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| {{short description|Variety and variability of life forms}}
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| {{Lead rewrite|date=May 2022}}
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| {{Use dmy dates|date=December 2019}}
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| [[File:Fungi of Saskatchewan.JPG|thumb|right|A sampling of [[fungi]] collected during summer 2008 in Northern [[Saskatchewan]] mixed woods, near LaRonge, is an example regarding the species diversity of fungus. In this photo, there are also leaf [[lichen]]s and [[moss]]es.]]
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| '''Biodiversity''' or '''biological diversity''' is the variety and variability of [[life|life on Earth]]. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the [[Genetics|genetic]] (''[[genetic variability]]''), [[species]] (''[[species diversity]]''), and [[ecosystem]] (''[[ecosystem diversity]]'') level.<ref name="UN">{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.pl/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/BIODIVERSITY_FACTSHEET.pdf |title=What is biodiversity? |publisher=[[United Nations Environment Programme]], World Conservation Monitoring Centre}}</ref>
| | == The term == |
| | The term '''biological diversity''' was used first by wildlife scientist and conservationist Raymond F. Dasmann in 1968,<ref> |
| | Dasmann R.F. 1968. ''A different kind of country''. MacMillan, New York. {{ISBN|0-02-072810-7}}</ref> where he advocated [[conservation]]. It was widely adopted only in the 1980s.<ref>Soulé M.E. and B. A. Wilcox. 1980. ''Conservation biology: an evolutionary-ecological perspective''. Sinauer. Sunderland, Massachusetts.</ref> |
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| Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on [[Earth]], it is usually greater in the [[tropics]]<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gaston |first=Kevin J. |title=Global patterns in biodiversity|journal=Nature|date=11 May 2000 |volume=405 |issue=6783 |pages=220–227 |doi=10.1038/35012228 |pmid=10821282|s2cid=4337597 }}</ref> as a result of the warm [[climate]] and high [[primary productivity]] in the region near the [[equator]].<ref>{{cite journal | last=Field | first=Richard | author2=Hawkins, Bradford A. |author3=Cornell, Howard V. |author4=Currie, David J. |author5=Diniz-Filho, J. |others=Alexandre F.; Guégan, Jean-François; Kaufman, Dawn M.; Kerr, Jeremy T.; Mittelbach, Gary G.; Oberdorff, Thierry; O’Brien, Eileen M.; Turner, John R. G.| s2cid=4276107 |title=Spatial species-richness gradients across scales: a meta-analysis|journal=Journal of Biogeography|date=1 January 2009|volume=36|issue=1|pages=132–147|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01963.x}}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|last1=Gaston|first1=Kevin J.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0Bjp2o5CVnQC&q=biodiversity&pg=PT6|title=Biodiversity: An Introduction|last2=Spicer|first2=John I.|date=2013-04-22|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-68491-7|language=en}}</ref> These tropical forest ecosystems cover less than 10% of earth's surface and contain about 90% of the world's species.<ref>Young, Anthony. "Global Environmental Outlook 3 (GEO-3): Past, Present and Future Perspectives." ''The Geographical Journal'', vol. 169, 2003, p. 120.</ref> [[Marine biology|Marine biodiversity]] is usually higher along coasts in the Western [[Pacific Ocean|Pacific]], where [[sea surface temperature]] is highest, and in the mid-latitudinal band in all oceans.<ref name=":0" /> There are [[latitudinal gradients in species diversity]].<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Tittensor|first=Derek P.|author2=Mora, Camilo |title=Global patterns and predictors of marine biodiversity across taxa|journal=Nature|date=28 July 2010 |volume=466 |issue=7310 |pages=1098–1101 |doi=10.1038/nature09329|bibcode = 2010Natur.466.1098T|pmid=20668450|last3=Jetz|first3=Walter|last4=Lotze|first4=Heike K.|last5=Ricard|first5=Daniel|last6=Berghe|first6=Edward Vanden|last7=Worm|first7=Boris|s2cid=4424240}}</ref> Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in [[biodiversity hotspot|hotspots]],<ref>{{cite journal | last=Myers | first=Norman | author2=Mittermeier, Russell A. | title=Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities | journal=Nature | date=24 February 2000|volume=403|issue=6772 | pages=853–858 | doi=10.1038/35002501|bibcode = 2000Natur.403..853M | pmid=10706275| last3=Mittermeier | first3=Cristina G. | last4=Da Fonseca | first4=Gustavo A. B. | last5=Kent | first5=Jennifer | s2cid=4414279 }}</ref> and has been increasing through time,<ref>{{cite journal|last=McPeek|first=Mark A.|author2=Brown, Jonathan M.|s2cid=22533070|title=Clade Age and Not Diversification Rate Explains Species Richness among Animal Taxa|journal=The American Naturalist|date=1 April 2007|volume=169|issue=4|pages=E97–E106|doi=10.1086/512135|pmid=17427118}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Peters|first=Shanan|title=Sepkoski's Online Genus Database|url=http://strata.geology.wisc.edu/jack/|publisher=University of Wisconsin-Madison|access-date=10 April 2013}}</ref> but will be likely to slow in the future as a primary result of deforestation.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rabosky|first=Daniel L.|s2cid=10292976|title=Ecological limits and diversification rate: alternative paradigms to explain the variation in species richness among clades and regions|journal=Ecology Letters|date=1 August 2009|volume=12|issue=8|pages=735–743|doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01333.x|pmid=19558515}}</ref> It encompasses the evolutionary, ecological, and cultural processes that sustain life.
| | The term '''biodiversity''' first appeared in a publication in 1988 when entomologist [[E. O. Wilson]] used it as a title.<ref>Edward O.Wilson, editor, Frances M.Peter, associate editor 1988. ''Biodiversity'', National Academies Press. {{ISBN|0-309-03783-2}}; {{ISBN|0-309-03739-5}} [http://darwin.nap.edu/books/0309037395/html/R2.html online edition] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913154719/http://darwin.nap.edu/books/0309037395/html/R2.html |date=2006-09-13 }}</ref><ref>Global Biodiversity Assessment. [[UNEP]], 1995, Annex 6, Glossary. {{ISBN|0-521-56481-6}}, used as source by [http://www.biodiv.be/glossary_keywords/B "Biodiversity", Glossary of terms related to the CBD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910155535/http://www.biodiv.be/glossary_keywords/B |date=2011-09-10 }}, [[Belgium|Belgian]] Clearing-House Mechanism. Retrieved 2006-04-26.</ref> Since then, the term has often been used by biologists, environmentalists, political leaders, and citizens. A similar term in the United States is "natural heritage." It predates the others and is more accepted by the wider audience interested in conservation. Broader than biodiversity, it includes [[geology]] and [[landform]]s. |
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| Rapid [[environmental change]]s typically cause [[mass extinction]]s.<ref name="CockellKoeberl2006">{{cite book |title=Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events |author1=Charles Cockell |author2=Christian Koeberl |author3=Iain Gilmour |name-list-style=amp |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=lWUPfhXPm4MC}} |date=18 May 2006 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-540-25736-3|pages=197–219|edition=1|bibcode=2006bpai.book.....C }}</ref><ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last=Algeo|first=T. J.|author2=Scheckler, S. E.|title=Terrestrial-marine teleconnections in the Devonian: links between the evolution of land plants, weathering processes, and marine anoxic events|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|date=29 January 1998|volume=353|issue=1365|pages=113–130|doi=10.1098/rstb.1998.0195|pmc=1692181}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Bond|first=David P.G.|author2=Wignall, Paul B.|title=The role of sea-level change and marine anoxia in the Frasnian–Famennian (Late Devonian) mass extinction|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|date=1 June 2008|volume=263|issue=3–4|pages=107–118|doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.02.015|bibcode=2008PPP...263..107B|url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/3460/1/bondb2.pdf}}</ref> More than 99.9% of all species that ever lived on Earth, amounting to over five billion species,<ref name="Book-Biology">{{cite book |editor1=Kunin, W.E. |editor2=Gaston, Kevin |title=The Biology of Rarity: Causes and consequences of rare—common differences|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=4LHnCAAAQBAJ|page=110}}|date=31 December 1996 |isbn=978-0-412-63380-5 |access-date=26 May 2015 }}</ref> are estimated to be [[Extinction|extinct]].<ref name="StearnsStearns2000">{{cite book |last1=Stearns |first1=Beverly Peterson |last2=Stearns |first2=S. C. |last3=Stearns |first3=Stephen C. |title=Watching, from the Edge of Extinction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BHeC-tXIB4C&q=99%20percent |year=2000 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-08469-6|page=preface x |access-date=30 May 2017 }}</ref><ref name="NYT-20141108-MJN">{{cite news |last=Novacek |first=Michael J. |title=Prehistory's Brilliant Future |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/opinion/sunday/prehistorys-brilliant-future.html |date=8 November 2014 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=25 December 2014 }}</ref> Estimates on the number of Earth's current [[species]] range from 10 million to 14 million,<ref name="MillerSpoolman2012">{{cite book|author1=G. Miller|author2=Scott Spoolman |title=Environmental Science – Biodiversity Is a Crucial Part of the Earth's Natural Capital |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=NYEJAAAAQBAJ|page=62}} |date=2012 |publisher=[[Cengage Learning]] |isbn=978-1-133-70787-5 |page=62 |access-date=27 December 2014 }}</ref> of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86% have not yet been described.<ref name="PLoS-20110823">{{cite journal |last1=Mora |first1=C. |last2=Tittensor |first2=D.P. |last3=Adl |first3=S. |last4=Simpson |first4=A.G. |last5=Worm |first5=B. |title=How many species are there on Earth and in the ocean? |date=23 August 2011 |journal=[[PLOS Biology]] |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 |pmid=21886479 |pmc=3160336 |volume=9 |issue=8 |pages=e1001127}}</ref> The total amount of related [[DNA]] [[base pair]]s on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 10<sup>37</sup> and weighs 50 billion [[tonne]]s.<ref name="NYT-20150718-rn">{{cite news |last=Nuwer |first=Rachel |date=18 July 2015 |title=Counting All the DNA on Earth |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/science/counting-all-the-dna-on-earth.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York |access-date=18 July 2015}}</ref><!--- PLOS paper cited by NYT used 'tonne' unit. ---> In comparison, the total [[Biomass (ecology)|mass]] of the [[biosphere]] has been estimated to be as much as four trillion tons of [[carbon]].<ref name="AGCI-2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.agci.org/classroom/biosphere/index.php |title=The Biosphere: Diversity of Life |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=Aspen Global Change Institute |location=Basalt, CO |access-date=19 July 2015}}</ref><!--- Aspen Global Change Institute (US-based) defined TtC as 'trillion tons of C'. ---> In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 [[gene]]s from the [[Last Universal Common Ancestor]] (LUCA) of all [[organism]]s living on Earth.<ref name="NYT-20160725">{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |author-link=Nicholas Wade |title=Meet Luca, the Ancestor of All Living Things |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/science/last-universal-ancestor.html |date=25 July 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=25 July 2016 }}</ref>
| | == Definitions == |
| | Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of [[gene]]s, species, and ecosystems of a region".<ref name="Larsson2001">{{cite book|author=Tor-Björn Larsson|title=Biodiversity evaluation tools for European forests|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=zeTU8QauENcC&pg=PA178|accessdate=28 June 2011|year=2001|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-87-16-16434-6|page=178}}</ref> An advantage of this definition is that it seems to describe most circumstances. There are three levels at which biological variety can been identified: |
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| The [[age of the Earth]] is about 4.54 billion years.<ref name="USGS1997">{{cite web | date=1997 | title=Age of the Earth| url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html | publisher=U.S. Geological Survey | access-date=10 January 2006| archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20051223072700/http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html| archive-date= 23 December 2005 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Dalrymple | first=G. Brent | title=The age of the Earth in the twentieth century: a problem (mostly) solved | journal=Special Publications, Geological Society of London | date=2001 | volume=190 | issue=1 | pages=205–221 | doi=10.1144/GSL.SP.2001.190.01.14 |bibcode = 2001GSLSP.190..205D | s2cid=130092094 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author= Manhesa, Gérard| author2= Allègre, Claude J.| author3= Dupréa, Bernard| author4= Hamelin, Bruno | name-list-style= amp | title=Lead isotope study of basic-ultrabasic layered complexes: Speculations about the age of the earth and primitive mantle characteristics | journal=[[Earth and Planetary Science Letters]]| date=1980 | volume=47 | issue= 3 | pages=370–382 | doi=10.1016/0012-821X(80)90024-2 | bibcode=1980E&PSL..47..370M}}</ref> The earliest undisputed evidence of [[life|life on Earth]] dates at least from 3.5 billion years ago,<ref name=":2">{{Cite journal|last1=Schopf|first1=J. William|last2=Kudryavtsev|first2=Anatoliy B.|last3=Czaja|first3=Andrew D.|last4=Tripathi|first4=Abhishek B.|date=5 October 2007|title=Evidence of Archean life: Stromatolites and microfossils|journal=Precambrian Research|series=Earliest Evidence of Life on Earth|volume=158 |issue=3–4|pages=141–155|doi=10.1016/j.precamres.2007.04.009|bibcode=2007PreR..158..141S}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schopf|first=J. William|date=29 June 2006 |title=Fossil evidence of Archaean life |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences |volume=361|issue=1470|pages=869–885|doi=10.1098/rstb.2006.1834 |pmc=1578735|pmid=16754604}}</ref><ref name="RavenJohnson2002">{{cite book | first1=Peter | last1=Hamilton Raven | first2= George | last2= Brooks Johnson | title=Biology | url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=GtlqPwAACAAJ}} | year=2002 | publisher=McGraw-Hill Education | isbn=978-0-07-112261-0 | page=68 | access-date=7 July 2013 }}</ref> during the [[Eoarchean]] Era after a geological [[Crust (geology)|crust]] started to solidify following the earlier molten [[Hadean]] Eon. There are [[microbial mat]] [[fossils]] found in 3.48 billion-year-old [[sandstone]] discovered in [[Western Australia]].<ref name="AP-20131113">{{cite news |last=Borenstein |first=Seth |title=Oldest fossil found: Meet your microbial mom |url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20131113/DAA1VSC01.html |date=13 November 2013 |work=[[AP News]] }}</ref><ref name="TG-20131113-JP">{{cite news |last=Pearlman |first=Jonathan |title='Oldest signs of life on Earth found' – Scientists discover potentially oldest signs of life on Earth – 3.5 billion-year-old microbe traces in rocks in Australia |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/10445788/Oldest-signs-of-life-on-Earth-found.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/10445788/Oldest-signs-of-life-on-Earth-found.html |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |date=13 November 2013 |work=[[Telegraph Media Group|The Telegraph]] |access-date=15 December 2014 }}{{cbignore}}</ref><ref name="AST-20131108">{{cite journal |last1=Noffke |first1=Nora |last2=Christian |first2=Daniel |last3=Wacey |first3=David |last4=Hazen | first4=Robert M. |title=Microbially Induced Sedimentary Structures Recording an Ancient Ecosystem in the ca. 3.48 Billion-Year-Old Dresser Formation, Pilbara, Western Australia |date=8 November 2013 |journal=[[Astrobiology (journal)|Astrobiology]] |doi=10.1089/ast.2013.1030 |bibcode=2013AsBio..13.1103N |pmid=24205812 |pmc=3870916 |volume=13 | issue=12 | pages=1103–1124}}</ref> Other early physical evidence of a [[biogenic substance]] is [[graphite]] in 3.7 billion-year-old [[Metasediment|meta-sedimentary rocks]] discovered in [[Western Greenland]].<ref name="NG-20131208">{{cite journal | first1=Yoko | last1=Ohtomo | first2=Takeshi | last2=Kakegawa | first3=Akizumi | last3=Ishida | first4=Toshiro | last4=Nagase | first5=Minik T. | last5=Rosing | s2cid=54767854 | title=Evidence for biogenic graphite in early Archaean Isua metasedimentary rocks | journal=[[Nature Geoscience]] | doi=10.1038/ngeo2025 | date=8 December 2013 | volume=7 | issue=1 | pages=25–28 | bibcode=2014NatGe...7...25O}}</ref> More recently, in 2015, "remains of [[Biotic material|biotic life]]" were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia.<ref name="AP-20151019">{{cite news |last=Borenstein |first=Seth |title=Hints of life on what was thought to be desolate early Earth |url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20151019/us-sci--earliest_life-a400435d0d.html |date=19 October 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bell |first1=Elizabeth A. |last2=Boehnike |first2=Patrick |last3=Harrison |first3=T. Mark |last4=Mao |first4=Wendy L. |display-authors=3 |date=24 November 2015 |title=Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a 4.1 billion-year-old zircon |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |doi=10.1073/pnas.1517557112 |pmid=26483481 |pmc=4664351 |volume=112 |number =47|pages=14518–14521|bibcode=2015PNAS..11214518B |doi-access=free }}</ref> According to one of the researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth .. then it could be common in the [[universe]]."<ref name="AP-20151019" />
| | *[[species]] diversity |
| | *[[ecosystem]] diversity |
| | *[[variation|genetic diversity]]. |
