6.3 Biodiversity

The sum of all the genetic diversity among all the organisms in the biosphere is called biodiversity. There are three general types of biodiversity:

• Ecosystem diversity is the variety of habitats, communities, and ecological processes in the biosphere.

• Species diversity is the number of different species in an area or in the biosphere.

• Genetic diversity is the total of all genetic information carried in living things.

Biodiversity benefits humans through its contributions to medicine and agriculture and through the provision of ecological goods and services.

Human activities threaten biodiversity.

• Development splits ecosystems into pieces, resulting in habitat fragmentation. The smaller the pieces of a habitat, the less likely that species in the habitat can survive.

• Other threats to biodiversity include over hunting, introduced species, pollution, and climate change.

Conservation efforts are focused on three things:

• Protecting single species is the focus of groups such as the Association of Zoos and Aquariums (AZA), which oversees species survival plans (SSPs).

• Protecting habitats and ecosystems is the main thrust of global efforts. Biologists are particularly concerned about ecological hot spots, which are places where significant numbers of habitats and species are in immediate danger of extinction.

• Considering local interests is part of developing plans to replace harmful activities with ones that conserve environments and biodiversity.