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biodiversity
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Illustration showing four ways to measure biodiversity: species richness, genetic diversity, endemic species, and ecosystem diversity, using a landscape with varied habitats, marked species, and unique ecosystems.
What is biodiversity, and why is it important?
Morning Glory Pool in Yellowstone National Park, a vibrant hot spring with blue-green and yellow colors caused by cyanobacteria, surrounded by forest and a wooden walkway. Silversword plant with spiky, silvery leaves growing on rocky soil at Mauna Kea, Hawaii, with dry grass and mountains in the background.
Why are rainforests so important?
Diagram illustrating the main drivers of biodiversity loss, with arrows pointing from habitat loss, invasive species, overexploitation, pollution, and climate change toward a section labeled biodiversity loss, alongside influencers such as human population growth and increased consumption. World map highlighting Earth's terrestrial biodiversity hot spots in red, showing regions with exceptionally high levels of species richness and endemism. These hot spots are distributed across parts of Central and South America, the Caribbean, Mediterranean basin, Africa, Madagascar, South and Southeast Asia, and islands in the Pacific and Indian Oceans, as well as select areas in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand.
How is biodiversity good for the economy?
Explore with German biologist Matthias Kopfmüller and his team to document one of the world's rich biodiversity in the waters off Indonesia
The unique animal life of the Galapagos Islands
At a Glance
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biodiversity summary
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Pollination. Bee collecting pollen & nectar from a flower. Plant insect
Biodiversity Loss
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Illustration showing four ways to measure biodiversity: species richness, genetic diversity, endemic species, and ecosystem diversity, using a landscape with varied habitats, marked species, and unique ecosystems.
measuring biodiversity Ways to measure biodiversity. Although examining counts of species is perhaps the most common method used to compare the biodiversity of various places, other methods may be used, such as looking at the genetic diversity within species, investigating ecosystem diversity, and considering the presence of endemic species.

biodiversity

ecology
Also known as: biological diversity, species diversity
Written by
Stuart L. Pimm
Doris Duke Professor of Conservation Ecology, Nicholas School of the Environment, Duke University, Durham, N.C., and Extraordinary Professor, Conservation Ecology Research Unit, University of Pretoria,...
Stuart L. Pimm
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Britannica Editors
Encyclopaedia Britannica's editors oversee subject areas in which they have extensive knowledge, whether from years of experience gained by working on that content or via study for an advanced degree....
Britannica Editors
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•History

biodiversity, the variety of life found in a place on Earth or, often, the total variety of life on Earth. A common measure of this variety, called species richness, is the count of species in an area. 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 are home to fewer than 200. A coral reef off northern Australia may...

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