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| Since [[Abiogenesis|life began on Earth]], five 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]]—a period during which the majority of [[Multicellular organism|multicellular]] [[Phylum|phyla]] first appeared.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/cambrian.php |title=The Cambrian Period |publisher=[[University of California Museum of Paleontology]] |access-date=17 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515190500/http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/cambrian.php |archive-date=15 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The next 400 million years included repeated, massive [[biodiversity loss]]es classified as [[mass extinction]] events. In the [[Carboniferous]], [[Carboniferous rainforest collapse|rainforest collapse]] led to a great loss of [[plant]] and [[animal]] life.<ref name="SahneyBentonFerry2010RainforestCollapse">{{cite journal | doi=10.1130/G31182.1 | author= Sahney, S. |author2=Benton, M.J. |author3=Falcon-Lang, H.J. |name-list-style=amp| year=2010 | title= Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica | journal=Geology | volume = 38 | pages = 1079–1082 | issue=12|bibcode = 2010Geo....38.1079S }}</ref> The [[Permian–Triassic extinction event]], 251 million years ago, was the worst; vertebrate recovery took 30 million years.<ref name="SahneyBenton2008RecoveryFromProfoundExtinction">{{cite journal |author1=Sahney, S. |author2=Benton, M.J. |name-list-style=amp | year=2008 | title=Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | doi=10.1098/rspb.2007.1370 | volume = 275 | pages = 759–765| pmid=18198148 | issue=1636 | pmc=2596898}}</ref> The most recent, the [[Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event]], occurred 65 million years ago and has often attracted more attention than others because it resulted in the extinction of the {{nowrap|non-avian}} [[dinosaur]]s.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/extinction_events/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Tertiary_extinction_event|publisher=BBC Nature |title=Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction videos, news and facts|access-date=5 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609051408/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/extinction_events/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Tertiary_extinction_event|archive-date=9 June 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>
| | == Threats == |
| | The idea can be used for tackling practical problems in [[conservation]], for example: |
| | *loss of species |
| | *destruction of [[habitat]]s |
| | *introduced and [[invasive species]] |
| | *genetic pollution |
| | *[[Over-harvesting|over-exploitation]] |
| | *effect of [[climate change]] |
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| The period since the emergence of [[humans]] has displayed an ongoing [[biodiversity loss|biodiversity reduction]] and an accompanying loss of [[genetic diversity]]. Named the [[Holocene extinction]], and often referred to as the sixth mass extinction, the reduction is caused primarily by [[Human impact on the environment|human impacts]], particularly [[habitat (ecology)|habitat]] destruction.<ref>{{Cite journal|date = 25 July 2014 | title = Vanishing fauna (Special issue)|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=345|issue=6195| pages = 392–412 |doi= 10.1126/science.345.6195.392| pmid = 25061199| last1 = Vignieri| first1 = S. | bibcode = 2014Sci...345..392V| doi-access = free}}</ref><ref>{{cite news|author=<!--Staff writer(s)/no by-line.--> |date=13 January 2022 |title=Strong evidence shows Sixth Mass Extinction of global biodiversity in progress |url=https://www.eurekalert.org/news-releases/940163 |work=[[EurekAlert!]] |location= |access-date=17 February 2022}}</ref> Conversely, biodiversity positively impacts [[Health|human health]] in many ways, although a few negative effects are studied.<ref name="SalaMeyerson2009">{{cite book|last1=Sala|first1=Osvaldo E.|last2=Meyerson|first2=Laura A.|last3=Parmesan|first3=Camille|title=Biodiversity change and human health: from ecosystem services to spread of disease|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=x6WBmO8Muc4C|page=2}}|access-date=28 June 2011|date=26 January 2009|publisher=Island Press|isbn=978-1-59726-497-6|pages=3–5}}</ref>
| | == References == |
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| The [[United Nations]] designated 2011–2020 as the [[United Nations Decade on Biodiversity]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/special-themes/biodiversity/international-day-for-biological-diversity/united-nations-decade-on-biodiversity/|title=United Nations Decade on Biodiversity {{!}} United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|website=www.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=11 August 2017}}</ref> and 2021–2030 as the United Nations Decade on Ecosystem Restoration,<ref>{{Cite web | url=https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/new-un-decade-ecosystem-restoration-inspire-bold-un-environment-assembly |title = New UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to inspire bold UN Environment Assembly decisions|date = 6 March 2019}}</ref> According to a 2019 ''[[Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]]'' by [[IPBES]] 25% of plant and animal species are threatened with extinction as the result of human activity.<ref name="IPBES-20190506">{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Media Release: Nature's Dangerous Decline 'Unprecedented'; Species Extinction Rates 'Accelerating' |url=https://www.ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment |date=6 May 2019 |work=[[Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]] |access-date=9 May 2019 }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Watts|first=Jonathan|date=6 May 2019 |title=Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report|work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=9 May 2019 }}</ref><ref name="NYT-20190506">{{cite news |last=Plumer |first=Brad |title=Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an 'Unprecedented' Pace |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/climate/biodiversity-extinction-united-nations.html |date=6 May 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |access-date=9 May 2019 }}</ref> An October 2020 IPBES report found the same human actions which drive biodiversity loss have also resulted in an increase in [[pandemics]].<ref name="IPBESPandemic"/>
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| In 2020, the fifth edition of the UN's Global Biodiversity Outlook report,<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-08-18|title=GLOBAL BIODIVERSITY OUTLOOK 5|url=https://www.cbd.int/gbo5|access-date=2020-10-19}}</ref> which served as a "final report card" for the Aichi Biodiversity Targets, a series of 20 objectives set out in 2010, at the beginning of the UN's Decade on Biodiversity, most of which were supposed to be reached by the end of the year 2020, stated that none of the targets – which concern the safeguarding of ecosystems, and the promotion of sustainability – have been fully met.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2020-09-15|title=UN report highlights links between 'unprecedented biodiversity loss' and spread of disease|url=https://news.un.org/en/story/2020/09/1072292|access-date=2020-10-02|website=UN News|language=en}}</ref>
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| ==Etymology==
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| * 1916 – The term ''biological diversity'' was used first by J. Arthur Harris in "The Variable Desert," ''[[Scientific American]]'': "The bare statement that the region contains a flora rich in genera and species and of diverse geographic origin or affinity is entirely inadequate as a description of its real biological diversity."<ref>{{Cite journal|jstor = 6182|title = The Variable Desert|last1 = Harris|first1 = J. Arthur|journal = The Scientific Monthly|year = 1916|volume = 3|issue = 1|pages = 41–50}}</ref>
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| * 1974 – The term ''natural diversity'' was introduced by John Terborgh.<ref>{{cite journal |last=Terbogh |first=John |date=1974 |title=The Preservation of Natural Diversity: The Problem of Extinction Prone Species |journal=BioScience |volume=24 |issue=12 |pages=715–722 |doi=10.2307/1297090|jstor=1297090 }}</ref>
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| * 1980 – [[Thomas Lovejoy]] introduced the term ''biological diversity'' to the scientific community in a book.<ref name=ConsBiol80>{{cite book |author1=Soulé, Michael E. |author2=Wilcox, Bruce A. |title=Conservation biology: an evolutionary-ecological perspective |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunder*land, Mass |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-87893-800-1 }}</ref> It rapidly became commonly used.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nature.org/aboutus/index.htm |title=Robert E. Jenkins |publisher=Nature.org |date=18 August 2011 |access-date=24 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919011749/http://www.nature.org/aboutus/index.htm |archive-date=19 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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| * 1985 – According to [[Edward O. Wilson]], the contracted form ''biodiversity'' was coined by W. G. Rosen: "The National Forum on BioDiversity ... was conceived by Walter G.Rosen ... Dr. Rosen represented the NRC/NAS throughout the planning stages of the project. Furthermore, he introduced the term ''biodiversity''".<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=E. O. |title=Biodiversity |date=1988 |publisher=National Academy Press |page=vi |url=https://www.nap.edu/read/989/chapter/1#v|doi=10.17226/989 |pmid=25032475 |isbn=978-0-309-03739-6 }}</ref>
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| * 1985 - The term "biodiversity" appears in the article, "A New Plan to Conserve the Earth's Biota" by Laura Tangley.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tangley|first=Laura|date=1985|title=A New Plan to Conserve the Earth's Biota|journal=BioScience|volume=35|issue=6|pages=334–336+341|jstor=1309899|doi=10.1093/bioscience/35.6.334}}</ref>
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| * 1988 - The term biodiversity first appeared in publication.<ref name="WilsonSciences1988">{{cite book|first1=E.O. |last1=Wilson|title=Biodiversity|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=DSGF1xQBYi8C}}|date=1 January 1988|publisher=National Academies Press|isbn=978-0-309-03739-6}} [http://darwin.nap.edu/books/0309037395/html/R2.html online edition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913154719/http://darwin.nap.edu/books/0309037395/html/R2.html |date=13 September 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Global Biodiversity Assessment: Summary for Policy-makers|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=VKnimgEACAAJ}}|year=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-56481-6}} Annex 6, Glossary. Used as source by [http://www.biodiv.be/glossary_keywords/B "Biodiversity", Glossary of terms related to the CBD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910155535/http://www.biodiv.be/glossary_keywords/B |date=10 September 2011 }}, [[Belgium|Belgian]] Clearing-House Mechanism. Retrieved 26 April 2006.</ref>
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| * The present – the term has achieved widespread use.{{or?|date=June 2022}}
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| ==Definitions==
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| "Biodiversity" is most commonly used to replace the more clearly-defined and long-established terms, [[species diversity]] and [[species richness]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Walker|first=Brian H.|date=1992|title=Biodiversity and Ecological Redundancy|journal=Conservation Biology |volume=6|issue=1|pages=18–23|doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1992.610018.x }}</ref>
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| Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of [[gene]]s, [[species]] and [[ecosystems]] of a region".<ref name="Larsson2001">{{cite book|author=Tor-Björn Larsson|title=Biodiversity evaluation tools for European forests|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=zeTU8QauENcC|page=178}}|access-date=28 June 2011|year=2001|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-87-16-16434-6|page=178}}</ref><ref name="Davis">{{cite book|author=Davis|title=Intro To Env Engg (Sie), 4E|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=n0FvYeoHtAIC|page=40}}|access-date=28 June 2011|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education (India) Pvt Ltd|isbn=978-0-07-067117-1|pages=4}}</ref> An advantage of this definition is that it presents a unified view of the traditional types of biological variety previously identified:
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| * [[taxonomic diversity]] (usually measured at the species diversity level)<ref name="Sahney, S. 2010" />
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| * [[ecological diversity]] (often viewed from the perspective of [[ecosystem diversity]])<ref name="Sahney, S. 2010" />
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| * morphological diversity (which stems from [[genetic diversity]] and [[Molecular biology|molecular diversity]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Campbell |first=AK |journal=Journal of Applied Ecology |year=2003 |volume=40 |issue=2 | doi = 10.1046/j.1365-2664.2003.00803.x |pages=193–203 |title=Save those molecules: molecular biodiversity and life}}</ref>)
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| * [[Functional group (ecology)|functional diversity]] (which is a measure of the number of functionally disparate species within a population (e.g. different feeding mechanism, different motility, predator vs prey, etc.)<ref>{{Cite web|title = What is functional diversity, and why do we care?|url = http://jonlefcheck.net/2014/10/20/what-is-functional-diversity-and-why-do-we-care-2/|website = sample(ECOLOGY)|access-date = 22 December 2015|first = Jon|last = Lefcheck|date = 20 October 2014}}</ref>) This multilevel construct is consistent with Datman and Lovejoy.
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| Other definitions include:
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| ; Wilcox 1982
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| : An explicit definition consistent with this interpretation was first given in a paper by Bruce A. Wilcox commissioned by the [[International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources]] (IUCN) for the 1982 World National Parks Conference.<ref name="wilcox84" /> Wilcox's definition was "Biological diversity is the variety of life forms...at all levels of biological systems (i.e., molecular, organismic, population, species and ecosystem)...".<ref name=wilcox84>
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| Wilcox, Bruce A. 1984. In situ conservation of genetic resources: determinants of minimum area requirements. ''In National Parks, Conservation and Development, Proceedings of the World Congress on National Parks, J.A. McNeely and K.R. Miller'', Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 18–30.</ref>
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| ; Genetic: Wilcox 1984
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| : Biodiversity can be defined genetically as the diversity of alleles, genes and [[organism]]s. They study processes such as [[mutation]] and [[gene transfer]] that drive evolution.<ref name=wilcox84/>
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| ; United Nations 1992
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| : The 1992 [[United Nations]] [[Earth Summit]] defined "biological diversity" as "the variability among living organisms from all sources, including, ''inter alia'', [[Terrestrial ecoregion|terrestrial]], [[Marine (ocean)|marine]] and other [[marine biology|aquatic ecosystems]] and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems".<ref name="Hawksworth1996">{{cite book|author=D. L. Hawksworth|title=Biodiversity: measurement and estimation|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B, Biological Sciences|volume=345|issue=1311|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=E0F7zhnx1cgC|page=6}}|access-date=28 June 2011|year=1996|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-0-412-75220-9|page=6|pmid=7972355|doi=10.1098/rstb.1994.0081}}</ref> This definition is used in the United Nations [[Convention on Biological Diversity]].<ref name="Hawksworth1996"/>
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| ; Gaston and Spicer 2004
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| : Gaston & Spicer's definition in their book "Biodiversity: an introduction" is "variation of life at all levels of biological organization".<ref name="GastonSpicer2004">{{cite book|first1=Kevin J. |last1=Gaston|first2=John I. |last2= Spicer|title=Biodiversity: An Introduction|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=lY8rc4bcIDwC}}|date=13 February 2004|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-1-4051-1857-6}}</ref>
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| ; Food and Agriculture Organization 2019
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| : The [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] of the United Nations (FAO) defines biodiversity as "the variability that exists among living organisms (both within and between species) and the ecosystems of which they are part."<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Bélanger |first1=J. |url=https://www.fao.org/3/CA3129EN/CA3129EN.pdf |title=The State of the World's Biodiversity for Food and Agriculture |last2=Pilling |first2=D. |publisher=FAO |year=2019 |isbn=978-92-5-131270-4 |location=Rome |pages=4}}</ref>
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| === Forest biological biodiversity ===
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| Forest biological diversity is a broad term that refers to all life forms found within forested areas and the ecological roles they perform. As such, forest biological diversity encompasses not just trees, but the multitude of plants, animals and microorganisms that inhabit forest areas and their associated genetic diversity. Forest biological diversity can be considered at different levels, including ecosystem, landscape, species, population and genetic. Complex interactions can occur within and between these levels. In biologically diverse forests, this complexity allows organisms to adapt to continually changing environmental conditions and to maintain ecosystem functions.
