Much has been published on the subject since its first appearance at the national forum on biodiversity in september, 1986, the proceedings of which became the bestseller, biodiversity. Oecd work on biodiversity and ecosystems biodiversity in the international context biodiversity is defined as the variability among living organisms from all sources, including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are part. By securing the lifesustaining goods and services which biodiversity provides to us, the conservation and sustainable use of biodiversity can provide significant benefits to our health. Dominance indices are weighted toward the abundance of the commonest species. That is what makes our country one of the 12 mega diversity countries of the world. The sum of total of various types of microbes, plants and animals. Nearly 45,000 species of plants and twice as many of animals have been recorded from india. Biodiversity is the variation among living organisms from different sources including terrestrial, marine and desert ecosystems, and the ecological complexes of which they are a part. The loss of biodiversity is dangerous and its consequences are immediate. Biodiversity biodiversity is the abbreviated word for. The diversity of societies, cultures and languages that has developed throughout human history is intimately related to biodiversity and its use. The biodiversity of a site or locality is the range of species found there, for example an urban park includes the familiar biodiversity of the blackbird and.
Three levels of biodiversity are commonly discussed genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Classification of biodiversity biological diversity infers a richness of living forms or species that have developed usually over a long period of geological time and that are adapted to the wide array of ecological habitats that exist on earth. Us acid rain fell in canada destroying sugar maple forests which upset the amountquality of maple syrup produced. I do not feel comfortable in assigning value to different species and other. Genetic biodiversity refers to the amount of variation within a gene pool. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Natural environment, resources and development notes figure 11. Biodiversity is the part of nature which includes the difference in genes among the individuals of a species, the variety and richness of all the plant and animal species at different scales in space, locally in a region, in the country and the world and various types of ecosystems, both terrestrial and aquatic within a defined area. Conservation international, 2501 m street nw, washington, dc 20037, usa. A common measure of this variety, called species richness, is the count of species in an area. In contrast, the continuing loss of biodiversity on a. Dec 03, 2014 evs presentation types of biodiversity 1. Value of biodiversity documenting eu examples where biodiversity loss has led to the loss of ecosystem services env.
Do you know that the invisible microor ganisms constitute a lar ge component of biodiversity. Biodiversity encompasses the genetic variety within each species and the variety of ecosystems that species create. Types of biodiversity biodiversity is a generic term that can be related to many environments and species, for example, forests, freshwater, marine and temperate environments, the soil, crop. Berendsohn, freie universitat berlin, botanic garden and botanical museum berlindahlem, germany 1.
Approximately 9 million types of plants, animals, protists and fungi inhabit the earth. Each member of any animal or plant species differs widely from other individuals in its genetic makeup because of the large number of combinations possible in the genes that give every individua. Biodiversity describes the richness and variety of life on earth. Structure and function 1 wilhelm barthlott, university of bonn, botanical institute, germany k. June 2010 agriculture and biodiversity wildlife estates. Biodiversity is a relatively new compound word, but biological diversity when referring to the number of species is not. The convention on biological diversity calls for each party to develop a national biodiversity strategy and action plan nbsap to guarantee that the objectives of the convention are undertaken at all levels and in all sectors in each country article 6. Biodiversity is the variety observed in organisms at every level of biological organization. Structure and function contents volume i biodiversity. The economic importance of biodiversity for humans can be summarized as follows. Biodiversity loss has negative effects on several aspects of human wellbeing, such as food security, vulnerability to natural disasters, energy security, and access to clean water and raw materials. Species biodiversity the variety of living things e. From the hot arid deserts of the sahara, through the lush green rainforests of the amazon, to the ocean depths and bright corals, our natural world is a marvel of different landscapes, materials, colours and textures. Processes and different types of biodiversity pattern in species.
The term that is used to define this crowd of organisms that populate every corner of the planet, and that have adapted even to the most extreme environments, is biodiversity or biological diversity. Structure and function data and information management and communication 253 walter g. Biodiversity, the variety of life found in a place on earth or, often, the total variety of life on earth. Acid rainair pollutionthese types of issues do not respect borders. Biodiversity threats weston w sechrest,university of virginia, charlottesville, virginia, usa thomas m brooks, center for applied biodiversity science conservation international, washington dc, usa any direct or indirect human activity that threatens the planets biological diversity in the. Plants and animals constitute only a small component of biodiversity. The earth is populated by an incredible number of different living creatures. Green college, oxford university, upper meadow, old road, headington, oxford ox3 8sz, uk. Pdf biodiversity is the variety of different forms of life on earth, including the. Biodiversity is a generic term that can be related to many environments and species, for example, forests, freshwater, marine and temperate environments, the soil, crop plants, domestic animals, wild species and microorganisms. The concept of biodiversity has provoked considerable debate and misunderstanding among the general public, decisionmakers, and even the scientific community. Introduction purpose of the document biodiversity is the variety of life on earth. Species diversity refers to biodiversity at the most basic level and is the variety and abundance of different types of individuals of a species in a given area. Overconsumption individuals consuming way more resources than needed to survive sometimes more than is needed for a high standard of life industrialized.
