An example of the biodiversity of fungi in a forest in North Saskatchewan (in this photo, there are also leaf lichens and mosses).
Biodiversity (or biological diversity) is the variety and variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity.[1] Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth. It is greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator. Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than one-fifth of Earth's terrestrial area and contain about 50% of the world's species.[2] There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity for both marine and terrestrial taxa.[3]
Since life began on Earth, six major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic aeon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion. In this period, the majority of multicellular phyla first appeared. The next 400 million years included repeated, massive biodiversity losses. Those events have been classified as mass extinction events. In the Carboniferous, rainforest collapse led to a great loss of plant and animal life. The Permian–Triassic extinction event, 251 million years ago, was the worst; vertebrate recovery took 30 million years. The most recent, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, occurred 65 million years ago. This period has attracted more attention than others because it resulted in the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs.
Human activities have lead to an ongoing biodiversity loss and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity. This process is often referred to as Holocene extinction, or sixth mass extinction. For example, it was estimated in 2007 that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050.[4] Destroying habitats for farming is a key reason why biodiversity is decreasing today. Climate change also plays a role.[5][6] This can be seen for example in the effects of climate change on biomes.
^Faith, Daniel P. (1992). "Conservation evaluation and phylogenetic diversity". Biological Conservation. 61 (1): 1–10. doi:10.1016/0006-3207(92)91201-3. ISSN 0006-3207.
^Pillay, Rajeev; Venter, Michelle; Aragon-Osejo, Jose; González-del-Pliego, Pamela; Hansen, Andrew J; Watson, James EM; Venter, Oscar (2022). "Tropical forests are home to over half of the world's vertebrate species". Frontiers in Ecology and the Environment. 20 (1): 10–15. Bibcode:2022FrEE...20...10P. doi:10.1002/fee.2420. ISSN 1540-9295. PMC 9293027. PMID 35873358.
^Hillebrand, Helmut (2004). "On the Generality of the Latitudinal Diversity graduvation". The American Naturalist. 163 (2): 192–211. doi:10.1086/381004. ISSN 0003-0147. PMID 14970922.
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large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic aeon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion...
with the Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services, say that the main reason for biodiversity loss is a growing human population because...
A biodiversity hotspot is a biogeographic region with significant levels of biodiversity that is threatened by human habitation. Norman Myers wrote about...
Global biodiversity is the measure of biodiversity on planet Earth and is defined as the total variability of life forms. More than 99 percent of all...
measure biodiversity. Each measure relates to a particular use of the data, and is likely to be associated with the variety of genes. Biodiversity is commonly...
Biodiversity informatics is the application of informatics techniques to biodiversity information, such as taxonomy, biogeography or ecology. It is defined...
in Biodiversity Conservation: The Case of Turkey". CERNE. 25 (4): 424–438. doi:10.1590/01047760201925042644. Turkey has 3 out of the 36 biodiversity hotspots...
The Biodiversity Heritage Library (BHL) is the world’s largest open access digital library for biodiversity literature and archives. BHL operates as a...
the Biodiversity Convention, is a multilateral treaty. The Convention has three main goals: the conservation of biological diversity (or biodiversity);...
Agricultural biodiversity or agrobiodiversity is a subset of general biodiversity pertaining to agriculture. It can be defined as "the variety and variability...
The biodiversity of Colombia is the variety of indigenous organisms in the country with the second-highest biodiversity in the world. As of 2021, around...
and the Middle East. Italy has probably the highest level of faunal biodiversity in Europe, with over 57,000 species recorded, representing more than...
"High altitude biodiversity of the Alps and the Himalayas: ethnobotany, plant distribution and conservation perspectives". Biodiversity and Conservation...
Program For Biodiversity. Archived from the original on 27 April 2013. Retrieved 21 March 2013. Видово разнообразие на България [Species biodiversity in Bulgaria]...
marine biodiversity importance in the Coral Triangle. The jungles of Sabah host a diverse array of plant and animal species. Most of Sabah's biodiversity is...
The Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) is an international organisation that focuses on making scientific data on biodiversity available via...
" Food biodiversity can be considered from two main perspectives: production and consumption. From a consumption perspective, food biodiversity describes...
affected its biodiversity for the worse. Unlike other countries, however, Guatemala is a poor country with few resources to foster biodiversity in the country...
The wildlife of Ghana is composed of its biodiversity of flora and fauna. Ghana is home to a significant number of fungi species including: Aspergillus...
countries on Earth. It has a wide variety of natural habitats and very high biodiversity. The country also hosts a part of the Amazon rainforest, the largest...
biodiversity hotspot. The waters around Sipadan island are the most biodiverse in the world. Bordering East Malaysia, the Sulu Sea is a biodiversity hotspot...
geomorphology. The country is one of the richest in Europe in terms of biodiversity. Croatia has four types of biogeographical regions—the Mediterranean...
analyze the policy and institutional context for biodiversity finance; measure the current biodiversity expenditures; assess future financial needs, and...
in biodiversity and is one of the 17 megadiverse countries. With over 200,000 different species, Mexico is home of 10–12% of the world's biodiversity. Mexico...
communities within the soil, and causes a loss of biodiversity in regards to the microbes since biodiversity is actually highly dependent on soil texture....
such a southerly latitude. A biodiversity hotspot, Albania possesses an exceptionally rich and contrasting biodiversity on account of its geographical...
The National Biodiversity Network (UK) (NBN) is a collaborative venture set up in 2000 in the United Kingdom committed to making biodiversity information...
deforestation) has direct impacts on global issues like climate change and biodiversity loss. The territory which would become known as Brazil was inhabited...
Prasad; Kindlmann, Pavel (2012), "An Overview of the Biodiversity in Nepal", Himalayan Biodiversity in the Changing World, pp. 1–40, doi:10.1007/978-94-007-1802-9_1...
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