Biodiversity

12 Key excerpts on "Biodiversity"

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  Environmental Biotechnology

  • M. H. Fulekar(Author)
  • 2010(Publication Date)
  • CRC Press

    (Publisher)

  The convention on biological diversity defines Biodiversity 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, this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems . ” 2.1 Biodiversity Biodiversity (L: bias = life; diversitas = variety) the variety that exists among organisms and their environments. Biodiversity is a better word than biological diversity, which literally means variety in the knowledge of life. The term, short for biological diversity, is used mainly by scientists, conservationists and others interested in the study, protection and sustainable use of living things (Gaston and Spicer 2004). The United Nations define Biodiversity as the variability among living organisms from all sources, including terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part (Wilson 1992). It includes diversity within species (genetic diversity), between species (species diversity), and between ecosystems (ecosystem diversity). It provides mankind with a wide range of benefits, such as important goods (like timber and medicinal products) and essential services (like carbon cycling and storage, clean water, climate and natural hazards mitigation). Diversity is one of nature’s important strategies to create stable ecosystems. CHAPTER CHAPTER Biodiversity 2 Nature’s strategies for resistance are: over- capacity + replication + diversity + connectivity (functionality) + adaptability. It achieves this by genetic variation and by recording successful information in species and ecosystems. Nature’s Biodiversity corresponds to the sciences of genetics + ecology + biogeography.

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  Biogeography and Biodiversity

  • Judith Rosales(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Society Publishing

    (Publisher)

  The first in utilizing the term in the scientific literature, however, was Edward Wilson. In general, Biodiversity could also be described as “variation of life at all levels of biological organization.” It is also defined as the diversity of alleles, genes, and organisms, which study the processes related to mutation and gene transfer, which drive the evolution of a living organism. According to the Convention on Biological Diversity, “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 a part; this includes diversity within species, between species, and of ecosystems.” 3.2 TYPES OF Biodiversity Biodiversity includes genetic variation within species, the variety of species within an area, and the variety of habitat types within a landscape. Biological diversity is of fundamental importance to the functioning of all natural and human-engineered ecosystems, and by extension to the ecosystem services that nature provides free of charge to human society. Living organisms play central roles in the cycles of major elements (carbon, nitrogen, and so on) and water in the environment, and diversity specifically is important in that these cycles require numerous interacting species. Some species are key pieces of the puzzle that represent the functional organization and equilibrium of an ecosystem. Taxonomy is a term of high importance in Biodiversity as it refers to the science of discovering, naming and classifying all the animals, plants and microorganisms across the world. Taxonomists are the people who arrange the different species into classification according to their genes, morphology, and behavior and biochemical observation. Classifying various species is important for the fundamental understanding of the Biodiversity Biogeography and Biodiversity 70 and the conservation of Biodiversity.

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  Biodiversity and Biotechnology

  • Preethi Kartan(Author)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Delve Publishing

    (Publisher)

  An Introduction to Biodiversity 3 ecosystems both aquatic and terrestrial, within a specified area. Biological diversity basically deals with the level of variety of nature in the biosphere. This variety can easily be observed at three distinct levels as the genetic variability in a species, the diversity of species in a community, and the organization of species in an area into the typical plant as well as animal community’s create ecosystem diversity. Biodiversity comprises a huge distinction within as well as between species of the living organisms. Each of the living species links together to further form the complex system. This is basically considered as a significant tool of Biodiversity. Species is usually known as the group of individuals who has the ability to reproduce similar species in the very next generation. Generally, biological diversity comprises all kinds of natural habitats with the availability of certain species. The diversity of variety in ecosystem consists of species diversity, ecosystem diversity and habitat diversity. The interactive relation between biota and environment forms a complex system in nature. Figure 1.1: Meaning of Biodiversity. Source: https://eco-globe.com/general-meaning-of-Biodiversity/ Biodiversity and Biotechnology 4 Level of pollution, changes in climate, the structure as well as the composition of vegetation, etc. are significant factors involved in the function and structure of such kind of system. Compliance of few species is a notable character essential quality of the species that basically support them to survive in particular climatic condition, and playing a major role in the species survival. Variation of species is basically determined by the consequence of gene activity. This is generally regulated by the availability of various environmental facilities present for the species, group of species or by the association of individual species making a population structure.

