7 September 2019 | New Scientist | 41richness across the UK and compared it against
geodiversity. He found that there was a very
strong link between the two, but that there
were inevitable exceptions to the rule: single
geologies that bred a diversity of life. What’s
more, there are also very geodiverse areas
that are comparatively barren, such as high
mountain environments that are rock-rich
but fairly hostile places to live. “I see
geodiversity as another string to the bow of
conservation, rather than being something
we should switch to completely,” says Bailey.
Even so, it is a string that has so far been
underused. We have done a reasonable job
of protecting majestic landscapes – lush
islands, awe-inspiring coastlines and dramatic
mountaintops – but the less photogenic pieces
of land aren’t as well-loved. If we want to stop
the mass extinction of life on our planet,
we will need to fight it not only on the beaches
and on the hills, but in the floodplains and the
quarries too. ❚the landscape, ensuring there is room for
wildlife to move between habitats as the
climate changes. “Our work has identified
some really scary pinch points,” he says.
Disused quarries are another surprising
poster child for the conservation movement.
The range of gradients and variety of
microclimates (hot south-facing slopes and
cool, shady north-facing crannies) make for
a massive range of ecological niches. A 2013
study of Cheffois found that it represents a
beacon of biodiversity in an area where
intensive farming practices have long
threatened wildlife. Its multitude of different
landforms supports 27 kinds of cricket alone,
along with hundreds of plants, including rare
mosses, ferns and rock-loving flowers.
The UK landscape is peppered with such sites,
but many are being sold off as rubbish dumps.
“The pressure to use old quarries as landfill sites
is huge,” says John Faithfull at the University
of Glasgow, UK. Some, such as Trearne quarry
in Ayrshire, have already been stuffed full of
rubbish, and others face uncertain futures.
But there are success stories, too. Thanks to the
campaigning efforts of geologists, two Scottish
open-cast coal mines, Spireslack and Mainshill
Wood, may soon become geoconservation
sites. Today, peregrine falcons nest on and
hunt from Spireslack’s exposed cliffs, whilst
curlews and lapwings relish the undisturbed
moor and grassland nearby.
Geodiversity also applies underwater,
as a recent Finnish study shows. “We found
that the greater the geodiversity, the higher
the aquatic plant species richness,” says
Maija Toivanen from the University of Oulu.
Saving geodiversity on its own won’t save
the planet. Bailey mapped plant speciesChanging focus to geodiversity could
be beneficial in other ways. Collecting
biodiversity data is time-consuming and
expensive. Some of the most biodiverse areas
in the world are almost certainly unrecognised
and unprotected because no one has recorded
what lives there. Geodiversity is easier to
recognise, and getting easier all the time:
Joseph Bailey, a geographer at York St John
University, UK, has been working on a way
to use satellite data to measure geodiversity
automatically. By homing in on very
geodiverse regions, we can pinpoint where
our most biodiverse locations are likely to
be and target our conservation efforts.
The strategy pioneered by Anderson has
gradually gathered traction. He and his
colleagues have now mapped geodiversity
and estimated the resilience of the landscape
across most of the US. The Rockies and desert
areas of the south-west United States are the
last two outstanding areas, which they hope
to complete by the end of the year. Their work
suggests that to give US wildlife the greatest
chance of adapting to and surviving future
climate change, around a quarter of the US
landscape needs to have protected status.
Thanks to the Nature Conservancy and a
number of other agencies, 40 per cent of those
resilient locations are already protected. Now,
their focus is on the remaining 60 per cent.
Their wish list may seem surprising, with
overworked farmland and dull chunks of
prairie often ranking above pristine
wilderness. But Anderson believes that if the
land is in the right place and is underlain by the
right mix of rocks, then these areas can have
greater conservation value. Right at the top of
the list are places that can provide corridors inKate Ravilious is a science
writer based in York, UK.
Follow her on Twitter
@kateravSave our soils
John Crawford reveals a new way to look at soil at New Scientist Live
newscientistlive.comA new breed of conservation
areas, from left: Cheffois
quarry in France; the Loess hills
of Iowa; the Spireslack open
cast coal mine in Lanarkshire,
Scotland; the lakes of FinlandAVALON/CONSTRUCTION PHOTOGRAPHY/ALAMY STOCK PHOTO GETTY