, the reservoirs
would silt up and the valleys would flood. But plants depend on
billions of insects to pollinate them. Insects also devour
foliage, so forests depend on birds by day and bats by night to
keep insect populations under control. To prevent a population
crash, there must also be raptors to keep the insectivores in
order – and the taps running. At every level, human civilisation
is underwritten by the planet's countless and still mostly
unidentified wild things – the jargon word is biodiversity –
that pollinate our crops, cleanse, conserve and recycle our
water, maintain oxygen levels, and deliver all the things on
which human comfort, health, and sec