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  The Routledge Handbook of Philosophy of Biodiversity

  • Justin Garson, Anya Plutynski, Sahotra Sarkar, Justin Garson, Anya Plutynski, Sahotra Sarkar(Authors)
  • 2016(Publication Date)
  • Routledge

    (Publisher)

  4 There have also been proposals that increasing diversity is a kind of “zero-force evolutionary law” of biology, as biological systems left alone will spontaneously differentiate through random mutation, copying errors, etc. (McShea and Brandon 2010). Whether or not this proposal should be accepted, evolutionary biologists have long understood diversity within populations to be the “raw material” of evolutionary change. In conservation contexts, since loss of any species or ecosystem constitutes a loss of diversity, concerns about species and ecosystem loss are easily translated into concerns about declining Biodiversity. ‘‘Biodiversity’’ in the broad sense thus groups biological diversities across scientific contexts (evolutionary biology, ecology, etc.) and broader social contexts (conservation biology, environmental policy, etc.) under a single heading, even while our interests in the diversities of life are many and multifaceted.

  Thus the only constraints on the use of ‘‘Biodiversity’’ across contexts seem to be that (1) the entities, systems, or processes in question are biological; and (2) there is at least implicit reference to variety or heterogeneity.5 The first constraint rules out, say, geological or chemical heterogeneity from falling under the broad Biodiversity concept, although there are borderline cases when one considers systems at the margins of life (Malaterre 2013). It is neutral between biological entities, systems, and processes, as heterogeneity within each of these categories might be important in different contexts. The second condition rules out using ‘‘Biodiversity’’ to refer to particular biological entities when some concern for or emphasis on heterogeneity or variety is not present. As I mentioned above, loss of a particular species ipso facto counts as a loss of overall species diversity. However, changes in the composition of biological communities, the particular species that exist in those communities, may maintain overall species diversity, even while there may be consequences of such changes relevant to other biological diversities, for example genetic diversity or functional diversity. However, the broad extensional usage I mentioned above incorporates biological composition and does not fall outside these constraints: referring to an area’s Biodiversity denotes the biota there (its composition), while also emphasizing its variety. Similarly, the definition of Groves et al

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  Greening the College Curriculum

  A Guide To Environmental Teaching In The Liberal Arts

  • Jonathan Collett, Stephen Karakashian, Jonathan Collett, Stephen Karakashian(Authors)
  • 2013(Publication Date)
  • Island Press

    (Publisher)

  Homo sapiens on this Earth long after the damage is done.

  As educators, we strive to define the issues that pertain to Biodiversity, and to bring them into a manageable context. But the task is daunting, the literature vast and confusing. This chapter presents several successful methods of teaching Biodiversity in the undergraduate curriculum. But first, a few definitions and motifs—some quite unexpected—are in order.

  What Is Biodiversity?

  Biodiversity literally means “biological diversity.” The concept embraces the full hierarchy of nature’s echelons—DNA, genes, proteins, varieties, subspecies, species, genera, families, orders, classes, etc.—and also the full spectrum of communities of plants and animals, of ecosystems and biomes. It is meaningless to consider a species outside of its ecological context, that is, its association with the biotic and abiotic components of its environment. Therefore Biodiversity, in its elemental sense, incorporates all of Earth’s environments and their living components.

  Most biologists would argue that the fundamental units of the community—and therefore of diversity—are species. (But species are not necessarily the fundamental units of evolution; many argue that individuals, or even the frequencies of genes, which are sub-organismal, are the units of evolution.) Yet evolutionary biologists are still quibbling over the definition of “species,” which has evolved in this century from the exemplar of a type specimen to embrace molecular and population biology. The technologies of taxonomy are also changing, from morphological, to cladistic, to biochemical (for a modern review, see Ereshefsky 1992). Are species real natural entities or convenient—and largely arbitrary—impositions of order on the natural world by humans? Most biologists would argue the former, embracing the biological-species concept

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  Biodiversity 101

  • Melina Laverty, Eleanor Sterling, Amelia Chiles, Georgina Cullman(Authors)
  • 2008(Publication Date)
  • Greenwood