Natural environment, resources and development notes diversity, ii species diversity and iii ecosystem diversity. Biodiversity is the variety of life on earth and includes variation at all levels of biological organization from genes to species to ecosystems. The word biodiversity is a contracted form of the term biological diversity. Gene pools with greater diversity are typically able to withstand chance events and disturbances. Brief outlines of the two types of diversity indices of biodiversity are discussed in this article. Thus, biodiversity is sum of all the genes, varieties, species, populations in different ecosystems and their relative abundance.
Ecologists discovered two broad kinds of diversity patterns, namely. Biodiversity biological diversity or biodiversity is part of nature which include the differences in genes among the individual of a species. In general a speciesrich ecosystem is presumed to have high functional diversity, because there are many species with many different behaviors. An overview of plant biodiversity is provided in this chapter. There are other types of hotspot10,11, featuring richness of, for example, rare12, or taxonomically unusual species14,15. Colombia and kenya, for example, each have more than 1,000 breeding species of birds, whereas the forests of great britain and of eastern north america. Processes and different types of biodiversity pattern in. The loss of populations, species, or groups of species from an ecosystem can upset its normal function and disrupt these ecological services. Biodiversity is the variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part. Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities norman myers, russell a. Agriculture and biodiversity 1 acknowledgements this paper is the result of a fruitful collaboration between 4 key stakeholders who work on a daily basis in the. We now know that most species that have ever lived have gone extinct. Details of genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity are given. The average rate over the past 200 my is 12 species per year, and 34 families per my.
Thus biodiversity is the total variety of life on our planet, the total number of races, varieties and species. Biodiversity and its types complete detail updated. It includes all the species on earth, ranging from plants such as bacteria, viruses, fungi, algae, bryophytes, pteridophytes, gymnosperms, angiosperms and all the species of. Evs presentation types of biodiversity linkedin slideshare.
As ecologists studied biodiversity in the environment, they observed a regular pattern in which diversity was distributed over the entire area of the planet. Despite the benefits from biodiversity, todays threats to species and ecosystems are. Thus, instead of searching for 1 surrogate to represent biodiversity, it may be more appropriate to develop a general modeling approach. Genetic, organism and ecological diversity are all elements of biodiversity with each including a number of components. Biodiversity is an assurance for life on our planet, and therefore must be protected at all costs, because it is a universal heritage that can offer immediate advantages to human beings.
Biodiversity threats weston w sechrest,university of virginia, charlottesville, virginia, usa thomas m brooks, center for applied biodiversity science conservation international, washington dc, usa any direct or indirect human activity that. Extinction is a natural event and, from a geological perspective, routine. Generally speaking, there are three types of biodiversity. The course diploma in ecology studies provides information on ecology in conservation, natural resource management, and more. Jul 30, 2017 types of biodiversity biodiversity is the variety of life in an area which is determined which is determined by the number of species in that area. The lesson from these examples is that the degree to which surrogate variables represent various aspects of biodiversity varies depending on the context and speci. Genetic biodiversity the variations between individuals of the same species, and characteristics passed down between parents and offspring e. Biodiversity measures the variety of animal and vegetable species in the biosphere. Biodiversity provides many key benefits to humans that go beyond the mere provision of raw materials. Biodiversity or biological diversity is precisely the sum of all the different species of microorganisms, fungi, plants and animals living on earth and the variety of habitats in which they live. Biodiversity, also called biological diversity, the variety of life found in a place on earth or, often, the total variety of life on earth.
This includes both the policy related as well as the scienti. It is the most complex and important feature of our planet. These include drinkable water, clean air, and fertile soils. Biodiversity also supplies indirect services to humans which are often taken for granted. Types of biodiversity biodiversity is the variety of life in an area which is determined which is determined by the number of species in that. A widely used dominance index is simpsons diversity index. Biodiversity refers to the variety of all forms of life on earth, including the different plants, animals, microorganisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystem. Biodiversity and conservation although india h as only 2.