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| In the annex to Decision II/9 (CBD, n.d.a), the Conference of the Parties to the CBD recognized that: "Forest biological diversity results from evolutionary processes over thousands and even millions of years which, in themselves, are driven by ecological forces such as climate, fire, competition and disturbance. Furthermore, the diversity of forest ecosystems (in both physical and biological features) results in high levels of adaptation, a feature of forest ecosystems which is an integral component of their biological diversity. Within specific forest ecosystems, the maintenance of ecological processes is dependent upon the maintenance of their biological diversity."<ref name=":8">{{Cite book |title=The State of the World's Forests 2020. In brief – Forests, biodiversity and people|publisher=FAO & UNEP|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-132707-4|location=Rome, Italy|doi=10.4060/ca8985en|s2cid=241416114}}</ref>
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| ==Distribution==
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| [[File:Map latitudinal gradient of biodiversity mannion 2014.png|thumb|upright=1.5|Distribution of living terrestrial vertebrate species, highest concentration of diversity shown in red in equatorial regions, declining polewards (towards the blue end of the spectrum) (Mannion 2014)]]
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| Biodiversity is not evenly distributed, rather it varies greatly across the globe as well as within regions. Among other factors, the diversity of all living things ([[biota (ecology)|biota]]) depends on [[temperature]], [[precipitation]], [[altitude]], [[soil]]s, [[geography]] and the presence of other species. The study of the spatial distribution of [[organism]]s, species and [[ecosystem]]s, is the science of [[biogeography]].<ref name="MorandKrasnov2010" /><ref name="the-functional-role-of-producer-diversity" />
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| Diversity consistently measures higher in the [[tropics]] and in other localized regions such as the [[Cape Floristic Region]] and lower in polar regions generally. [[Rain forests]] that have had wet climates for a long time, such as [[Yasuni National Park|Yasuní National Park]] in [[Ecuador]], have particularly high biodiversity.<ref name=dotearth>{{cite news | url=http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/a-durable-yet-vulnerable-eden-in-amazonia/ | title=A Durable Yet Vulnerable Eden in Amazonia | work=Dot Earth blog, New York Times| date=20 January 2010 | access-date=2 February 2013 }}</ref><ref name="journal.pone.0008767">{{cite journal |title=Global Conservation Significance of Ecuador's Yasuní National Park |author1=Margot S. Bass |author2=Matt Finer |author3=Clinton N. Jenkins |author4=Holger Kreft |author5=Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia |author6=Shawn F. McCracken |author7=Nigel C. A. Pitman |author8=Peter H. English |author9=Kelly Swing |author10=Gorky Villa |author11=Anthony Di Fiore |author12=Christian C. Voigt |author13=Thomas H. Kunz |journal= PLOS ONE|year=2010 |volume=5 |issue=1 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0008767 |bibcode = 2010PLoSO...5.8767B |pages=e8767 |pmid=20098736 |pmc=2808245|doi-access=free }}</ref>
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| Terrestrial biodiversity is thought to be up to 25 times greater than ocean biodiversity.<ref>{{cite journal | author = Benton M. J. | year = 2001 | title = Biodiversity on land and in the sea | journal = Geological Journal | volume = 36 | issue = 3–4| pages = 211–230 | doi = 10.1002/gj.877 | s2cid = 140675489 }}</ref><!-- true for microorganisms as well?--> Forests harbour most of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. The conservation of the world's biodiversity is thus utterly dependent on the way in which we interact with and use the world's forests.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The State of the World's Forests 2020. In brief – Forests, biodiversity and people|publisher=FAO & UNEP|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-132707-4|location=Rome, Italy|doi=10.4060/ca8985en|s2cid=241416114}}</ref> A new method used in 2011, put the total number of species on Earth at 8.7 million, of which 2.1 million were estimated to live in the ocean.<ref name=Moraplos>{{cite journal | author= Mora, C. | title=How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean? | journal=PLOS Biology|year= 2011|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 | pmid=21886479 | pmc=3160336 | volume=9 | issue=8 | pages=e1001127|display-authors=etal}}</ref> However, this estimate seems to under-represent the diversity of microorganisms.<ref name=":3">{{Cite journal|date=2019-01-09|title=Acknowledgement to Reviewers of Microorganisms in 2018|journal=Microorganisms|volume=7|issue=1|pages=13|doi=10.3390/microorganisms7010013| pmc=6352028 |doi-access=free|author1=Microorganisms Editorial Office}}</ref> Forests provide habitats for 80 percent of amphibian species, 75 percent of bird species and 68 percent of mammal species. About 60 percent of all vascular plants are found in tropical forests. Mangroves provide breeding grounds and nurseries for numerous species of fish and shellfish and help trap sediments that might otherwise adversely affect seagrass beds and coral reefs, which are habitats for many more marine species.<ref>{{Cite book |title=The State of the World's Forests 2020. In brief – Forests, biodiversity and people|publisher=FAO & UNEP|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-132707-4|location=Rome, Italy|doi=10.4060/ca8985en|s2cid=241416114}}</ref>
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| The biodiversity of forests varies considerably according to factors such as forest type, geography, climate and soils – in addition to human use.<ref name=":7">{{Cite book |title=The State of the World's Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief|publisher=FAO & UNEP|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-132707-4|location=Rome|doi=10.4060/ca8985en|s2cid=241416114}}</ref> Most forest habitats in temperate regions support relatively few animal and plant species and species that tend to have large geographical distributions, while the montane forests of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia and lowland forests of Australia, coastal Brazil, the Caribbean islands, Central America and insular Southeast Asia have many species with small geographical distributions.<ref name=":7" /> Areas with dense human populations and intense agricultural land use, such as Europe, parts of Bangladesh, China, India and North America, are less intact in terms of their biodiversity. Northern Africa, southern Australia, coastal Brazil, Madagascar and South Africa, are also identified as areas with striking losses in biodiversity intactness.<ref name=":7" />
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| ===Latitudinal gradients===
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| {{Main|Latitudinal gradients in species diversity}}
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| Generally, there is an increase in biodiversity from the [[Geographical pole|poles]] to the [[tropics]]. Thus localities at lower [[latitudes]] have more species than localities at higher [[latitude]]s. This is often referred to as the latitudinal gradient in species diversity. Several ecological factors may contribute to the gradient, but the ultimate factor behind many of them is the greater mean temperature at the equator compared to that of the poles.<ref name=MoraRobertson2003>{{ cite journal | url=http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/mora/Publications/Mora%20013.pdf |vauthors=Mora C, Robertson DR |year=2005 | title=Causes of latitudinal gradients in species richness: a test with fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific | journal=Ecology | volume = 86 | pages = 1771–1792 | doi=10.1890/04-0883 | issue=7}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Currie | first1 = D. J. | last2 = Mittelbach | first2 = G. G. | last3 = Cornell | first3 = H. V. | last4 = Kaufman | first4 = D. M. | last5 = Kerr | first5 = J. T. | last6 = Oberdorff | first6 = T. | s2cid = 212930565 | year = 2004 | title = A critical review of species-energy theory | journal = Ecology Letters | volume = 7 | issue = 12| pages = 1121–1134 | doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00671.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Allen A. P. |author2=Gillooly J. F. |author3=Savage V. M. |author4=Brown J. H. | year = 2006 | title = Kinetic effects of temperature on rates of genetic divergence and speciation | journal = PNAS | volume = 103 | issue = 24| pages = 9130–9135 |bibcode = 2006PNAS..103.9130A |doi = 10.1073/pnas.0603587103 | pmid = 16754845 | pmc = 1474011 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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| Even though terrestrial biodiversity declines from the equator to the poles,<ref>{{cite journal | author = Hillebrand H | year = 2004 | title = On the generality of the latitudinal diversity gradient | url = http://oceanrep.geomar.de/4048/1/Hillebrand_2004_Amer_nat.pdf| journal = The American Naturalist | volume = 163 | issue = 2| pages = 192–211 | doi = 10.1086/381004 | pmid = 14970922 | s2cid = 9886026 }}</ref> some studies claim that this characteristic is unverified in [[aquatic ecosystems]], especially in [[marine ecosystems]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= How diverse is aquatic biodiversity research? | doi=10.1007/s10452-005-6041-y|volume=39|issue= 3 |journal=Aquatic Ecology|pages=367–375|date= September 2005 |last1= Karakassis |first1= Ioannis |last2= Moustakas |first2= Aristides | s2cid=23630051}}</ref> The latitudinal distribution of parasites does not appear to follow this rule.<ref name="MorandKrasnov2010">{{cite book|first1=Serge |last1=Morand|first2=Boris R. |last2=Krasnov|title=The Biogeography of Host-Parasite Interactions|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=08keK5vc888C|page=93}}|access-date=28 June 2011|date=1 September 2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-956135-3|pages=93–94}}</ref>
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| In 2016, an alternative hypothesis ("the [[fractal]] biodiversity") was proposed to explain the biodiversity latitudinal gradient.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Cazzolla Gatti | first1 = R | year = 2016 | title = The fractal nature of the latitudinal biodiversity gradient | journal = Biologia | volume = 71 | issue = 6| pages = 669–672 | doi = 10.1515/biolog-2016-0077 | s2cid = 199471847 }}</ref> In this study, the [[species]] pool size and the fractal nature of ecosystems were combined to clarify some general patterns of this gradient. This hypothesis considers [[temperature]], [[moisture]], and [[net primary production]] (NPP) as the main variables of an ecosystem niche and as the axis of the ecological [[hypervolume]]. In this way, it is possible to build fractal hyper volumes, whose [[fractal dimension]] rises to three moving towards the [[equator]].<ref>{{Citation|last=Cogitore, Clément (1983–....).|title=Hypothesis|date=January 1988|isbn=9780309037396|oclc=968249007}}</ref>
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| ===Biodiversity Hotspot===
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| A [[biodiversity hotspot]] is a region with a high level of [[Endemism|endemic]] species that have experienced great [[Habitat destruction|habitat loss]].<ref>{{cite web|url= http://www.biodiversitya-z.org/content/biodiversity-hotspots | author = Biodiversity A-Z | title = Biodiversity Hotspots}}</ref> The term hotspot was introduced in 1988 by [[Norman Myers]].<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1007/BF02240252 | author = Myers N | year = 1988 | title = Threatened biotas: 'hot spots' in tropical forests | journal = Environmentalist | volume = 8 | issue = 3| pages = 187–208 | pmid = 12322582 | s2cid = 2370659 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1007/BF02239720 | author = Myers N | year = 1990 | title = The biodiversity challenge: expanded hot-spots analysis | url = http://planet.botany.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Gwen%27s%20Files/Biodiversity/Chapters/Info%20to%20use/Chapter%207/biodiversityhotspotMyers.pdf| journal = Environmentalist | volume = 10 | issue = 4| pages = 243–256 | pmid = 12322583 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.468.8666 | s2cid = 22995882 }}</ref><ref>{{ cite journal | url=http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/mora/Publications/Mora%20027.pdf | author=Tittensor D. | year=2011 | title= Global patterns and predictors of marine biodiversity across taxa | journal=Nature | volume = 466 | pages = 1098–1101 | doi=10.1038/nature09329 | pmid=20668450 | issue=7310|display-authors=etal|bibcode = 2010Natur.466.1098T | s2cid=4424240 }}</ref><ref name="McKee2004">{{cite book|first=Jeffrey K. |last=McKee|title=Sparing Nature: The Conflict Between Human Population Growth and Earth's Biodiversity|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=omgIyInG8qEC|page=108}}|access-date=28 June 2011|date=December 2004|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-3558-6|page=108}}</ref> While hotspots are spread all over the world, the majority are forest areas and most are located in the [[tropics]].
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| [[Brazil]]'s [[Atlantic Forest]] is considered one such hotspot, containing roughly 20,000 plant species, 1,350 vertebrates and millions of insects, about half of which occur nowhere else.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Atlantic Forest of South America: Biodiversity Status, Threats, and Outlook|last=Galindo-Leal|first=Carlos|publisher=Island Press|year=2003|isbn=978-1-55963-988-0|location=Washington|pages=35}}</ref>{{citation needed|date=April 2013}} The island of [[Madagascar]] and [[India]] are also particularly notable. [[Colombia]] is characterized by high biodiversity, with the highest rate of species by area unit worldwide and it has the largest number of endemics (species that are not found naturally anywhere else) of any country. About 10% of the species of the Earth can be found in Colombia, including over 1,900 species of bird, more than in Europe and North America combined, Colombia has 10% of the world's mammals species, 14% of the amphibian species and 18% of the bird species of the world.<ref>{{cite web
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| |url=http://www.humboldt.org.co/iavh_en/index.php/component/k2/item/129-colombia-in-the-world.html
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| |title=Colombia in the World
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| |publisher=Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Research on Biological Resources
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| |access-date=30 December 2013
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| |url-status=dead
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| |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194602/http://www.humboldt.org.co/iavh_en/index.php/component/k2/item/129-colombia-in-the-world.html
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| |archive-date=29 October 2013
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| }}</ref> [[Madagascar dry deciduous forests]] and lowland rainforests possess a high ratio of [[endemism]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=godfrey|first1=laurie|title=isolation and biodiversity|url=http://www.pbs.org/edens/madagascar/eden.htm|website=pbs.org|access-date=22 October 2017}}</ref><ref name=":4">{{Citation|last=Harrison|first=Susan P.|title=Plant Endemism in California|date=2013-05-15|work=Plant and Animal Endemism in California|pages=43–76|publisher=University of California Press|doi=10.1525/california/9780520275546.003.0004|isbn=978-0-520-27554-6}}</ref> Since the island separated from mainland [[Africa]] 66 million years ago, many species and ecosystems have evolved independently.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/edens/madagascar/eden.htm|title=Madagascar – A World Apart: Eden Evolution|website=www.pbs.org|access-date=6 June 2019}}</ref> [[Indonesia]]'s 17,000 islands cover {{convert|735355|sqmi}} and contain 10% of the world's [[flowering plant]]s, 12% of mammals and 17% of [[reptile]]s, [[amphibian]]s and [[bird]]s—along with nearly 240 million people.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Normile |first1=Dennis |title=Saving Forests to Save Biodiversity |journal=Science |date=10 September 2010 |volume=329 |issue=5997 |pages=1278–1280 |doi=10.1126/science.329.5997.1278 |pmid=20829464 |bibcode=2010Sci...329.1278N |doi-access=free }}</ref><!--This source is only about Indonesia--> Many regions of high biodiversity and/or endemism arise from specialized [[habitat]]s which require unusual adaptations, for example, [[alpine climate|alpine]] environments in high [[mountain]]s, or [[Northern Europe]]an peat [[bog]]s.<ref name=":4" />
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| Accurately measuring differences in biodiversity can be difficult. [[Selection bias]] amongst researchers may contribute to biased empirical research for modern estimates of biodiversity. In 1768, Rev. [[Gilbert White]] succinctly observed of his [[Selborne|Selborne, Hampshire]] ''"all nature is so full, that that<!--"that" is correct--> district produces the most variety which is the most examined."''<ref name="White1887">{{cite book|first=Gilbert |last=White|title=The Natural History of Selborne: With A Naturalist's Calendar & Additional Observations|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=q7UOQQAACAAJ}}|year=1887|chapter=letter xx|publisher=Scott}}</ref>
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| ==Evolution==
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| {{Main|Evolution}}
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| ===History===
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| Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of [[evolution]].<ref name=":1" /> The [[origin of life]] has not been established by science, however, some evidence suggests that life may already have been well-established only a few hundred million years after the [[age of the Earth|formation of the Earth]]. Until approximately 2.5 billion years ago, all life consisted of [[microorganism]]s – [[archaea]], [[bacteria]], and [[unicellular organism|single-celled]] [[protozoan]]s and [[protist]]s.<ref name=":3" />
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| {{Life timeline}}
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| [[File:Phanerozoic Biodiversity.png|thumb|left|upright=1.35|Apparent marine fossil diversity during the Phanerozoic<ref name="Rosing2010">{{Cite journal | title = No climate paradox under the faint early Sun | first4 = C. | last4 = Bjerrum | volume = 464| issue = 7289| journal = Nature| pages = 744–747 | first3 = N.| last3 = Sleep| year = 2010| pmid = 20360739| last1 = Rosing | first1 = M. | first2 = D.| last2 = Bird| doi = 10.1038/nature08955|bibcode = 2010Natur.464..744R | s2cid = 205220182 }}</ref>]]
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| The history of biodiversity during the [[Phanerozoic]] (the last 540 million years), starts with rapid growth during the [[Cambrian explosion]]—a period during which nearly every [[phylum (biology)|phylum]] of [[multicellular organism]]s first appeared.<ref name=":5" /> Over the next 400 million years or so, [[invertebrate]] diversity showed little overall trend and [[vertebrate]] diversity shows an overall exponential trend.<ref name="Sahney, S. 2010">{{Cite journal| doi=10.1098/rsbl.2009.1024| last1=Sahney |first1=S. |last2=Benton |first2=M.J. |first3=Paul |last3=Ferry | year = 2010 | title = Links between global taxonomic diversity, ecological diversity and the expansion of vertebrates on land | journal = Biology Letters | volume=6| issue=4| pages=544–547 | pmid=20106856| pmc=2936204}}</ref> This dramatic rise in diversity was marked by periodic, massive losses of diversity classified as [[mass extinction]] events.<ref name="Sahney, S. 2010"/> A significant loss occurred when rainforests collapsed in the carboniferous.<ref name="SahneyBentonFerry2010RainforestCollapse"/> The worst was the [[Permian-Triassic extinction event]], 251 million years ago. Vertebrates took 30 million years to recover from this event.<ref name="SahneyBenton2008RecoveryFromProfoundExtinction"/>
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| The biodivertisy of the past is called Paleobiodiversity. The [[fossil record]] suggests that the last few million years featured the greatest biodiversity in [[History of Earth|history]].<ref name="Sahney, S. 2010"/> However, not all scientists support this view, since there is uncertainty as to how strongly the fossil record is biased by the greater availability and preservation of recent [[geology|geologic]] sections.<ref name=":2" /> Some scientists believe that corrected for sampling artifacts, modern biodiversity may not be much different from biodiversity 300 million years ago,<ref name=":5">{{cite journal | pmid = 11353852 | year = 2001 | last1 = Alroy | first1 = J | last2 = Marshall | first2 = CR | last3 = Bambach | first3 = RK | last4 = Bezusko | first4 = K | last5 = Foote | first5 = M | last6 = Fursich | first6 = FT | last7 = Hansen | first7 = TA | last8 = Holland | first8 = SM | last9 = Ivany | first9 = LC | title = Effects of sampling standardization on estimates of Phanerozoic marine diversification | volume = 98 | issue = 11 | pages = 6261–6266 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.111144698 | pmc = 33456 | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|bibcode = 2001PNAS...98.6261A | display-authors = 8| doi-access = free }}</ref> whereas others consider the fossil record reasonably reflective of the diversification of life.<ref name="Sahney, S. 2010"/> Estimates of the present global macroscopic species diversity vary from 2 million to 100 million, with a best estimate of somewhere near 9 million,<ref name=Moraplos/> the vast majority [[arthropod]]s.<ref name=heywood>{{cite web |url=http://www.unep.org/ourplanet/imgversn/85/heywood.html |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070214082246/http://www.unep.org/OurPlanet/imgversn/85/heywood.html |url-status=dead |archive-date=14 February 2007 |title=Mapping the web of life |publisher=Unep.org |access-date=21 June 2009 }}</ref> Diversity appears to increase continually in the absence of natural selection.<ref>{{Cite journal| pages = 318| issue = 7304| doi = 10.1038/466318a| year = 2010| journal = Nature| volume = 466| title = Does diversity always grow?| last1 = Okasha | first1 = S.|bibcode = 2010Natur.466..318O | doi-access = free}}</ref>
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| ===Diversification===
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| The existence of a ''global carrying capacity'', limiting the amount of life that can live at once, is debated, as is the question of whether such a limit would also cap the number of species. While records of life in the sea show a [[logistic function|logistic]] pattern of growth, life on land (insects, plants and tetrapods) shows an [[exponential growth|exponential]] rise in diversity.<ref name="Sahney, S. 2010" /> As one author states, "Tetrapods have not yet invaded 64 percent of potentially habitable modes and it could be that without human influence the ecological and [[Taxonomy (biology)|taxonomic]] diversity of tetrapods would continue to increase exponentially until most or all of the available eco-space is filled."<ref name="Sahney, S. 2010"/>
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| It also appears that the diversity continues to increase over time, especially after mass extinctions.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://biox.stanford.edu/highlight/stanford-researchers-discover-animal-functional-diversity-started-out-poor-became-richer|title=Stanford researchers discover that animal functional diversity started poor, became richer over time |website=biox.stanford.edu|date=11 March 2015 }}</ref>
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| On the other hand, changes through the [[Phanerozoic]] correlate much better with the [[Hyperbolic growth|hyperbolic]] model (widely used in [[population biology]], [[demography]] and [[macrosociology]], as well as [[fossil]] biodiversity) than with exponential and logistic models. The latter models imply that changes in diversity are guided by a first-order [[positive feedback]] (more ancestors, more descendants) and/or a [[negative feedback]] arising from resource limitation. Hyperbolic model implies a second-order positive feedback.<ref name="Hautmann et al. 2015" /> Differences in the strength of the second-order feedback due to different intensities of interspecific competition might explain the faster rediversification of [[ammonoids]] in comparison to [[bivalves]] after the [[end-Permian extinction]].<ref name="Hautmann et al. 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Hautmann |first1=Michael |last2=Bagherpour |first2=Borhan |last3=Brosse |first3=Morgane |last4=Frisk |first4=Åsa |last5=Hofmann |first5=Richard |last6=Baud |first6=Aymon |last7=Nützel |first7=Alexander |last8=Goudemand |first8=Nicolas |last9=Bucher |first9=Hugo |last10=Brayard |first10=Arnaud |title=Competition in slow motion: the unusual case of benthic marine communities in the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction |journal=Palaeontology |date=2015 |volume=58 |issue=5 |pages=871–901 |doi=10.1111/pala.12186|s2cid=140688908 }}</ref> The hyperbolic pattern of the [[world population]] growth arises from a second-order positive feedback between the population size and the rate of technological growth.<ref name="pmid18677962">{{cite journal | pmid = 18677962 | year = 2008 | last1 = Markov | first1 = AV | last2 = Korotaev | first2 = AV | title = Hyperbolic growth of marine and continental biodiversity through the phanerozoic and community evolution | volume = 69 | issue = 3 | pages = 175–194 | journal = Journal of General Biology | url=http://elementy.ru/genbio/abstracts?artid=177}}</ref> The hyperbolic character of biodiversity growth can be similarly accounted for by a feedback between diversity and community structure complexity.<ref name="pmid18677962" /><ref name=":6" /> The similarity between the curves of biodiversity and human population probably comes from the fact that both are derived from the interference of the hyperbolic trend with cyclical and [[stochastic]] dynamics.<ref name="pmid18677962"/><ref name=":6">
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| {{cite journal | doi=10.1016/j.palwor.2007.01.002 | title=Phanerozoic marine biodiversity follows a hyperbolic trend | year=2007 | last1=Markov | first1=A | last2=Korotayev | first2=A | journal=[[Palaeoworld]] | volume=16 | issue=4 | pages=311–318 }}</ref>
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| Most biologists agree however that the period since human emergence is part of a new mass extinction, named the [[Holocene extinction event]], caused primarily by the impact humans are having on the environment.<ref>[http://www.amnh.org/museum/press/feature/biofact.html National Survey Reveals Biodiversity Crisis] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070607101209/http://www.amnh.org/museum/press/feature/biofact.html |date=7 June 2007 }} American Museum of Natural History</ref> It has been argued that the present rate of extinction is sufficient to eliminate most species on the planet Earth within 100 years.<ref name="Wilson2002">{{cite book|first=Edward O. |last=Wilson|title=The Future of Life|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Guosshxltn4C}}|date=1 January 2002|publisher=Alfred A. Knopf|isbn=978-0-679-45078-8}}</ref>
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| New species are regularly discovered (on average between 5–10,000 new species each year, most of them [[insect]]s) and many, though discovered, are not yet classified (estimates are that nearly 90% of all [[arthropod]]s are not yet classified).<ref name=heywood /> Most of the terrestrial diversity is found in [[tropical forest]]s and in general, the land has more species than the ocean; some 8.7 million species may exist on Earth, of which some 2.1 million live in the ocean.<ref name=Moraplos/>
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| ==Ecosystem services==
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| [[File:Field Hamois Belgium Luc Viatour.jpg|thumb|upright|Summer field in [[Belgium]] (Hamois). The blue flowers are ''[[Centaurea cyanus]]'' and the red are ''[[Papaver rhoeas]]''.]]