    (Publisher)

  This chapter introduces the basics of Biodiversity: what Biodiversity is and how to measure it. It also explores the evolution of Biodiversity over time: how many species there are today, how many have disappeared, 2 Biodiversity 101 and the “Sixth” extinction—the current rapid loss of Biodiversity around the world. DEFINITION OF Biodiversity Scientists first coined the term Biodiversity, a contraction of the phrase, “biological diversity,” in the 1980s. Most simply, Biodiversity de- scribes the entire variety of life on earth. It can also be defined more broadly incorporating not only living organisms, but also their complex interactions with one another and with the nonliving aspects of their environment. Biodiversity is defined as: The variety of life on Earth at all its levels, from genes to ecosystems, and the ecological and evolutionary processes that sustain it. The Biodiversity Hierarchy To understand and appreciate the full variety of life encapsulated by the term “Biodiversity,” scientists describe it based on a nested hierar- chy, beginning at the subcellular scale and ending at the continental level (see Figure 1.1). The smallest level of this hierarchy refers to the diversity of genes that can be found in individual cells. Genetic diversity is sometimes called the “fundamental currency of diversity,” as ultimately it is responsible for the variation among individuals, populations, and species. The next level of the hierarchy is the species level: this is the level of the Biodiversity hierarchy that most conservation legislation tar- gets, where most conservation organizations focus their efforts, and what most people think of when they think of Biodiversity. The interactions between the individual organisms that make up a population (competition, cooperation, etc.), and their specializations for their environment (including ways in which they might modify the envi- ronment itself) are important aspects of the next levels of the Biodiversity hierarchy.

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  Environmental Philosophy

  From Theory to Practice

  • Sahotra Sarkar(Author)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • Wiley-Blackwell

    (Publisher)

  Let us return to the fundamental question: what is Biodiversity? Even a cursory survey of professional papers or textbooks of conservation biology will reveal two canonical definitions; they will also reveal almost no research that uses these definitions. The canonical definitions are the following:

  1. Biodiversity refers to the variety of life at every level of structural, taxonomic, and functional organization.

  2. Biodiversity refers to diversity of genes (alleles), species, and ecosystems.

  Many conservation biologists, especially in moments of unbridled political advocacy, may endorse definition (1) but, if the term “Biodiversity” is to reflect the practice of conservation biology, this definition is useless. Biodiversity, as Takacs has pointed out, becomes all of biology.24 It is absurd to think that we should—let alone that we can—protect all diversity of structure, taxonomy, and function. We would have to protect almost every biotic entity. Biodiversity conservation is not the only policy goal in any social context, and resources for it are obviously not unlimited. Consequently, biotic features must be prioritized and an adequate definition of “Biodiversity” must reflect where a society's priorities lie with respect to the type of biological diversity that deserves the most attention. We cannot reasonably aim to protect every biotic entity, even in principle.

  Definition (2) was probably never intended to define “Biodiversity” fully; rather, it was supposed to operationalize it in the sense that protecting these three categories would presumably protect most of what is intended to be captured by definition (1). The trouble is that it has been a rather unsuccessful operationalization: allelic diversity is almost impossible to estimate accurately or protect in natural populations; species diversity, if we really mean all species, including microbial species, is almost as intractable.

  In practice, conservation biologists work with either limited sets of taxa or ecosystem types (for instance, vegetation types). However, it is often unclear whether the choice of limited sets of taxa or ecosystem types is motivated by practical considerations of measuring Biodiversity or whether it reflects what Biodiversity is categorically supposed to be. It is important to introduce a critical distinction at this state:

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  Economic Valuation of Biodiversity

  An Interdisciplinary Conceptual Perspective

  • Bartosz Bartkowski(Author)
  • 2017(Publication Date)
  • Taylor & Francis

    (Publisher)

