• Overview
• Biodiversity, ecosystem functioning and ecosystem services
• Threats to biodiversity: human activities
• Habitat destruction, loss and degradation
• Habitat fragmentation
• Overexploitation
• Introduced species
• Climate change
• References and more information

Biodiversity Overview

Biodiversity is one of Earth's greatest natural resources.

A working definition of biodiversity: the sum total of all biotic variation from the level of genes to ecosystems.

Species of many kinds have provided us with foods, industrial products and medicines including pain killers, heart drugs, antidepressants and anticancer drugs. (Levine, 2008)

The term "Biodiversity" was first coined in the mid 1980's to refer to the diversity (variety) of living things (organisms) on earth.

Biodiversity is mostly considered in terms of number of species; however, also refers to interactions and structures developed when species interact.

• "... the variety of organisms...from genetic variants belonging to the same species through arrays of species to arrays of genera, families and still higher taxonomic levels". (Wilson, 1992)
• Levels of biodiversity recognised (Groom, 2006)
Genetic Diversity: amount of genotypic variation existing in populations & species present - variety of genetic information contained in all living organisms - very important in terms of ability of an organism to adapt to change;
1. Species (taxonomic) diversity: number of different species present - variety of living species;
2. Ecosystems (ecological) diversity: number of different biotic communities & abiotic environments present - variety of habitats, communities & ecological processes, diversity within ecosystems;