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| ===General ecosystem services===
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| {{further|Ecosystem services}}
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| "Ecosystem services are the suite of benefits that ecosystems provide to humanity."<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact">{{cite journal | doi=10.1038/nature11148 | title=Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity | year=2012 | last1=Cardinale | first1=Bradley | journal=Nature | volume=486 | pages=59–67|bibcode = 2012Natur.486...59C | pmid=22678280 | issue=7401| s2cid=4333166 |display-authors=etal| url=https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/10240/7/wardle_d_etal_130415.pdf }}</ref> The natural species, or biota, are the caretakers of all ecosystems. It is as if the natural world is an enormous bank account of capital assets capable of paying life sustaining dividends indefinitely, but only if the capital is maintained.<ref>Wright, Richard T., and Bernard J. Nebel. ''Environmental Science : toward a Sustainable Future''. Eighth ed., Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson Education, 2002.</ref>
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| These services come in three flavors:
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| # Provisioning services which involve the production of renewable resources (e.g.: food, wood, fresh water)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact" />
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| # Regulating services which are those that lessen environmental change (e.g.: climate regulation, pest/disease control)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact" />
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| # Cultural services represent human value and enjoyment (e.g.: landscape aesthetics, cultural heritage, outdoor recreation and spiritual significance)<ref>{{cite journal|last=Daniel|first=T. C.|title=Contributions of cultural services to the ecosystem services agenda|journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences|date=21 May 2012|volume=109|issue=23|pages=8812–8819|doi=10.1073/pnas.1114773109|bibcode = 2012PNAS..109.8812D |display-authors=etal|pmid=22615401|pmc=3384142|doi-access=free}}</ref>
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| There have been many claims about biodiversity's effect on these ecosystem services, especially provisioning and regulating services.<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact" /> After an exhaustive survey through peer-reviewed literature to evaluate 36 different claims about biodiversity's effect on ecosystem services, 14 of those claims have been validated, 6 demonstrate mixed support or are unsupported, 3 are incorrect and 13 lack enough evidence to draw definitive conclusions.<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact" />
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| ====Services enhanced====
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| ; Provisioning services
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| Greater species diversity
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| * of plants increases fodder yield (synthesis of 271 experimental studies).<ref name="the-functional-role-of-producer-diversity">{{cite journal|last=Cardinale|first=Bradley. J.|title=The functional role of producer diversity in ecosystems|journal=[[American Journal of Botany]]|date=March 2011|volume=98|issue=3|pages=572–592|doi=10.3732/ajb.1000364|display-authors=etal|pmid=21613148|hdl=2027.42/141994|url=https://scholarworks.wm.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1654&context=vimsarticles|hdl-access=free}}</ref>
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| * of plants (i.e. diversity within a single species) increases overall [[crop yield]] (synthesis of 575 experimental studies).<ref name="grain-yield-increase-in-cereal-variety-mixtures">{{cite journal|last=Kiaer|first=Lars P.|author2=Skovgaard, M. |author3=Østergård, Hanne|title=Grain yield increase in cereal variety mixtures: A meta-analysis of field trials|journal=Field Crops Research|date=1 December 2009|volume=114|issue=3|pages=361–373|doi=10.1016/j.fcr.2009.09.006}}</ref> Although another review of 100 experimental studies reports mixed evidence.<ref name="does-plant-diversity-benefit-agroecosystems">{{cite journal|last=Letourneau|first=Deborah K.|s2cid=11439673|title=Does plant diversity benefit agroecosystems? A synthetic review|journal=[[Ecological Applications]]|date=1 January 2011|volume=21|issue=1|pages=9–21|doi=10.1890/09-2026.1|pmid=21516884}}</ref>
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| * of trees increases overall [[wood production]] (Synthesis of 53 experimental studies).<ref name="tree-growth-in-monocultures-and-mixed">{{cite journal|last=Piotto|first=Daniel|title=A meta-analysis comparing tree growth in monocultures and mixed plantations|journal=[[Forest Ecology and Management]]|date=1 March 2008|volume=255|issue=3–4|pages=781–786|doi=10.1016/j.foreco.2007.09.065}}</ref> However, there is not enough data to draw a conclusion about the effect of tree trait diversity on wood production.<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| ; Regulating services
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| Greater species diversity
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| * of fish increases the stability of [[fisheries]] yield (Synthesis of 8 observational studies)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * of natural pest enemies decreases herbivorous pest populations (Data from two separate reviews; Synthesis of 266 experimental and observational studies;<ref name="annual-review-ecology-evolution-systematics-vol-40">{{cite book|title=Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics: Vol 40 2009|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=2zifbwAACAAJ|page=573}}|date=1 January 2009|publisher=Annual Reviews|isbn=978-0-8243-1440-8|editor-first1=Douglas J. |editor-last1=Futuyma |editor-first2=H. Bradley |editor-last2=Shaffer |editor-first3=Daniel |editor-last3=Simberloff |location=Palo Alto, Calif.|pages=573–592}}</ref> Synthesis of 18 observational studies.<ref name="functional-richness-and-ecosystem-services-bird-pred">{{cite journal|last=Philpott|first=Stacy M.|author2=Soong, Oliver |author3=Lowenstein, Jacob H. |author4=Pulido, Astrid Luz |author5=Lopez, Diego Tobar |others=Flynn, Dan F. B.; DeClerck, Fabrice|s2cid=9867979|title=Functional richness and ecosystem services: bird predation on arthropods in tropical agroecosystems|journal=Ecological Applications|date=1 October 2009|volume=19|issue=7|pages=1858–1867|doi=10.1890/08-1928.1|pmid=19831075}}</ref><ref name="birds-as-predators-in-trop-agroforestry">{{cite journal|last=Van Bael|first=Sunshine A|title=Birds as predators in tropical agroforestry systems|journal=Ecology|date=Apr 2008|volume=89|issue=4|pages=928–934|doi=10.1890/06-1976.1|pmid=18481517|display-authors=etal|hdl=1903/7873|hdl-access=free}}</ref> Although another review of 38 experimental studies found mixed support for this claim, suggesting that in cases where mutual intraguild predation occurs, a single predatory species is often more effective<ref name="influence-of-intraguild-predation">{{cite journal|last=Vance-Chalcraft|first=Heather D.|s2cid=21458500|title=The Influence of Intraguild Predation on Prey Suppression and Prey Release: A Meta-analysis|journal=Ecology|date=1 November 2007|volume=88|issue=11|pages=2689–2696|doi=10.1890/06-1869.1|pmid=18051635|display-authors=etal}}</ref>
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| * of plants decreases disease prevalence on plants (Synthesis of 107 experimental studies)<ref name="plant-diversity-enhances-provision-of-ecosystem-services">{{cite journal|last=Quijas|first=Sandra|author2=Schmid, Bernhard |author3=Balvanera, Patricia|title=Plant diversity enhances provision of ecosystem services: A new synthesis|journal=Basic and Applied Ecology|date=1 November 2010|volume=11|issue=7|pages=582–593|doi=10.1016/j.baae.2010.06.009|citeseerx=10.1.1.473.7444}}</ref>
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| * of plants increases resistance to [[plant invasion]] (Data from two separate reviews; Synthesis of 105 experimental studies;<ref name="plant-diversity-enhances-provision-of-ecosystem-services" /> Synthesis of 15 experimental studies<ref name="biotic-resistance-to-exotic-plant-invasions">{{cite journal|last=Levine|first=Jonathan M.|author2=Adler, Peter B. |author3=Yelenik, Stephanie G.|s2cid=85852363|title=A meta-analysis of biotic resistance to exotic plant invasions|journal=Ecology Letters|date=6 September 2004|volume=7|issue=10|pages=975–989|doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00657.x}}</ref>)
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| * of plants increases [[carbon sequestration]], but note that this finding only relates to actual uptake of carbon dioxide and not long-term storage, see below; Synthesis of 479 experimental studies)<ref name="the-functional-role-of-producer-diversity" />
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| * plants increases [[soil nutrient]] [[remineralization]] (Synthesis of 103 experimental studies)<ref name="plant-diversity-enhances-provision-of-ecosystem-services" />
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| * of plants increases soil organic matter (Synthesis of 85 experimental studies)<ref name="plant-diversity-enhances-provision-of-ecosystem-services" />
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| ====Services with mixed evidence====
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| ; Provisioning services
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| * None to date
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| ; Regulating services
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| * Greater species diversity of plants may or may not decrease herbivorous pest populations. Data from two separate reviews suggest that greater diversity decreases pest populations (Synthesis of 40 observational studies;<ref name="organic-agriculture-promotes-evenness-and-natural-pest-control">{{cite journal|last=Crowder|first=David W.|title=Organic agriculture promotes evenness and natural pest control|journal=Nature|volume=466|issue=7302|pages=109–112|doi=10.1038/nature09183|bibcode = 2010Natur.466..109C |display-authors=etal|pmid=20596021|year=2010|s2cid=205221308}}</ref> Synthesis of 100 experimental studies).<ref name="does-plant-diversity-benefit-agroecosystems"/> One review found mixed evidence (Synthesis of 287 experimental studies<ref name="vegetational-diversity-and-arthropod-population-response">{{cite journal|last=Andow|first=D A|title=Vegetational Diversity and Arthropod Population Response|journal=Annual Review of Entomology|date=1 January 1991|volume=36|issue=1|pages=561–586|doi=10.1146/annurev.en.36.010191.003021}}</ref>), while another found contrary evidence (Synthesis of 100 experimental studies<ref name="plant-diversity-enhances-provision-of-ecosystem-services" />)
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| * Greater species diversity of animals may or may not decrease disease prevalence on those animals (Synthesis of 45 experimental and observational studies),<ref name="impacts-of-biodiversity-on-infectious-diseases">{{cite journal|last=Keesing|first=Felicia|title=Impacts of biodiversity on the emergence and transmission of infectious diseases|journal=Nature|volume=468|issue=7324|pages=647–652|doi=10.1038/nature09575|bibcode = 2010Natur.468..647K |display-authors=etal|pmid=21124449|date=Dec 2010|pmc=7094913}}</ref> although a 2013 study offers more support showing that biodiversity may in fact enhance disease resistance within animal communities, at least in amphibian frog ponds.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Johnson|first=Pieter T. J.|title=Biodiversity decreases disease through predictable changes in host community competence|journal=Nature|date=13 February 2013|volume=494|issue=7436|pages=230–233|doi=10.1038/nature11883|bibcode = 2013Natur.494..230J |display-authors=etal|pmid=23407539|s2cid=205232648}}</ref> Many more studies must be published in support of diversity to sway the balance of evidence will be such that we can draw a general rule on this service.
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| * Greater species and trait diversity of plants may or may not increase long term carbon storage (Synthesis of 33 observational studies)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Greater pollinator diversity may or may not increase pollination (Synthesis of 7 observational studies),<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/> but a publication from March 2013 suggests that increased native pollinator diversity enhances pollen deposition (although not necessarily fruit set as the authors would have you believe, for details explore their lengthy supplementary material).<ref name="wild-pollinators-enhance-fruit-set-of-crops">{{cite journal|last=Garibaldi|first=L. A.|title=Wild Pollinators Enhance Fruit Set of Crops Regardless of Honey Bee Abundance|journal=Science|date=28 February 2013|doi=10.1126/science.1230200|bibcode = 2013Sci...339.1608G|volume=339|issue=6127|pages=1608–1611|display-authors=etal|pmid=23449997|s2cid=88564525|url=http://www.escholarship.org/uc/item/2cm0d8nr}}</ref>
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| ====Services hindered====
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| ; Provisioning services
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| * Greater species diversity of plants reduces primary production (Synthesis of 7 experimental studies)<ref name="the-functional-role-of-producer-diversity" />
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| ; Regulating services
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| * greater genetic and species diversity of a number of organisms reduces freshwater purification (Synthesis of 8 experimental studies, although an attempt by the authors to investigate the effect of detritivore diversity on freshwater purification was unsuccessful due to a lack of available evidence (only 1 [[observational study]] was found<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Effect of species diversity of plants on biofuel yield (In a survey of the literature, the investigators only found 3 studies)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Effect of species diversity of fish on fishery yield (In a survey of the literature, the investigators only found 4 experimental studies and 1 observational study)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| ; Regulating services
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| * Effect of species diversity on the stability of [[biofuel]] yield (In a survey of the literature, the investigators did not find any studies)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Effect of species diversity of plants on the stability of fodder yield (In a survey of the literature, the investigators only found 2 studies)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Effect of species diversity of plants on the stability of crop yield (In a survey of the literature, the investigators only found 1 study)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Effect of [[genetic diversity]] of plants on the stability of crop yield (In a survey of the literature, the investigators only found 2 studies)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Effect of diversity on the stability of wood production (In a survey of the literature, the investigators could not find any studies)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Effect of species diversity of multiple taxa on [[erosion control]] (In a survey of the literature, the investigators could not find any studies – they did, however, find studies on the effect of species diversity and root biomass)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Effect of diversity on [[flood regulation]] (In a survey of the literature, the investigators could not find any studies)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| * Effect of species and trait diversity of plants on [[soil moisture]] (In a survey of the literature, the investigators only found 2 studies)<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact"/>
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| Other sources have reported somewhat conflicting results and in 1997 Robert Costanza and his colleagues reported the estimated global value of ecosystem services (not captured in traditional markets) at an average of $33 trillion annually.<ref name="nature.com">{{cite journal | doi=10.1038/387253a0 | title=The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital | year=1997 | last1=Costanza | first1=Robert | journal=Nature | volume=387 | issue=6630 | pages=253–260 |bibcode = 1997Natur.387..253C | s2cid=672256 |display-authors=etal}}</ref>
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| Since the [[Stone Age]], species loss has accelerated above the average basal rate, driven by human activity. Estimates of species losses are at a rate 100–10,000 times as fast as is typical in the fossil record.<ref name=Hassan2005>{{Cite book|title=Ecosystems and human well-being: current state and trends : findings of the Condition and Trends Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment |last=Hassan |first=Rashid M. |year=2006 |publisher=Island Press |isbn=978-1-55963-228-7 |page=105 |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=UFVmiSAr-okC|page=105}} |display-authors=etal}}</ref> Biodiversity also affords many non-material benefits including spiritual and aesthetic values, knowledge systems and education.<ref name=Hassan2005/>
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| ===Agriculture===
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| {{See also|Agricultural biodiversity}}
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| [[File:Amazon Manaus forest.jpg|thumb|upright=1.15|[[Amazon Rainforest]] in [[South America]]]]
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| Agricultural diversity can be divided into two categories: [[genetic diversity|intraspecific diversity]], which includes the genetic variation within a single species, like the potato (''[[Solanum tuberosum]]'') that is composed of many different forms and types (e.g. in the U.S. they might compare russet potatoes with new potatoes or purple potatoes, all different, but all part of the same species, ''S. tuberosum'').
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| The other category of agricultural diversity is called [[species diversity|interspecific diversity]] and refers to the number and types of different species. Thinking about this diversity we might note that many small vegetable farmers grow many different crops like potatoes and also carrots, peppers, lettuce, etc.