  Accordingly, there exist many approaches to defining Biodiversity, which encompasses numerous levels and dimensions, including species diversity, genetic diversity, ecosystem diversity, functional diversity. In Chapter 5 we will return to the issue of defining Biodiversity. In addition to a presentation of various definitions and the difficulties related to defining Biodiversity, it was shown in this chapter how Biodiversity can be measured. This discussion will feed into numerous arguments further on in this book, including the critical evaluation of Biodiversity proxies used in economic valuation studies and the attempt to provide some insights about how the conceptual framework to be developed in Chapter 5 can be coupled with empirical data. An important subject of this chapter was Biodiversity’s ecological value. Building upon current ecological literature, it was shown that Biodiversity is correlated with ecosystem functioning, particularly with ecosystem stability

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  Biodiversity

  • Christian Lévêque, Jean-Claude Mounolou(Authors)
  • 2004(Publication Date)
  • Wiley

    (Publisher)

  Species exist in a large variety of forms, with different sizes and biological characteristics. Operating individually or in groups within trophic webs, these properties influence the nature Biodiversity Christian Le ´ve ˆque and Jean-Claude Mounolou # 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd ISBN 0 470 84956 8 (Hbk) ISBN 0 470 84957 6 (pbk) and magnitude of the flow of matter and energy within the ecosystem. The different interactions among species, not only competition but also mutualism and symbioses, contribute collectively to the dynam- ics of an ecosystem. . Ecosystem diversity, corresponding to the variety of habitats and their variability over time. Specific richness is usually considered a function of the diversity of habitats and the number of potentially available ecological niches. Owing to their biological diversity, ecosystems play a global role in the regulation of geochemical cycles (fixation, storage, transfer, recycling of nutrients, etc.) and the water cycle. In the ecological sense of the term, biological diversity results from dynamic interactions within and among the levels of organisation of the living world, as well as with the physical and chemical environment that it contributes towards modifying (Figure 5.1). The functioning of ecosystems and their flows of matter and energy are thus reciprocally controlled by physical, chemical and biological processes. Biodiversity species diversity Ecological diversity Genetic Diversity Figure 5.1 The concept of Biodiversity involves all the interactions between the diversity of species, their genetic diversity and the diversity of ecological systems (based on di Castri and Youne `s, 1996) 98 5 BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY AND FUNCTIONING 5. 2 The Ecosystem Approach The Convention on Biological Diversity defines an ecosystem as ‘a dynamic complex of plant, animal and micro-organism communities and their non-living environment interacting as a functional unit’.

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  Ethics and biodiversity

  • Bosworth Andrew, Chaipraditkul Napat, MingMing Cheng, Gupta Abhik, Junmookda Kimberly, Kadam Parag, Macer Darryl R.J., Millet Charlotte, Sangaroonthong Jennifer, Waller Alexander(Authors)
  • 2011(Publication Date)
  • UNESCO Office Bangkok

    (Publisher)

  2 ECCAP WG16 Report: Ethics and Biodiversity 1. Biodiversity and its Definition 1.1 Genes, Species and Ecosystem The first step of this discourse on ethics and Biodiversity is to establish the criteria and definitions, as the ethical implications and responsibilities towards Biodiversity change depending on the understanding of the word. The definition of Biodiversity has changed over time, currently that of the Convention on Biodiversity (CBD) is widely used, “ 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 a part; this includes diversity within species and of ecosystems .” 1 In addition to that concept of Biodiversity, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) specifies the parts within Biodiversity as genes, species and ecosystem. 2 This definition and accompanying specifications have evolved from the original coinage of the term and its roots in conservation biology, in the sense that Biodiversity includes more than just species numbers (Maclaurin and Sterelny, 2008). Many conceptual variances may be found, one example is that an ecosystem can be interpreted as a component necessitating diversity itself, rather than only the system housing diversity. That idea is exemplified through the concept that Biodiversity is composed of three primary components (Neem, et al., 2008), composition, structure and function, and each arrangement of the three parts within an ecosystem could render the ecosystem as unique. Such a discrepancy of interpretation is an example of why Biodiversity cannot be thought of ‘in any one way’ (Lovejoy, 1995). Furthermore, to think of Biodiversity defined through any one aspect is incomplete, perhaps the closest would be recognizing the complexity of life as the core principle and defining characteristic.

