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biodiversity

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.02 sec.
biodiversity: see biological diversity biological diversity or biodiversity, the number of species in a given habitat. Scientists have variously estimated that there are from 3 to 30 million extant species, of which 2.
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biodiversity

Quantity of plant and animal species found in a given environment. Sometimes habitat diversity (the variety of places where organisms live) and genetic diversity (the variety of traits expressed within a species) are also considered types of biodiversity. The estimated 3–30 million species on Earth are divided unequally among the world's habitats, with 50–90% of the world's species living in tropical regions. The more diverse a habitat, the better chance it has of surviving a change or threat to it, because it is more likely to be able to make a balancing adjustment. Habitats with little biodiversity (e.g., Arctic tundra) are more vulnerable to change. The 1992 Earth Summit resulted in a treaty for the preservation of biodiversity.


biodiversity
the existence of a wide variety of plant and animal species in their natural environments, which is the aim of conservationists concerned about the indiscriminate destruction of rainforests and other habitats
www.biosis.org.uk/zrdocs/zoolinfo/biodiv.htm
www.eti.uva.nl
www.biodiv.org

biodiversity [‚bī·ō·di′vər·sə·dē]
(ecology)
The range of living organisms (such as plant and animal species) in an environment during a specific time period.

Biodiversity

The variety of all living things; a contraction of biological diversity. Biodiversity can be measured on many biological levels ranging from genetic diversity within a species to the variety of ecosystems on Earth, but the term most commonly refers to the number of different species in a defined area.

Numbers of extant species for selected taxonomic groups
Number of Estimated number Percent
Kingdom Phylum species described of species described
Protista 100,000 250,000 40.0
Fungi Eumycota 80,000 1,500,000 5.3
Plantae Bryophyta 14,000 30,000 46.7
Tracheophyta 250,000 500,000 50.0
Animalia Nematoda 20,000 1,000,000 2.0
Arthropoda 1,250,000 20,000,000 5.0
Mollusca 100,000 200,000 50.0
Chordata 40,000 50,000 80.0
*With permission, modified from G. K. Meffe and C. R. Carroll, Principles of Conservation Biology, 1997.

Recent estimates of the total number of species range from 7 to 20 million, of which only about 1.75 million species have been scientifically described. The best-studied groups include plants and vertebrates (phylum Chordata), whereas poorly described groups include fungi, nematodes, and arthropods (see table). Species that live in the ocean and in soils remain poorly known. For most groups of species, there is a gradient of increasing diversity from the Poles to the Equator, and the vast majority of species are concentrated in the tropical and subtropical regions.

Human activities, such as direct harvesting of species, introduction of alien species, habitat destruction, and various forms of habitat degradation (including environmental pollution), have caused dramatic losses of biodiversity; current extinction rates are estimated to be 100–1000 times higher than prehuman extinction rates.

Some measure of biodiversity is responsible for providing essential functions and services that directly improve human life. For example, many medicines, clothing fibers, and industrial products and the vast majority of foods are derived from naturally occurring species. In addition, species are the key working parts of natural ecosystems. They are responsible for maintenance of the gaseous composition of the atmosphere, regulation of the global climate, generation and maintenance of soils, recycling of nutrients and waste products, and biological control of pest species. Ecosystems surely would not function if all species were lost, although it is unclear just how many species are necessary for an ecosystem to function properly.



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in political science with graduate work in Environmental Systems, looks at the issue of biodiversity protection from a transnational perspective and determines that NGOs have an important role to play through mainstream strategies such as buying land, funding research, encouraging grassroots activities, and linking national groups for international efforts.
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