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| Agricultural diversity can also be divided by whether it is 'planned' diversity or 'associated' diversity. This is a functional classification that we impose and not an intrinsic feature of life or diversity. Planned diversity includes the crops which a farmer has encouraged, planted or raised (e.g. crops, covers, symbionts, and livestock, among others), which can be contrasted with the associated diversity that arrives among the crops, uninvited (e.g. herbivores, weed species and pathogens, among others).<ref name="ecology-of-agroecosystems">{{cite book|first=John H. |last=Vandermeer|title=The Ecology of Agroecosystems|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=AFRQSuQGHiIC}}|year=2011|publisher=Jones & Bartlett Learning|isbn=978-0-7637-7153-9}}</ref>
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| Associated biodiversity can be damaging or beneficial. The beneficial associated biodiversity include for instance wild pollinators such as wild bees and [[syrphid]] flies that pollinate crops<ref name="IPBES">{{cite web |last1=IPBES |title=Assessment Report on Pollinators, Pollination and Food Production |url=https://ipbes.net/assessment-reports/pollinators |website=ipbes.org |date=26 June 2018 |publisher=IPBES |access-date=13 April 2021}}</ref> and natural enemies and antagonists to pests and pathogens. Beneficial associated biodiversity occurs abundantly in crop fields and provide multiple [[ecosystem services]] such as pest control, nutrient cycling and pollination that support crop production.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bommarco |title=Ecological intensification: harnessing ecosystem services for food security |journal=Trends in Ecology and Evolution |date=2013 |volume=28 |issue=4 |pages=230–238 |doi=10.1016/j.tree.2012.10.012 |pmid=23153724 }}</ref>
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| The control of damaging associated biodiversity is one of the great agricultural challenges that farmers face. On [[monoculture]] farms, the approach is generally to suppress damaging associated diversity using a suite of biologically destructive [[pesticide]]s, mechanized tools and [[genetically modified organism|transgenic engineering techniques]], then to [[crop rotation|rotate crops]]. Although some [[polyculture]] farmers use the same techniques, they also employ [[integrated pest management]] strategies as well as more labor-intensive strategies, but generally less dependent on capital, biotechnology, and energy.
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| Interspecific crop diversity is, in part, responsible for offering variety in what we eat. Intraspecific diversity, the variety of alleles within a single species, also offers us a choice in our diets. If a crop fails in a monoculture, we rely on agricultural diversity to replant the land with something new. If a wheat crop is destroyed by a pest we may plant a hardier variety of wheat the next year, relying on intraspecific diversity. We may forgo wheat production in that area and plant a different species altogether, relying on interspecific diversity. Even an agricultural society that primarily grows monocultures relies on biodiversity at some point.
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| * The [[Great Famine (Ireland)|Irish potato blight]] of 1846 was a major factor in the deaths of one million people and the emigration of about two million. It was the result of planting only two potato varieties, both vulnerable to the blight, ''[[Phytophthora infestans]]'', which arrived in 1845<ref name="ecology-of-agroecosystems" />
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| * When [[rice grassy stunt virus]] struck rice fields from Indonesia to India in the 1970s, 6,273 varieties were tested for resistance.<ref name=RGSV>{{cite web |url=http://www.lumrix.net/health/Rice_grassy_stunt_virus.html |title=Rice Grassy Stunt Virus |publisher=Lumrix.net |access-date=21 June 2009 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110723193147/http://www.lumrix.net/health/Rice_grassy_stunt_virus.html |archive-date=23 July 2011 }}</ref> Only one was resistant, an Indian variety and known to science only since 1966.<ref name=RGSV/> This variety formed a hybrid with other varieties and is now widely grown.<ref name=RGSV/>
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| * [[Coffee rust]] attacked coffee plantations in [[Sri Lanka]], [[Brazil]] and Central America in 1970. A resistant variety was found in Ethiopia.<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 6694743 | year = 1984 | last1 = Wahl | first1 = GM | author2 = Robert de Saint Vincent B | last3 = Derose | first3 = ML | title = Effect of chromosomal position on amplification of transfected genes in animal cells | volume = 307 | issue = 5951 | pages = 516–520 | journal = Nature | doi = 10.1038/307516a0 |bibcode = 1984Natur.307..516W | s2cid = 4322191 }}</ref> The diseases are themselves a form of biodiversity.
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| [[Monoculture]] was a contributing factor to several agricultural disasters, including the European wine industry collapse in the late 19th century and the US [[southern corn leaf blight]] epidemic of 1970.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://cropdisease.cropsci.illinois.edu/corn/southerncornleafblight.html |title=Southern Corn Leaf Blight |access-date=13 November 2007 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110814024237/http://cropdisease.cropsci.illinois.edu/corn/southerncornleafblight.html |archive-date=14 August 2011 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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| Although about 80 percent of humans' food supply comes from just 20 kinds of plants,<ref>{{Cite book|title=Natural Resources – Technology, Economics & Policy|last=Aswathanarayana|first=Uppugunduri|publisher=CRC Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-203-12399-7|location=Leiden, Netherlands|pages=370}}</ref> humans use at least 40,000 species.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Natural Resources – Technology, Economics & Policy|last=Aswathanarayana|first=Uppugunduri|publisher=CRC Press|year=2012|isbn=978-0-203-12399-7|location=Leiden. Netherlands|pages=370}}</ref> Earth's surviving biodiversity provides resources for increasing the range of food and other products suitable for human use, although the present extinction rate shrinks that potential.<ref name=Wilson2002 />
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| ===Human health===
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| [[File:Forest fruits from Barro Colorado.png|thumb|upright|The diverse forest canopy on [[Barro Colorado Island]], Panama, yielded this display of different fruit]]
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| Biodiversity's relevance to human health is becoming an international political issue, as scientific evidence builds on the global health implications of biodiversity loss.<ref>World Health Organization(WHO) and Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2015) [https://web.archive.org/web/20150604163250/http://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/biodiversity-human-health/en/ Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, a State of Knowledge Review ]. See also [http://www.cbd.int/health/ Website of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity on biodiversity and health]. Other relevant resources include
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| [http://www.cohabnet.org/en_resources_reports.htm Reports of the 1st and 2nd International Conferences on Health and Biodiversity.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107015716/http://www.cohabnet.org/en_resources_reports.htm |date=7 January 2009 }} See also: [http://www.cohabnet.org/ Website of the UN COHAB Initiative] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204054347/http://www.cohabnet.org/ |date=4 February 2009 }}</ref><ref name="biodiversity1">{{cite book|editor-first=Eric |editor-last=Chivian|title=Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=n4ET74GCMG0C}}|date=15 May 2008|publisher=OUP US|isbn=978-0-19-517509-7}}</ref><ref name="CorvalánHales2005">{{cite book |first1=Carlos |last1=Corvalán |first2=Simon |last2=Hales |author3=Anthony J. McMichael|title=Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Health Synthesis|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=vKIXu2Z-9QsC|page=28}}|year=2005|publisher=World Health Organization|isbn=978-92-4-156309-3|pages=28}}</ref> This issue is closely linked with the issue of [[climate change]],<ref>(2009) [http://www.cbd.int/climate/ "Climate Change and Biological Diversity"] Convention on Biological Diversity Retrieved 5 November 2009</ref> as many of the anticipated [[health risks of climate change]] are associated with changes in biodiversity (e.g. changes in populations and distribution of disease vectors, scarcity of fresh water, impacts on agricultural biodiversity and food resources etc.). This is because the species most likely to disappear are those that buffer against infectious disease transmission, while surviving species tend to be the ones that increase disease transmission, such as that of West Nile Virus, [[Lyme disease]] and Hantavirus, according to a study done co-authored by Felicia Keesing, an ecologist at Bard College and Drew Harvell, associate director for Environment of the [[Atkinson Center for a Sustainable Future]] (ACSF) at [[Cornell University]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Ramanujan|first=Krishna|title=Study: Loss of species is bad for your health|url=http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec10/BiodiversityHealth.html|access-date=20 July 2011|newspaper=Cornell Chronicle|date=2 December 2010}}</ref>
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| The growing demand and lack of drinkable water on the planet presents an additional challenge to the future of human health. Partly, the problem lies in the success of water suppliers to increase supplies and failure of groups promoting the preservation of water resources.<ref name="Bank2010">{{cite book|last=The World Bank|title=Water and Development: An Evaluation of World Bank Support, 1997–2007|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=AYN4wCVLkhQC|page=79}}|date=30 June 2010|publisher=World Bank Publications|isbn=978-0-8213-8394-0|page=79}}</ref> While the distribution of clean water increases, in some parts of the world it remains unequal. According to the World Health Organisation (2018), only 71% of the global population used a safely managed drinking-water service.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water|title=Drinking-water|website=World Health Organization}}</ref>
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| Some of the health issues influenced by biodiversity include dietary health and nutrition security, infectious disease, medical science and medicinal resources, social and psychological health.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0149 | title = Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity | year = 2007 | last1 = Gaston | first1 = Kevin J. | last2 = Warren | first2 = Philip H. | last3 = Devine-Wright | first3 = Patrick | last4 = Irvine | first4 = Katherine N. | last5 = Fuller | first5 = Richard A. | journal = Biology Letters | volume = 3 | issue = 4 | pages = 390–394 | pmid = 17504734 | pmc = 2390667 }}</ref> Biodiversity is also known to have an important role in reducing disaster risk and in post-disaster relief and recovery efforts.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cohabnet.org/en_issues.htm |title=COHAB Initiative: Biodiversity and Human Health – the issues |publisher=Cohabnet.org |access-date=21 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905190921/http://www.cohabnet.org/en_issues.htm |archive-date=5 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/protected_areas/arguments_for_protection/publications/ |title=World Wildlife Fund (WWF): "Arguments for Protection" website |publisher=Wwf.panda.org |access-date=24 September 2011}}</ref>
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| According to the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] a [[pathogen]], like a [[virus]], have more chances to meet resistance in a diverse population. Therefore, in a population genetically similar it expands more easily. For example, the [[COVID-19 pandemic]] had less chances to occur in a world with higher biodiversity.<ref>{{cite web |title=Science points to causes of COVID-19 |url=https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/science-points-causes-covid-19 |website=United Nations Environmental Programm |date=22 May 2020 |publisher=United Nations |access-date=24 June 2020}}</ref>
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| Biodiversity provides critical support for drug discovery and the availability of medicinal resources.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mendelsohn|first=Robert|author2=Balick, Michael J.|title=The value of undiscovered pharmaceuticals in tropical forests|journal=Economic Botany|date=1 April 1995|volume=49|issue=2|pages=223–228|doi=10.1007/BF02862929|s2cid=39978586}}</ref><ref>
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| (2006) "Molecular Pharming" GMO Compass Retrieved 5 November 2009, [http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/home/ GMOcompass.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208171633/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/home/ |date=8 February 2008 }}</ref> A significant proportion of drugs are derived, directly or indirectly, from biological sources: at least 50% of the pharmaceutical compounds on the US market are derived from plants, animals and [[microorganism]]s, while about 80% of the world population depends on medicines from nature (used in either modern or traditional medical practice) for primary healthcare.<ref name="biodiversity1"/> Only a tiny fraction of wild species has been investigated for medical potential. Biodiversity has been critical to advances throughout the field of [[bionics]]. Evidence from market analysis and biodiversity science indicates that the decline in output from the pharmaceutical sector since the mid-1980s can be attributed to a move away from natural product exploration ("bioprospecting") in favour of genomics and synthetic chemistry, indeed claims about the value of undiscovered pharmaceuticals may not provide enough incentive for companies in free markets to search for them because of the high cost of development;<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mendelsohn|first=Robert|author2=Balick, Michael J.|title=Notes on economic plants|journal=Economic Botany|date=1 July 1997|volume=51|issue=3|pages=328|doi=10.1007/BF02862103|s2cid=5430635}}</ref> meanwhile, natural products have a long history of supporting significant economic and health innovation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Harvey|first=Alan L.|date=1 October 2008|title=Natural products in drug discovery|journal=Drug Discovery Today|volume=13|issue=19–20|pages=894–901|doi=10.1016/j.drudis.2008.07.004|pmid=18691670}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/clpt.1992.1 | author = Hawkins E.S., Reich | year = 1992 | last2 = Reich | first2 = MR | title = Japanese-originated pharmaceutical products in the United States from 1960 to 1989: an assessment of innovation | journal = Clin Pharmacol Ther | volume = 51 | issue = 1| pages = 1–11 | pmid = 1732073 | s2cid = 46010944 }}</ref> Marine ecosystems are particularly important,<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Roopesh |first1=J. |title=Marine organisms: Potential Source for Drug Discovery |journal = [[Current Science]] |volume= 94 |issue= 3 | page=292 |date= 10 February 2008 | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102008/292.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011162234/http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102008/292.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=11 October 2011 | author2=<Please add first missing authors to populate metadata.> | display-authors=1 }}</ref> although inappropriate [[bioprospecting]] can increase biodiversity loss, as well as violating the laws of the communities and states from which the resources are taken.<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 12436849 | year = 2002 | last1 = Dhillion | first1 = SS | last2 = Svarstad | first2 = H | last3 = Amundsen | first3 = C | last4 = Bugge | first4 = HC | title = Bioprospecting: Effects on environment and development | volume = 31 | issue = 6 | pages = 491–493 | journal = Ambio | jstor=4315292 | doi=10.1639/0044-7447(2002)031[0491:beoead]2.0.co;2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1136/bmj.330.7504.1350-d | title=Looking for new compounds in sea is endangering ecosystem | last1=Cole | first1=A. | journal=[[BMJ]] | volume=330 | issue=7504 | page=1350 |date=16 July 2005 | pmid=15947392 | pmc=558324}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cohabnet.org/en_issue4.htm |title=COHAB Initiative – on Natural Products and Medicinal Resources |publisher=Cohabnet.org |access-date=21 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025100247/http://cohabnet.org/en_issue4.htm |archive-date=25 October 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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| ===Business and industry===
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| [[File:Ueberladewagen (jha).jpg|thumb|right|[[Agriculture]] production, pictured is a [[tractor]] and a [[chaser bin]]]]
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| Many industrial materials derive directly from biological sources. These include building materials, fibers, dyes, rubber, and oil. Biodiversity is also important to the security of resources such as water, timber, paper, fiber, and food.<ref>IUCN, WRI, [[World Business Council for Sustainable Development]], Earthwatch Inst. 2007 ''Business and Ecosystems: Ecosystem Challenges and Business Implications''</ref><ref>Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 [http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.353.aspx.pdf ''Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Opportunities and Challenges for Business and Industry'']</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.cbd.int/business |title=Business and Biodiversity webpage of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity |publisher=Cbd.int |access-date=21 June 2009}}</ref> As a result, biodiversity loss is a significant risk factor in business development and a threat to long-term economic sustainability.<ref>[http://www.wri.org/publication/corporate-ecosystem-services-review WRI Corporate Ecosystem Services Review.] See also: [http://www.wri.org/project/ecosystem-services-review Examples of Ecosystem-Service Based Risks, Opportunities and Strategies] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401203436/http://www.wri.org/project/ecosystem-services-review |date=1 April 2009 }}</ref><ref>[http://ecometrica.com/assets//ecometrica-corporate-biodiversity-accounting.pdf Corporate Biodiversity Accounting.] See also: [http://ecometrica.com/blog/making-the-natural-capital-declaration-accountable Making the Natural Capital Declaration Accountable.]</ref>
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| ===Leisure, cultural and aesthetic value===
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| Biodiversity enriches leisure activities such as [[birdwatching]] or natural history study.
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| Popular activities such as [[gardening]] and [[fishkeeping]] strongly depend on biodiversity. The number of species involved in such pursuits is in the tens of thousands, though the majority do not enter commerce.{{what|date=January 2022}}
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| The relationships between the original natural areas of these often exotic animals and plants and commercial collectors, suppliers, breeders, propagators and those who promote their understanding and enjoyment are complex and poorly understood. The general public responds well to exposure to rare and unusual organisms, reflecting their inherent value.