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  Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa

  • W. Johnny Wilson, Richard Primack(Authors)
  • 2019(Publication Date)
  • Open Book Publishers

    (Publisher)

  3.5 Summary 1. Earth’s Biodiversity includes the entire range of living species (species diversity), the genetic variation that occurs among individuals within a 86 Conservation Biology in Sub-Saharan Africa species (genetic diversity), and, at a higher level, the biological communities in which species live and their associations with the physical and chemical environment (ecosystem diversity). 2. For practical purposes, most ecologists and conservationists identify species in the field according to their morphology, although improvements in genetic techniques are allowing more species to be identified according to their evolutionary past, revealing many cryptic species that people did not realise were there. 3. There are several ways to measure and compare Biodiversity. The most popular measurement is species richness in a particular community, such as a forest or grassland (alpha diversity), species richness across a larger landscape, such as a mountain range (gamma diversity), and the rate of change of species composition as one crosses a large region (beta diversity). 4. It is estimated that there may be as many as 2 billion species on Earth. Most species already described are insects, while the best-known species include birds and mammals. The majority of species still need to be discovered. 5. Variation in climate, topography, and geological age are all factors that affect patterns of species richness. Geological age and complexity provide environmental variation, which in turn allows opportunities for genetic isolation, local adaptation, and speciation, given enough time. Tropical forests, coral reefs, and Mediterranean-type ecosystems host a disproportionately large amount of the world’s Biodiversity. 3.6 Topics for Discussion 1. Think of any group of species (birds, trees, or maybe insects) that can be found in the area where you live.

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  Concepts and Values in Biodiversity

  • Dirk Lanzerath, Minou Friele, Dirk Lanzerath, Minou Friele(Authors)
  • 2014(Publication Date)
  • Taylor & Francis

    (Publisher)

  ethical approach or on a given political strategy. The way Biodiversity is valued may differ not only from one discipline to another – be it biology, economics, jurisprudence, philosophy or any other – but also on quite a different level regarding the way society, politics and the media give weight to its significance (Cf. Koricheva and Siipi 2004: 43–6). For instance, it is quite easy to convey the importance of protecting large and aesthetically pleasing species such as panda bears and blue whales to the public, although less conspicuous species may be of much greater importance for maintaining the stability of an ecosystem (Cf. for details Ehrenfeld 1997, esp. 137f.).

  Biodiversity as an ethical concept

  The questions as to whether Biodiversity can represent a value and whether there is an obligation to conserve it can provoke extremely divergent intuitive answers. On the one hand, we clearly find the diversity of nature important, be it on account of its economic usefulness or our aesthetic appreciation. On the other hand, neither of these categories can be readily applied to a deep-sea fish population that no-one has ever seen, and they seem to be at odds with the idea of demanding protection in principle for pathogenic organisms – even though these may also be useful in some way. Not only is the establishment of an ethical framework that encompasses Biodiversity still subject to much debate, but also the empirical questions concerning the extent and the rate at which it is being diminished . Finally, the very term ‘Biodiversity’ is subject to a fundamental degree of uncertainty. It is used in different ways not only in the empirical, natural scientific context, but also in the field of ethics (Cf. Takacs 1996).

  Biodiversity and man’s treatment of nature

  The debates currently being conducted concerning the usefulness and value of Biodiversity are closely associated with the more fundamental question: exactly what is this ‘nature’ that we are attempting to protect (Cf. for details Honnefelder 1998)? Do we mean by this the ‘natural’ nature, so to speak – that which has developed and evolved independently of mankind? The evolutionary processes that have brought about complex ecosystems such as coral reefs and tropical rainforests? Or do we mean that which man has wrought as his living space since his appearance on the earth: gardens, parks and cultivated forests? Perhaps the term is meant to describe the ‘ecosystem services’ and ‘natural capital’ upon which we and future generations depend, including highly specialized, cultivated plants and animals that have been bred over thousands of years? To what extent is man’s intervention into nature itself a ‘natural’ component of the evolutionary development of species and habitats? How, in this case, are secondary habitats to be rated in comparison with primary habitats? And how can the truly ‘natural’ be substituted by ‘close-to-natural’ without the latter being merely a falsification (Cf. Elliot 2003)? The practical implications that arise from the differing concepts and views of nature

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