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| Philosophically it could be argued that biodiversity has intrinsic aesthetic and spiritual value to [[Human|mankind]] ''in and of itself''. This idea can be used as a counterweight to the notion that [[tropical forest]]s and other ecological realms are only worthy of conservation because of the services they provide.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tribot | first1 = A. | last2 = Mouquet | first2 = N. | last3 = Villeger | first3 = S. | last4 = Raymond | first4 = M. | last5 = Hoff | first5 = F. | last6 = Boissery | first6 = P. | last7 = Holon | first7 = F. | last8 = Deter | first8 = J. | year = 2016 | title = Taxonomic and functional diversity increase the aesthetic value of coralligenous reefs | url = http://nicolasmouquet.free.fr/publications/Tribot_el_al_2016_Scientific_Reports.pdf | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 6| pages = 34229| doi = 10.1038/srep34229 | pmid = 27677850 | pmc = 5039688 | bibcode = 2016NatSR...634229T }}</ref>
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| [[File:Eaglecreek-28July2006.jpg|thumb|upright|[[Eagle Creek (Multnomah County, Oregon)|Eagle Creek]], Oregon hiking]]
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| ===Ecological services===<!--does this not repeat above sections?-->
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| {{See also|Ecological effects of biodiversity}}
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| Biodiversity supports many [[ecosystem services]]:
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| <blockquote>"There is now unequivocal evidence that biodiversity loss reduces the efficiency by which ecological communities capture biologically essential resources, produce biomass, decompose and recycle biologically essential nutrients... There is mounting evidence that biodiversity increases the stability of ecosystem functions through time... Diverse communities are more productive because they contain key species that have a large influence on productivity and differences in functional traits among organisms increase total resource capture... The impacts of diversity loss on ecological processes might be sufficiently large to rival the impacts of many other global drivers of environmental change... Maintaining multiple ecosystem processes at multiple places and times requires higher levels of biodiversity than does a single process at a single place and time."<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact" /></blockquote>
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| It plays a part in regulating the chemistry of our [[atmosphere]] and [[water supply]]. Biodiversity is directly involved in [[water purification]], recycling [[nutrient]]s and providing fertile soils. Experiments with controlled environments have shown that humans cannot easily build ecosystems to support human needs;<ref>{{cite news|last=Broad|first=William | title=Paradise Lost: Biosphere Retooled as Atmospheric Nightmare | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/19/science/paradise-lost-biosphere-retooled-as-atmospheric-nightmare.html | access-date=10 April 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=19 November 1996}}</ref> for example [[entomophily|insect pollination]] cannot be mimicked, though there have been attempts to create artificial pollinators using [[unmanned aerial vehicles]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ponti|first1=Crystal|title=Rise of the Robot Bees: Tiny Drones Turned into Artificial Pollinators|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/03/517785082/rise-of-the-robot-bees-tiny-drones-turned-into-artificial-pollinators|access-date=18 January 2018|agency=NPR|date=3 March 2017}}</ref> The economic activity of pollination alone represented between $2.1–14.6 billion in 2003.<ref>{{cite journal|last=LOSEY|first=JOHN E.|author2=VAUGHAN, MACE|title=The Economic Value of Ecological Services Provided by Insects|journal=BioScience|date=1 January 2006|volume=56|issue=4|pages=311|doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2006)56[311:TEVOES]2.0.CO;2|doi-access=free}}</ref>
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| ==Number of species==
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| {{Main|Global biodiversity}}
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| [[File:Mora 2011 Predicted and Unpredicted species.png|thumb|upright=3.2|center|Discovered and predicted total number of species on land and in the oceans]]
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| According to Mora and colleagues, the total number of terrestrial species is estimated to be around 8.7 million while the number of oceanic species is much lower, estimated at 2.2 million. The authors note that these estimates are strongest for eukaryotic organisms and likely represent the lower bound of prokaryote diversity.<ref name=mora2011>{{cite journal|last=Mora|first=Camilo|author2=Tittensor, Derek P. |author3=Adl, Sina |author4=Simpson, Alastair G. B. |author5=Worm, Boris |author6=Mace, Georgina M.|title=How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean?|journal=PLOS Biology|date=23 August 2011|volume=9|issue=8|pages=e1001127|doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127|pmid=21886479|pmc=3160336}}</ref> Other estimates include:
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| * 220,000 [[vascular plants]], estimated using the species-area relation method<ref>{{cite journal|last=Wilson|first=J. Bastow|author2=Peet, Robert K. |author3=Dengler, Jürgen |author4=Pärtel, Meelis|s2cid=53548257|title=Plant species richness: the world records|journal=Journal of Vegetation Science|date=1 August 2012|volume=23|issue=4|pages=796–802|doi=10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01400.x}}</ref>
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| * 0.7-1 million marine species<ref>{{cite journal|last=Appeltans|first=W.|author2=Ahyong, S. T. |author3=Anderson, G |author4=Angel, M. V. |author5=Artois, T. |author6= and 118 others |title=The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity|journal=Current Biology |date=2012 |volume=22 |issue=23 |pages=2189–2202 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.036|pmid=23159596|doi-access=free }}</ref>
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| * 10–30 million [[insect]]s;<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/buginfo/bugnos.htm |title=Numbers of Insects (Species and Individuals) |website = Smithsonian Institution }}</ref> (of some 0.9 million we know today)<ref name="Le Monde newspaper article">{{cite news|url = http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2006/06/27/protection-de-la-biodiversite-un-inventaire-difficile_788741_3244.html |work = Le Monde |language=fr|title = Protection de la biodiversité : un inventaire difficile|first = Christine |last = Galus|date = 5 March 2007}}</ref>
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| * 5–10 million [[bacteria]];<ref>Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Census of Marine Life (CoML)
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| [http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5232928.stm News.BBC.co.uk]</ref>
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| * 1.5-3 million [[fungi]], estimates based on data from the tropics, long-term non-tropical sites and molecular studies that have revealed [[cryptic species|cryptic speciation]].<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hawksworth|first=D. L.|title=Global species numbers of fungi: are tropical studies and molecular approaches contributing to a more robust estimate?|journal=Biodiversity and Conservation|date=24 July 2012|volume=21|issue=9|pages=2425–2433|doi=10.1007/s10531-012-0335-x|s2cid=15087855}}</ref> Some 0.075 million species of fungi had been documented by 2001;<ref name="Hawksworth">{{cite journal | doi =10.1017/S0953756201004725 | title =The magnitude of fungal diversity: The 1.5 million species estimate revisited | year =2001 | last1 =Hawksworth | first1 =D | s2cid =56122588 | journal =[[Mycological Research]] | volume =105 | issue =12 | pages =1422–1432 }}</ref>
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| * 1 million [[mite]]s<ref>{{cite web|url=http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/ACARI/index.html |title=Acari at University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Web Page |publisher=Insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu |date=10 November 2003 |access-date=21 June 2009}}</ref>
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| * The number of [[microbial]] species is not reliably known, but the [[Global Ocean Sampling Expedition]] dramatically increased the estimates of genetic diversity by identifying an enormous number of new genes from near-surface [[plankton]] samples at various marine locations, initially over the 2004–2006 period.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcvi.org/cms/fileadmin/site/research/projects/gos/Expedition_Overview.pdf |publisher=[[J. Craig Venter Institute]] |title=Fact Sheet – Expedition Overview |access-date=29 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629133109/http://www.jcvi.org/cms/fileadmin/site/research/projects/gos/Expedition_Overview.pdf |archive-date=29 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> The findings may eventually cause a significant change in the way science defines [[species]] and other taxonomic categories.<ref>{{cite web|last=Mirsky |first=Steve |work=Scientific American |title=Naturally Speaking: Finding Nature's Treasure Trove with the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition |date=21 March 2007 |access-date=4 May 2011 | url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=74F46951-E7F2-99DF-37873C5B678DC19D }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|url=http://www.ploscollections.org/article/browseIssue.action?issue=info:doi/10.1371/issue.pcol.v06.i02 |title=Article collections published by the Public Library of Science |publisher=PLoS Collections |access-date=24 September 2011|doi=10.1371/issue.pcol.v06.i02 |doi-broken-date=28 February 2022 }}</ref>
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| Since the rate of extinction has increased, many extant species may become extinct before they are described.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/sep/25/taxonomy.conservationandendangeredspecies |title=Discovery of new species and extermination at high rate |newspaper=The Guardian | location=London |first=Robin |last=McKie |date=25 September 2005}}</ref> Not surprisingly, in the [[animalia]] the most studied groups are [[birds]] and [[mammals]], whereas [[fishes]] and [[arthropods]] are the least studied [[animals]] groups.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bautista |first1=Luis M. |last2=Pantoja |first2=Juan Carlos |title=What species should we study next? |journal=Bulletin of the British Ecological Society |date=2005 |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=27–28 |hdl=10261/43928 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>
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| ==Measuring biodiversity==
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| {{main|diversity index|measurement of biodiversity}}
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| A variety of objective means exist to empirically 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 measured in terms of taxonomic richness of a geographic area over a time interval.
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| {{expand section|date=November 2019}}
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| ==Species loss rates==
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| {{see|Loss of biodiversity}}
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| {{Quote|text=No longer do we have to justify the existence of humid tropical forests on the feeble grounds that they might carry plants with drugs that cure human disease. [[Gaia hypothesis|''Gaia theory'']] forces us to see that they offer much more than this. Through their capacity to evapotranspirate vast volumes of water vapor, they serve to keep the planet cool by wearing a sunshade of white reflecting cloud. Their replacement by cropland could precipitate a disaster that is global in scale. |author=[[James Lovelock]], in ''Biodiversity'' ([[E. O. Wilson]] (Ed))<ref name="LeakeyLewin1996">{{cite book|author1=Richard E. Leakey|author2=Roger Lewin|title=The sixth extinction: biodiversity and its survival|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=reogHQAACAAJ}}|access-date=27 June 2011|date=4 November 1996|publisher=Phoenix|isbn=978-1-85799-473-5|pages=137–142}}</ref>}}
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| During the last century, decreases in biodiversity have been increasingly observed. In 2007, German Federal Environment Minister [[Sigmar Gabriel]] cited estimates that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6432217.stm | title= 30% of all species lost by 2050 |work=[[BBC News]] | first=Sigmar | last=Gabriel | date=9 March 2007}}</ref> Of these, about one eighth of known plant species are threatened with [[extinction]].<ref name="Reid Reversing loss of Biodiversity">{{cite web|url=http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln37/reid.html |last =Reid|first =Walter V.|title = Reversing the loss of biodiversity: An overview of international measures|publisher=Ag.arizona.edu |work = Arid Lands Newsletter|number = 37|date = 1995}}</ref> Estimates reach as high as 140,000 species per year (based on [[Species-area curve|Species-area theory]]).<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1126/science.269.5222.347 | title = The Future of Biodiversity | year = 1995 | last1 = Pimm | first1 = S. L. | last2 = Russell | first2 = G. J. | last3 = Gittleman | first3 = J. L. | last4 = Brooks | first4 = T. M. | journal = Science | volume = 269 | issue = 5222 | pages = 347–350 | pmid = 17841251 | url = http://cmbc.ucsd.edu/content/1/docs/Pimm_et_al_1995.pdf | bibcode = 1995Sci...269..347P | s2cid = 35154695 | access-date = 4 May 2011 | archive-date = 15 July 2011 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110715114557/http://cmbc.ucsd.edu/content/1/docs/Pimm_et_al_1995.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> This figure indicates [[sustainability|unsustainable]] ecological practices, because few species emerge each year.{{Citation needed|date=April 2011}} Almost all scientists acknowledge that the rate of species loss is greater now than at any time in human history, with extinctions occurring at rates hundreds of times higher than [[background extinction]] rates.<ref name="Reid Reversing loss of Biodiversity"/><ref>{{cite news | vauthors = Carrington D |date=2 February 2021 |title=Economics of biodiversity review: what are the recommendations? |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/02/economics-of-biodiversity-review-what-are-the-recommendations |work= [[The Guardian]]|location= |access-date=17 December 2021}}</ref><ref name="Dasgupta">{{cite web |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957629/Dasgupta_Review_-_Headline_Messages.pdf |title=The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review Headline Messages |last=Dasgupta |first=Partha |author-link= Partha Dasgupta |date=2021 |website= |publisher= UK government| page=1|access-date=16 December 2021 |quote=Biodiversity is declining faster than at any time in human history. Current extinction rates, for example, are around 100 to 1,000 times higher than the baseline rate, and they are increasing.}}</ref> and expected to still grow in the upcoming years.<ref name="Dasgupta"/><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = De Vos JM, Joppa LN, Gittleman JL, Stephens PR, Pimm SL | title = Estimating the normal background rate of species extinction | journal = Conservation Biology | volume = 29 | issue = 2 | pages = 452–62 | date = April 2015 | pmid = 25159086 | doi = 10.1111/cobi.12380 | s2cid = 19121609 | url = https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/98443/1/Conservation_Biology_2014_early-view.pdf }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | vauthors = Ceballos G, Ehrlich PR, Raven PH | title = Vertebrates on the brink as indicators of biological annihilation and the sixth mass extinction | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 117 | issue = 24 | pages = 13596–13602 | date = June 2020 | pmid = 32482862 | pmc = 7306750 | doi = 10.1073/pnas.1922686117 | doi-access = free | bibcode = 2020PNAS..11713596C }}</ref> As of 2012, some studies suggest that 25% of all mammal species could be extinct in 20 years.<ref>{{cite news|title=Researches find threat from biodiversity loss equals climate change threat|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/sci_tech/researches-find-threat-from-biodiversity-loss-equals-climate-change-threat-157847545.html|date=7 June 2012|newspaper=[[Winnipeg Free Press]]}}</ref>
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| In absolute terms, the planet has lost 58% of its biodiversity since 1970 according to a 2016 study by the [https://web.archive.org/web/20180207105442/https://www.wnf.nl/custom/LPR_2016_fullreport/ World Wildlife Fund]. The Living Planet Report 2014 claims that "the number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish across the globe is, on average, about half the size it was 40 years ago". Of that number, 39% accounts for the terrestrial wildlife gone, 39% for the marine wildlife gone and 76% for the freshwater wildlife gone. Biodiversity took the biggest hit in [[Latin America]], plummeting 83 percent. High-income countries showed a 10% increase in biodiversity, which was canceled out by a loss in low-income countries. This is despite the fact that high-income countries use five times the ecological resources of low-income countries, which was explained as a result of a process whereby wealthy nations are outsourcing [[resource depletion]] to poorer nations, which are suffering the greatest ecosystem losses.<ref name="LivingPlanetReport2014">{{citation|url=http://assets.worldwildlife.org/publications/723/files/original/LPR2014_low_res-2.pdf?1412025775 |access-date=4 October 2014 |title=Living Planet Report 2014 |publisher=World Wildlife Fund |format=PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006101711/http://assets.worldwildlife.org/publications/723/files/original/LPR2014_low_res-2.pdf?1412025775 |archive-date=6 October 2014 }}</ref>
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| A 2017 study published in ''[[PLOS One]]'' found that the biomass of insect life in Germany had declined by three-quarters in the last 25 years. Dave Goulson of [[Sussex University]] stated that their study suggested that humans "appear to be making vast tracts of land inhospitable to most forms of life, and are currently on course for ecological Armageddon. If we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers|title=Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect numbers|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 October 2017|last1=Editor|first1=Damian Carrington Environment}}</ref>
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| In 2020 the [[World Wildlife Foundation]] published a report saying that "biodiversity is being destroyed at a rate unprecedented in human history". The report claims that 68% of the population of the examined species were destroyed in the years 1970 – 2016.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Briggs|first1=Helen|date=10 September 2020|title=Wildlife in 'catastrophic decline' due to human destruction, scientists warn|agency=BBC|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-54091048|access-date=3 December 2020}}</ref>
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| ==Threats==
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| [[File:Flii globe.png|thumb|upright=1.35|The [[Forest Landscape Integrity Index]] measures global anthropogenic modification on remaining forests annually. 0 = Most modification; 10= Least.<ref name="flii">{{cite journal|last1=Grantham|first1=H. S.|last2=Duncan|first2=A.|last3=Evans|first3=T. D.|last4=Jones|first4=K. R.|last5=Beyer|first5=H. L.|last6=Schuster|first6=R.|last7=Walston|first7=J.|last8=Ray|first8=J. C.|last9=Robinson|first9=J. G.|last10=Callow|first10=M.|last11=Clements|first11=T.|last12=Costa|first12=H. M.|last13=DeGemmis|first13=A.|last14=Elsen|first14=P. R.|last15=Ervin|first15=J.|last16=Franco|first16=P.|last17=Goldman|first17=E.|last18=Goetz|first18=S.|last19=Hansen|first19=A.|last20=Hofsvang|first20=E.|last21=Jantz|first21=P.|last22=Jupiter|first22=S.|last23=Kang|first23=A.|last24=Langhammer|first24=P.|last25=Laurance|first25=W. F.|last26=Lieberman|first26=S.|last27=Linkie|first27=M.|last28=Malhi|first28=Y.|last29=Maxwell|first29=S.|last30=Mendez|first30=M.|last31=Mittermeier|first31=R.|last32=Murray|first32=N. J.|last33=Possingham|first33=H.|last34=Radachowsky|first34=J.|last35=Saatchi|first35=S.|last36=Samper|first36=C.|last37=Silverman|first37=J.|last38=Shapiro|first38=A.|last39=Strassburg|first39=B.|last40=Stevens|first40=T.|last41=Stokes|first41=E.|last42=Taylor|first42=R.|last43=Tear|first43=T.|last44=Tizard|first44=R.|last45=Venter|first45=O.|last46=Visconti|first46=P.|last47=Wang|first47=S.|last48=Watson|first48=J. E. M.|title=Anthropogenic modification of forests means only 40% of remaining forests have high ecosystem integrity|journal=Nature Communications|volume=11|issue=1|year=2020|page=5978 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-19493-3|pmid=33293507|pmc=7723057|bibcode=2020NatCo..11.5978G}}</ref>]]
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| In 2006, many species were formally classified as [[rare species|rare]] or [[endangered species|endangered]] or [[threatened species|threatened]]; moreover, scientists have estimated that millions more species are at risk which have not been formally recognized. About 40 percent of the 40,177 species assessed using the [[IUCN Red List]] criteria are now listed as threatened with [[extinction]]—a total of 16,119.<ref>{{cite web|url = http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/0502_060502_endangered.html|title = Endangered Species List Expands to 16,000|url-status = dead|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170805153429/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/0502_060502_endangered.html|archive-date = 5 August 2017|work = National Geographic|last = Lovett|first = Richard A.|date = 2 May 2006|df = dmy-all}}</ref> The five main drivers to biodiversity loss are : habitat loss, invasive species, overexploitation (extreme hunting and fishing pressure), pollution, and climate change.
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| [[Jared Diamond]] describes an "Evil Quartet" of [[habitat destruction]], [[Overhunting|overkill]], [[introduced species]] and secondary extinctions.<ref name="MoultonSanderson1998">{{cite book|first1=Michael P. |last1=Moulton|first2=James|last2= Sanderson|title=Wildlife Issues in a Changing World|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=or6sngEACAAJ}}|date=1 September 1998|publisher=CRC-Press|isbn=978-1-56670-351-2}}</ref> [[Edward O. Wilson]] prefers the [[acronym]] HIPPO, standing for '''H'''abitat destruction, '''I'''nvasive species, '''P'''ollution, [[human overpopulation|human over-'''P'''opulation]] and [[overharvesting|'''O'''ver-harvesting]].<ref name="Chen2003">{{cite book|first=Jim |last=Chen|title=The Jurisdynamics of Environmental Protection: Change and the Pragmatic Voice in Environmental Law|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=8vCkSM1auwIC|page=197}}|isbn=978-1-58576-071-8|chapter=Across the Apocalypse on Horseback: Imperfect Legal Responses to Biodiversity Loss|page=197|year=2003|publisher=Environmental Law Institute}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Windows on the Wild|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=1rzqxEVsMO8C}}|year=2005|publisher=New Africa Books|isbn=978-1-86928-380-3|chapter=Hippo dilemma}}</ref>
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| According to the [[IUCN]] the main direct threats to conservation fall in 11 categories<ref>{{Cite web |title=The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species |url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/en |access-date=2021-06-28 |website=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species}}</ref>
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| '''1. Residential & commercial development'''
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| :* housing & [[urban area]]s'' (urban areas, suburbs, villages, vacation homes, shopping areas, offices, schools, hospitals)''
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| :* commercial & industrial areas'' (manufacturing plants, shopping centers, office parks, military bases, power plants, train & shipyards, airports)''
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| :* [[environmental impact of tourism|tourism]] & recreational areas'' (skiing, golf courses, sports fields, parks, campgrounds)''
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| '''2. Farming activities'''
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| :* [[environmental impact of agriculture|agriculture]]'' (crop farms, orchards, vineyards, plantations, ranches)''
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| :* [[aquaculture]] ''(shrimp or finfish aquaculture, fish ponds on farms, hatchery salmon, seeded shellfish beds, artificial algal beds)''
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| '''3. [[Energy production]] & [[mining]]'''
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| :* [[renewable energy]] production ''([[geothermal]], solar, wind, & tidal farms)''
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| :* [[non-renewable energy]] production ''([[oil and gas drilling]])''
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| :* mining ''(fuel and minerals)''
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| '''4. Transportation & service corridors'''
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| :* service corridors ''(electrical & phone wires, aqueducts, oil & gas pipelines)''
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| :* transport corridors ''(roads, railroads, shipping lanes, and flight paths)''
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| :* collisions with the vehicles using the corridors
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| :* associated accidents and catastrophes ''([[oil spill]]s, electrocution, fire)''
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| '''5. Biological resource usages'''
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| :* [[hunting]] ''(bushmeat, trophy, fur)''
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| :* persecution ''([[predator control]] and [[pest control]], superstitions)''
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| :* plant destruction or removal ''(human consumption, free-range livestock foraging, battling timber disease, orchid collection)''
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| :* [[logging]] or wood harvesting ''(selective or [[clear-cutting]], firewood collection, charcoal production)''
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| :* fishing ''(trawling, whaling, live coral or seaweed or egg collection)''
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| '''6. Human intrusions & activities that alter, destroy, simply disturb habitats and species from exhibiting natural behaviors'''
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| :* recreational activities ''(off-road vehicles, motorboats, jet-skis, snowmobiles, ultralight planes, dive boats, whale watching, mountain bikes, hikers, birdwatchers, skiers, pets in recreational areas, temporary campsites, caving, rock-climbing)''
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| :* war, civil unrest, & military exercises ''(armed conflict, minefields, tanks & other military vehicles, training exercises & ranges, defoliation, munitions testing)''
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| :* illegal activities ''([[smuggling]], immigration, vandalism)''
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| '''7. Natural system modifications'''
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| :* fire suppression or creation ''(controlled burns, inappropriate fire management, escaped agricultural and [[campfire]]s, [[arson]])''
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| :* [[water management]] ''([[dam]] construction & operation, [[wetland]] filling, surface water diversion, [[groundwater exploitation|groundwater pumping]])''
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| :* other modifications ''([[land reclamation]] projects, shoreline [[rip-rap]], [[lawn]] cultivation, beach construction and maintenance, tree-thinning in parks)''
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| :* removing/reducing human maintenance ''(mowing meadows, reduction in controlled burns, lack of indigenous management of key ecosystems, ceasing supplemental feeding of condors)''
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| '''8. Invasive & problematic species, pathogens & genes'''
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| :* [[invasive species]] ''(feral horses & household pets, zebra mussels, Miconia tree, kudzu, introduction for biocontrol)''
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| :* problematic native species ''(overabundant native deer or kangaroo, overabundant algae due to loss of native grazing fish, locust-type plagues)''
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| :* introduced genetic material ''([[pesticide-resistant]] crops, genetically modified insects for biocontrol, genetically modified trees or salmon, escaped hatchery salmon, restoration projects using non-local seed stock)''
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| :* [[pathogen]]s & microbes ''(plague affecting rodents or rabbits, Dutch elm disease or chestnut blight, Chytrid fungus affecting amphibians outside of Africa)''
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| '''9. [[Pollution]]'''
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| :* [[sewage]] ''(untreated sewage, discharges from poorly functioning [[Sewage treatment|sewage treatment plants]], [[septic tank]]s, [[pit latrine]]s, oil or sediment from roads, fertilizers and [[pesticides]] from lawns and golf courses, road salt)''
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| :* industrial & military effluents ''(toxic chemicals from factories, illegal dumping of chemicals, mine tailings, arsenic from gold mining, leakage from fuel tanks, PCBs in river sediments)''
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| :* agricultural & forestry effluents ''(nutrient loading from fertilizer run-off, herbicide run-off, manure from feedlots, nutrients from aquaculture, soil erosion)''
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| :* garbage & solid waste ''([[municipal waste]], litter & dumped possessions, flotsam & jetsam from recreational boats, waste that entangles wildlife, [[construction waste|construction debris]])''
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| :* air-borne pollutants ''([[acid rain]], [[smog]] from [[vehicle emissions]], excess nitrogen deposition, radioactive fallout, wind dispersion of pollutants or sediments from farm fields, smoke from forest fires or wood stoves)''
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| :* excess energy ''([[noise pollution|noise]] from highways or airplanes, sonar from submarines that disturbs whales, heated water from power plants, lamps attracting insects, beach lights disorienting turtles, atmospheric radiation from ozone holes)''
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| '''10. Catastrophic geological events'''
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| :* [[earthquake]]s, [[tsunami]]s, avalanches, [[landslide]]s, & volcanic eruptions and gas emissions
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| '''11. [[Climate change]]s'''
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| :* ecosystem encroachment ''(inundation of shoreline ecosystems & drowning of coral reefs from sea level rise, dune encroachment from desertification, [[Bush encroachment|woody encroachment]] into grasslands)''
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| :* changes in geochemical regimes ''([[ocean acidification]], changes in atmospheric CO2 affecting plant growth, loss of sediment leading to broad-scale subsidence)''
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| :* changes in temperature regimes ''([[heat wave]]s, cold spells, oceanic temperature changes, [[melting of glaciers]]/sea ice)''
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| :* changes in precipitation & hydrological regimes ''([[drought]]s, rain timing, loss of snow cover, increased severity of floods)''
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| :* [[severe weather]] events ''(thunderstorms, tropical storms, hurricanes, cyclones, tornadoes, hailstorms, ice storms or blizzards, dust storms, erosion of beaches during storms)''
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| ===Habitat destruction===
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| [[File:Sugarcane Deforestation, Bolivia, 2016-06-15 by Planet Labs.jpg|thumb|[[Deforestation]] and increased road-building in the [[Amazon Rainforest]] in [[Bolivia]] cause significant concern because of increased human encroachment upon wild areas, increased resource extraction and further threats to biodiversity.]]
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| {{Main|Habitat destruction}}
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| [[habitat (ecology)|Habitat]] destruction has played a key role in extinctions, especially in relation to [[tropical forest]] destruction.<ref name="EhrlichEhrlich1983">{{cite book|first1= Paul R. |last1= Ehrlich|first2= Anne H.|last2= Ehrlich|title= Extinction: The Causes and Consequences of the Disappearance of Species|url= {{google books |plainurl= y |id= J2_gAAAAMAAJ}}|year= 1983|publisher= Ballantine Books|isbn= 978-0-345-33094-9}}</ref> Factors contributing to habitat loss include: [[overconsumption]], [[Human overpopulation|overpopulation]], [[Land use, land-use change and forestry|land use change]], [[deforestation]],<ref>
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| C.Michael Hogan. 2010. [http://www.eoearth.org/article/Deforestation ''Deforestation''] Encyclopedia of Earth. ed. C.Cleveland. NCSE. Washington DC</ref> [[pollution]] ([[air pollution]], [[water pollution]], [[soil contamination]]) and [[global warming]] or climate change.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Mac Nally|first1=Ralph|last2=Bennett|first2=Andrew F.|last3=Thomson|first3=James R.|last4=Radford|first4=James Q.|last5=Unmack|first5=Guy|last6=Horrocks|first6=Gregory|last7=Vesk|first7=Peter A.|date=July 2009|title=Collapse of an avifauna: climate change appears to exacerbate habitat loss and degradation|journal=Diversity and Distributions|language=en|volume=15|issue=4|pages=720–730|doi=10.1111/j.1472-4642.2009.00578.x|s2cid=84705733 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Nogué|first1=Sandra|last2=Rull|first2=Valentí|last3=Vegas-Vilarrúbia|first3=Teresa|date=2009-02-24|title=Modeling biodiversity loss by global warming on Pantepui, northern South America: projected upward migration and potential habitat loss|journal=Climatic Change|volume=94|issue=1–2|pages=77–85|doi=10.1007/s10584-009-9554-x|bibcode=2009ClCh...94...77N|s2cid=154910127 }}</ref>
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| Habitat size and numbers of species are systematically related. Physically larger species and those living at lower latitudes or in forests or oceans are more sensitive to reduction in habitat area.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1461-0248.2005.00848.x | title = The imprint of the geographical, evolutionary and ecological context on species-area relationships | year = 2006 | last1 = Drakare | first1 = Stina | last2 = Lennon | first2 = Jack J. | last3 = Hillebrand | first3 = Helmut | journal = Ecology Letters | volume = 9 | issue = 2 | pages = 215–227 | pmid = 16958886 }}</ref> Conversion to "trivial" standardized ecosystems (e.g., [[monoculture]] following [[deforestation]]) effectively destroys habitat for the more diverse species that preceded the conversion. Even the simplest forms of agriculture affect diversity – through clearing/draining the land, discouraging weeds and "pests", and encouraging just a limited set of domesticated plant and animal species. In some countries, property rights<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Liscow|first=Zachary D.|date=March 2013|title=Do property rights promote investment but cause deforestation? Quasi-experimental evidence from Nicaragua|journal=Journal of Environmental Economics and Management|language=en|volume=65|issue=2|pages=241–261|doi=10.1016/j.jeem.2012.07.001|s2cid=115140212|url=https://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/fss_papers/5019}}</ref> or lax law/regulatory enforcement are associated with deforestation and habitat loss.<ref>{{Cite journal|last1=Giam|first1=Xingli|last2=Bradshaw|first2=Corey J.A.|last3=Tan|first3=Hugh T.W.|last4=Sodhi|first4=Navjot S.|date=July 2010|title=Future habitat loss and the conservation of plant biodiversity|journal=Biological Conservation|language=en|volume=143|issue=7|pages=1594–1602|doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2010.04.019}}</ref>
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| A 2007 study conducted by the [[National Science Foundation]] found that biodiversity and genetic diversity are codependent—that diversity among species requires diversity within a species and ''vice versa''. "If anyone type is removed from the system, the cycle can break down and the community becomes dominated by a single species."<!-- the quote doesn't talk about genetic diversity --><ref name=enn>{{cite web|url= http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/23391 |title= Study: Loss of Genetic Diversity Threatens Species Diversity |publisher= Enn.com |date= 26 September 2007 |access-date= 21 June 2009}}</ref>
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| {{As of | 2005 |alt = At present}}, the most threatened ecosystems occur in [[fresh water]], according to the [[Millennium Ecosystem Assessment]] 2005, which was confirmed by the "Freshwater Animal Diversity Assessment" organised by the [[GBIF|biodiversity platform]] and the French ''[[Institut de recherche pour le développement]]'' (MNHNP).<ref>[http://www.scienceconnection.be/ Science Connection 22] (July 2008)</ref>
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| Co-extinctions are a form of [[habitat destruction]]. Co-extinction occurs when the extinction or decline in one species accompanies similar processes in another, such as in plants and beetles.<ref>
| |
| {{cite journal
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| | doi = 10.1126/science.1101101 |author1= Koh L. P.
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| |author2= Dunn R. R. |author3= Sodhi N. S.
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| |author4= Colwell R. K. |author5= Proctor H. C.
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| |author6= Smith V. S. | year = 2004
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| | title = Species Coextinctions and the Biodiversity Crisis
| |
| | url = http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rrdunn/KohDunnetal.pdf
| |
| | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090326052836/http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rrdunn/KohDunnetal.pdf
| |
| | archive-date = 26 March 2009| journal = Science | volume = 305
| |
| | issue = 5690| pages = 1632–1634
| |
| | pmid = 15361627
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| | bibcode = 2004Sci...305.1632K
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| |s2cid= 30713492
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| }}
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| </ref>
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| A 2019 report has revealed that bees and other pollinating insects have been wiped out of almost a quarter of their habitats across the United Kingdom. The population crashes have been happening since the 1980s and are affecting biodiversity. The increase in industrial farming and pesticide use, combined with diseases, invasive species, and climate change is threatening the future of these insects and the agriculture they support.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/insects-pollination-bees-flies-uk-farming-agriculture-pesticides-climate-change-a8839306.html|title=Bees and other pollinating insects disappear from quarter of UK habitats in population crash|date=26 March 2019|work=The Independent}}</ref>
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| In 2019, research was published showing that [[insect]]s are destroyed by human activities like [[habitat destruction]], [[pesticide poisoning]], [[invasive species]] and [[Global warming|climate change]] at a rate that will cause the collapse of ecological systems in the next 50 years if it cannot be stopped.<ref>{{cite news|last1=Walker|first1=Robert|date=10 April 2019|title=The Insect Apocalypse Is Coming: Here Are 5 Lessons We Must Learn|agency=Ecowatch|url=https://www.ecowatch.com/insect-apocalypse-2634239696.html|access-date=10 May 2019}}</ref>
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| ===Introduced and invasive species===
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| {{Main|Introduced species|Invasive species}}
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| [[File:Male Silver Pheasant.jpg|thumb|right|Male ''Lophura nycthemera'' ([[silver pheasant]]), a native of [[East Asia]] that has been introduced into parts of [[Europe]] for ornamental reasons]]
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| Barriers such as large [[river]]s, [[sea]]s, [[oceans]], [[mountains]] and [[deserts]] encourage diversity by enabling independent evolution on either side of the barrier, via the process of [[allopatric speciation]]. The term [[invasive species]] is applied to species that breach the natural barriers that would normally keep them constrained. Without barriers, such species occupy new territory, often supplanting native species by occupying their niches, or by using resources that would normally sustain native species.
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| The number of species invasions has been on the rise at least since the beginning of the 1900s. Species are increasingly being moved by humans (on purpose and accidentally). In some cases the invaders are causing drastic changes and damage to their new habitats (e.g.: zebra mussels and the emerald ash borer in the Great Lakes region and the lion fish along the North American Atlantic coast). Some evidence suggests that invasive species are competitive in their new habitats because they are subject to less pathogen disturbance.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Torchin|first=Mark E.|author2=Lafferty, Kevin D. |author3-link=Dobson, Andrew P|author3=Dobson, Andrew P. |author4=McKenzie, Valerie J. |author5=Kuris, Armand M.|title=Introduced species and their missing parasites|journal=Nature|date=6 February 2003|volume=421|issue=6923|pages=628–630|doi=10.1038/nature01346|pmid=12571595|bibcode = 2003Natur.421..628T |s2cid=4384385}}</ref> Others report confounding evidence that occasionally suggest that species-rich communities harbor many native and exotic species simultaneously<ref>{{cite journal|last=Levine|first=Jonathan M.|author2=D'Antonio, Carla M.|s2cid=13987518|title=Elton Revisited: A Review of Evidence Linking Diversity and Invasibility|journal=Oikos|date=1 October 1999|volume=87|issue=1|pages=15|doi=10.2307/3546992|jstor=3546992}}</ref> while some say that diverse ecosystems are more resilient and resist invasive plants and animals.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Levine|first=J. M.|s2cid=7363143|title=Species Diversity and Biological Invasions: Relating Local Process to Community Pattern|journal=Science|date=5 May 2000|volume=288|issue=5467|pages=852–854|doi=10.1126/science.288.5467.852|bibcode = 2000Sci...288..852L|pmid=10797006}}</ref> An important question is, "do invasive species cause extinctions?" Many studies cite effects of invasive species on natives,<ref>{{cite journal|last=GUREVITCH|first=J|author-link1=Jessica Gurevitch|author2=PADILLA, D|title=Are invasive species a major cause of extinctions?|journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution|date=1 September 2004|volume=19|issue=9|pages=470–474|doi=10.1016/j.tree.2004.07.005|pmid=16701309}}</ref> but not extinctions. Invasive species seem to increase local (i.e.: [[alpha diversity]]) diversity, which decreases turnover of diversity (i.e.: [[beta diversity]]). Overall [[gamma diversity]] may be lowered because species are going extinct because of other causes,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sax|first=Dov F.|author2=Gaines, Steven D. |author3=Brown, James H.|s2cid=8628360|title=Species Invasions Exceed Extinctions on Islands Worldwide: A Comparative Study of Plants and Birds|journal=The American Naturalist|date=1 December 2002|volume=160|issue=6|pages=766–783|doi=10.1086/343877|pmid=18707464}}</ref> but even some of the most insidious invaders (e.g.: Dutch elm disease, emerald ash borer, chestnut blight in North America) have not caused their host species to become extinct. [[Local extinction|Extirpation]], [[population decline]] and [[Species homogeneity|homogenization]] of regional biodiversity are much more common. Human activities have frequently been the cause of invasive species circumventing their barriers,<ref>{{cite book|last=Jude, David auth.|first=ed. by M. Munawar|title=The lake Huron ecosystem: ecology, fisheries and management|year=1995|publisher=S.P.B. Academic Publishing|location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-90-5103-117-1}}</ref> by introducing them for food and other purposes. Human activities therefore allow species to migrate to new areas (and thus become invasive) occurred on time scales much shorter than historically have been required for a species to extend its range.
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| Not all introduced species are invasive, nor all invasive species deliberately introduced. In cases such as the [[zebra mussel]], [[invasive species|invasion]] of US waterways was unintentional. In other cases, such as [[mongoose]]s in [[Hawaii]], the introduction is deliberate but ineffective ([[nocturnal]] [[rat]]s were not vulnerable to the [[diurnality|diurnal]] mongoose). In other cases, such as [[oil palm]]s in Indonesia and Malaysia, the introduction produces substantial economic benefits, but the benefits are accompanied by costly [[unintended consequences]].
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| Finally, an introduced species may unintentionally injure a species that depends on the species it replaces. In [[Belgium]], ''[[Prunus spinosa]]'' from Eastern Europe leafs much sooner than its West European counterparts, disrupting the feeding habits of the ''[[Thecla betulae]]'' butterfly (which feeds on the leaves). Introducing new species often leaves endemic and other local species unable to compete with the exotic species and unable to survive. The exotic organisms may be [[predator]]s, [[parasite]]s, or may simply outcompete indigenous species for nutrients, water and light.
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| At present, several countries have already imported so many exotic species, particularly agricultural and ornamental plants, that their indigenous fauna/flora may be outnumbered. For example, the introduction of [[kudzu]] from Southeast Asia to Canada and the United States has threatened biodiversity in certain areas.<ref>{{cite journal|journal= ScienceDaily|url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110408163917.htm |title=Are invasive plants a threat to native biodiversity? It depends on the spatial scale |date=11 April 2011}}</ref> Nature offers effective ways to help mitigate climate change.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Vimal|first=Anupama|date=2021-06-15|title=Tackle Biodiversity Loss, Climate Change Together for A Better Tomorrow|url=https://indianf.com/tackle-biodiversity-loss-climate-change-together-for-a-better-tomorrow/|access-date=2021-06-15|website=Indian Flash News|language=en-US}}</ref>
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| ====Genetic pollution====
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| {{Main|Genetic pollution}}
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| Endemic species can be threatened with [[extinction]]<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1073/pnas.091093398 | title = The evolutionary impact of invasive species | year = 2001 | last1 = Mooney | first1 = H. A. | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences | volume = 98 | issue = 10 | pages = 5446–5451 | pmid=11344292|bibcode = 2001PNAS...98.5446M | pmc=33232 | last2 = Cleland | first2 = EE| doi-access = free }}</ref> through the process of [[genetic pollution]], i.e. uncontrolled [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]], [[introgression]] and genetic swamping. Genetic pollution leads to homogenization or replacement of local [[genomes]] as a result of either a numerical and/or [[Fitness (biology)|fitness]] advantage of an introduced species.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nativeseednetwork.org/article_view?id=13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060222092651/http://www.nativeseednetwork.org/article_view?id=13 |url-status=dead |archive-date=22 February 2006 |title=Glossary: definitions from the following publication: Aubry, C., R. Shoal and V. Erickson. 2005. Grass cultivars: their origins, development, and use on national forests and grasslands in the Pacific Northwest. USDA Forest Service. 44 pages, plus appendices.; Native Seed Network (NSN), Institute for Applied Ecology, Corvallis, OR |publisher=Nativeseednetwork.org |access-date=21 June 2009 }}</ref>
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| Hybridization and introgression are side-effects of introduction and invasion. These phenomena can be especially detrimental to [[rare species]] that come into contact with more abundant ones. The abundant species can interbreed with the rare species, swamping its [[gene pool]]. This problem is not always apparent from [[morphology (biology)|morphological]] (outward appearance) observations alone. Some degree of [[gene flow]] is normal adaptation and not all [[gene]] and [[genotype]] constellations can be preserved. However, hybridization with or without introgression may, nevertheless, threaten a rare species' existence.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.27.1.83 | title = Extinction by Hybridization and Introgression | year = 1996 | last1 = Rhymer | first1 = Judith M. | last2 = Simberloff | first2 = Daniel | journal = Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics | volume = 27 | pages = 83–109 | jstor = 2097230 }}</ref><ref name="PottsBarbour2001">{{cite book|first1=Bradley M. |last1=Potts|first2=Robert C.|last2= Barbour|first3=Andrew B. |last3=Hingston|title=Genetic Pollution from Farm Forestry Using Eucalypt Species and Hydrids: A Report for the RIRDC/L & WA/FWPRDC Joint Venture Agroforestry Program|journal=Research Report, Chicken Meat & Egg Programs|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=PyQIOAAACAAJ}}|year=2001|publisher=RIRDC|isbn=978-0-642-58336-9 }}
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| [http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/AFT/01-114.pdf RIRDC.gov.au RIRDC Publication No 01/114; RIRDC Project No CPF – 3A] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160105223223/http://www.rirdc.gov.au/reports/AFT/01-114.pdf |date=5 January 2016 }}; Australian Government, Rural Industrial Research and Development Corporation</ref>
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| ===Overexploitation===
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| {{Main|Overexploitation}}
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| Overexploitation occurs when a resource is consumed at an unsustainable rate. This occurs on land in the form of [[overhunting]], excessive [[logging]], poor [[soil conservation]] in agriculture and the illegal [[wildlife trade]]. Overexploitation can lead to resource destruction, including extinction. Artificially developed projects can cause damage to the surrounding environment
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| About 25% of world [[fishery|fisheries]] are now overfished to the point where their current biomass is less than the level that maximizes their sustainable yield.<ref>{{cite journal | title = Economics of Overexploitation Revisited | year = 2007 | last1 = Grafton | first1 = R. Q. | last2 = Kompas | first2 = T. | last3 = Hilborn | first3 = R. W. | s2cid = 41738906 | author-link3=Ray Hilborn | journal = Science | volume = 318 | issue = 5856 | pages = 1601 |bibcode = 2007Sci...318.1601G | doi = 10.1126/science.1146017 | pmid=18063793}}</ref>
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| The [[overkill hypothesis]], a pattern of large animal extinctions connected with [[human migration]] patterns, can be used to explain why [[megafauna]]l extinctions can occur within a relatively short time period.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Burney | first = D. A. | author2=Flannery, T. F. | title = Fifty millennia of catastrophic extinctions after human contact | journal = [[Trends in Ecology & Evolution]] | volume = 20 | issue = 7 | pages = 395–401 | date = July 2005 | url = http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/Fieldschools/Kauai/Publications/Publication%204.pdf | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20100610061434/http://www.anthropology.hawaii.edu/Fieldschools/Kauai/Publications/Publication%204.pdf | archive-date = 10 June 2010 | doi = 10.1016/j.tree.2005.04.022 | pmid = 16701402}}</ref>
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| ===Hybridization, genetic pollution/erosion and food security===
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| [[File:Wheat selection k10183-1.jpg|right|thumb|The Yecoro [[wheat]] (right) [[cultivar]] is sensitive to salinity, plants resulting from a hybrid cross with cultivar W4910 (left) show greater tolerance to high salinity]]
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| {{See also|Food security|Genetic erosion}}
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| In [[agriculture]] and [[animal husbandry]], the [[Green Revolution]] popularized the use of conventional [[Hybrid (biology)|hybridization]] to increase yield. Often hybridized breeds originated in developed countries and were further hybridized with local varieties in the developing world to create high yield strains resistant to local climate and diseases. Local governments and industry have been pushing hybridization. Formerly huge gene pools of various wild and indigenous breeds have collapsed causing widespread [[genetic erosion]] and genetic pollution. This has resulted in the loss of genetic diversity and biodiversity as a whole.<ref name="bulletin28">[http://www.farmedia.org/bulletins/bulletin28.html "Genetic Pollution: The Great Genetic Scandal"]; {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090518120050/http://www.farmedia.org/bulletins/bulletin28.html |date=18 May 2009 }}</ref>
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| [[Genetically modified organism]]s contain genetic material that is altered through [[genetic engineering]]. [[Genetically modified crops]] have become a common source for genetic pollution in not only wild varieties, but also in domesticated varieties derived from classical hybridization.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pollan |first=Michael |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220223084239/https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/09/magazine/the-year-in-ideas-a-to-z-genetic-pollution.html |archive-date=23 February 2022 |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2001/12/09/magazine/the-year-in-ideas-a-to-z-genetic-pollution.html |title=The year in ideas: A TO Z.; Genetic Pollution |work=The New York Times |date=9 December 2001 |access-date= |url-access=subscription |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v22/n1/full/nbt0104-29.html |title= Dangerous Liaisons? When Cultivated Plants Mate with Their Wild Relatives |journal=Nature Biotechnology |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=29–30 |first=Norman C. |last=Ellstrand |publisher= The Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8018-7405-5|doi=10.1038/nbt0104-29 |s2cid=41155573 }} Reviewed in {{Cite journal|title=Hybrids abounding |journal=Nature Biotechnology |volume=22 |pages=29–30 |doi=10.1038/nbt0104-29 |first1=Steven H |last1=Strauss |first2=Stephen P |last2=DiFazio |date= 2004 |issue=1|s2cid=41155573 }}</ref><ref name="Zaid1999">{{cite book|first=A. |last=Zaid|title=Glossary of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl= y |id= UVzfAAAAMAAJ}}|year=1999|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|isbn=978-92-5-104369-1|chapter=Genetic pollution: Uncontrolled spread of genetic information|issue=7 |access-date=21 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://plpa.cfans.umn.edu/~neviny/agri1501/definitions.html|title=Genetic pollution: Uncontrolled escape of genetic information (frequently referring to products of genetic engineering) into the genomes of organisms in the environment where those genes never existed before |work=Searchable Biotechnology Dictionary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210074033/http://plpa.cfans.umn.edu/~neviny/agri1501/definitions.html |archive-date=10 February 2008 |publisher=[[University of Minnesota]] <!--http://iufro-archive.boku.ac.at/silvavoc/glossary/6_0en.html Boku.ac.at-->}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.scienzagiovane.unibo.it/English/pollution/2-facets.html |title=The many facets of pollution |publisher=Bologna University |access-date=18 May 2012}}</ref>
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| Genetic erosion and genetic pollution have the potential to destroy unique [[genotype]]s, threatening future access to [[food security]]. A decrease in genetic diversity weakens the ability of crops and livestock to be hybridized to resist disease and survive changes in climate.<ref name="bulletin28" /><!--this argument seems circular. hybridization is bad because...it limits future hybridization. so...the more genetic engineering the better to limit future hybridization? just sayin'...-->
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| ===Climate change===
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| {{Main|Effect of climate change on plant biodiversity|Effects of climate change on ecosystems}}
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| [[File:Polar bears near north pole.jpg|thumb|right|[[Polar bear]]s on the sea ice of the [[Arctic Ocean]], near the [[North Pole]]. Climate change has started affecting bear populations.]]
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| Global warming is a major threat to global biodiversity.<ref>{{cite web|year=2005|url=http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/technical-papers/climate-changes-biodiversity-en.pdf|title=Climate change and biodiversity|publisher=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|access-date=12 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205010427/http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/technical-papers/climate-changes-biodiversity-en.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name = "Kannan2009">{{cite journal | last1 = Kannan | first1 = R. | last2 = James | first2 = D. A. | title = Effects of climate change on global biodiversity: a review of key literature | journal = Tropical Ecology | volume = 50 | issue = 1 | pages = 31–39 | date = 2009 | url = http://www.tropecol.com/pdf/open/PDF_50_1/05Kannan.pdf | access-date = 21 May 2014 | archive-date = 15 April 2021 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210415065220/http://www.tropecol.com/pdf/open/PDF_50_1/05Kannan.pdf | url-status = dead }}</ref> For example, coral reefs – which are biodiversity hotspots – will be lost within the century if global warming continues at the current rate.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Climate change, reefs and the Coral Triangle|url = http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/coraltriangle/problems/climatechangecoraltriangle/|website = wwf.panda.org|access-date = 9 November 2015}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = Caribbean coral reefs 'will be lost within 20 years' without protection|url = https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/02/caribbean-coral-reef-lost-fishing-pollution-report|newspaper = The Guardian|access-date = 9 November 2015|first = Jessica|last = Aldred|date = 2 July 2014}}</ref>
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| Climate change has proven to affect biodiversity and evidence supporting the altering effects is widespread. Increasing atmospheric carbon dioxide certainly affects plant morphology<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ainsworth|first=Elizabeth A.|author2=Long, Stephen P.|s2cid=25887592|title=What have we learned from 15 years of free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE)? A meta-analytic review of the responses of photosynthesis, canopy properties and plant production to rising CO2|journal=New Phytologist|date=18 November 2004|volume=165|issue=2|pages=351–372|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01224.x|pmid=15720649}}</ref> and is acidifying oceans,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Doney|first=Scott C.|author2=Fabry, Victoria J. |author3=Feely, Richard A. |author4=Kleypas, Joan A.|s2cid=402398|title=Ocean Acidification: The Other CO Problem|journal=Annual Review of Marine Science|date=1 January 2009|volume=1|issue=1|pages=169–192|doi=10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163834|pmid=21141034|bibcode = 2009ARMS....1..169D }}</ref> and temperature affects species ranges,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Loarie|first=Scott R.|author2=Duffy, Philip B. |author3=Hamilton, Healy |author4=Asner, Gregory P. |author5=Field, Christopher B. |author6=Ackerly, David D.|title=The velocity of climate change|journal=Nature|date=24 December 2009|volume=462|issue=7276|pages=1052–1055|doi=10.1038/nature08649|bibcode = 2009Natur.462.1052L|pmid=20033047|s2cid=4419902}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Walther|first=Gian-Reto|author2=Roques, Alain |author3=Hulme, Philip E. |author4=Sykes, Martin T. |author5=Pyšek, Petr |others=Kühn, Ingolf; Zobel, Martin; Bacher, Sven; Botta-Dukát, Zoltán; Bugmann, Harald|title=Alien species in a warmer world: risks and opportunities|journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution|date=1 December 2009|volume=24|issue=12|pages=686–693|doi=10.1016/j.tree.2009.06.008|pmid=19712994|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/12935/files/bacher_asw.pdf}}</ref><ref name="LovejoyHannah2005">{{cite book|first1=Thomas E. |last1=Lovejoy|first2=Lee Jay|last2= Hannah|title=Climate Change and Biodiversity|journal=Revue Scientifique et Technique (International Office of Epizootics)|volume=27|issue=2|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=44j-dn2c1UEC|page=41}}|year=2005|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-10425-7 |location=New Haven|pages=41–55|pmid=18819663}}</ref> phenology,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hegland|first=Stein Joar|author2=Nielsen, Anders |author3=Lázaro, Amparo |author4=Bjerknes, Anne-Line |author5=Totland, Ørjan|s2cid=9483613|title=How does climate warming affect plant-pollinator interactions?|journal=Ecology Letters|date=1 February 2009|volume=12 |issue=2|pages=184–195 |doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01269.x|pmid=19049509}}</ref> and weather,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Min|first=Seung-Ki|author2=Xuebin Zhang |author3=Francis W. Zwiers |author4=Gabriele C. Hegerl|title=Human contribution to more-intense precipitation extremes|journal=Nature|date=17 February 2011|volume=470|issue=7334 |pages=378–381|doi=10.1038/nature09763 |bibcode = 2011Natur.470..378M |pmid=21331039|s2cid=1770045}}</ref> but, mercifully, the major impacts that have been predicted are still potential futures. We have not documented major extinctions yet, even as climate change drastically alters the biology of many species.
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| In 2004, an international collaborative study on four continents estimated that 10 percent of species would become extinct by 2050 because of global warming. "We need to limit climate change or we wind up with a lot of species in trouble, possibly extinct," said Dr. Lee Hannah, a co-author of the paper and chief climate change biologist at the Center for Applied Biodiversity Science at Conservation International.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/jan/08/biodiversity.sciencenews|title= An unnatural disaster|date= 8 January 2004|access-date=21 June 2009 | location=London | first=Paul |last=Brown | work=The Guardian}}</ref>
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| A recent study predicts that up to 35% of the world terrestrial carnivores and ungulates will be at higher risk of extinction by 2050 because of the joint effects of predicted climate and land-use change under business-as-usual human development scenarios.<ref>{{Cite journal | last = Visconti | first = Piero | display-authors= etal | title = Projecting global biodiversity indicators under future development scenarios | journal = [[Conservation Letters]] | volume = 9| pages = 5–13| date = February 2015 | doi = 10.1111/conl.12159| doi-access = free }}</ref>
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| Climate change has advanced the time of evening when Brazilian free-tailed bats (''Tadarida brasiliensis'') emerge to feed. This change is believed to be related to the drying of regions as temperatures rise. This earlier emergence exposes the bats to greater predation increased competition with other insectivores who feed in the twilight or daylight hours.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Frick |first1=W. F. |last2=Stepanian |first2=P. M. |last3=Kelly |first3=J. F. |last4=Howard |first4=K. W. |last5=Kuster |first5=C. M. |last6=Kunz |first6=T. H. |last7=Chilson |first7=P. B. |date=2012 |title=Climate and Weather Impact Timing of Emergence of Bats |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=7 |issue=8 |pages=e42737 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0042737|pmid=22876331 |pmc=3411708 |bibcode=2012PLoSO...742737F |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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| ===Human overpopulation===
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| {{main|Human overpopulation}}
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| The world's population numbered nearly 7.6 billion as of mid-2017 (which is approximately one billion more inhabitants compared to 2005) and is forecast to reach 11.1 billion in 2100.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_Methodology.pdf|title=World Population Prospects 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142606/https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_Methodology.pdf|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sir [[David King (scientist)|David King]], former chief scientific adviser to the UK government, told a parliamentary inquiry: "It is self-evident that the massive growth in the [[human population]] through the 20th century has had more impact on biodiversity than any other single factor."<ref>"[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jul/11/comment.climatechange Citizens arrest]". The Guardian. 11 July 2007.</ref><ref>"[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sixth-extinction Population Bomb Author's Fix For Next Extinction: Educate Women]". ''Scientific American''. 12 August 2008.</ref> At least until the middle of the 21st century, worldwide losses of pristine biodiverse land will probably depend much on the worldwide [[Birth rate|human birth rate]].<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dumont | first1 = E. | year = 2012 | title = Estimated impact of global population growth on future wilderness extent. | url = http://www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/3/433/2012/esdd-3-433-2012.pdf | journal = Earth System Dynamics Discussions | volume = 3 | issue = 1 | pages = 433–452 | doi = 10.5194/esdd-3-433-2012 | bibcode = 2012ESDD....3..433D | access-date = 3 April 2013 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171122200054/https://www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/3/433/2012/esdd-3-433-2012.pdf | archive-date = 22 November 2017 | url-status = dead }}</ref>
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| Some top scientists have argued that population size and growth, along with [[overconsumption]], are significant factors in [[biodiversity loss]] and soil degradation.<ref>{{cite news |last=Weston |first=Phoebe |date=13 January 2021 |title=Top scientists warn of 'ghastly future of mass extinction' and climate disruption |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/top-scientists-warn-of-ghastly-future-of-mass-extinction-and-climate-disruption-aoe |work=[[The Guardian]] |location= |access-date=4 August 2021 |archive-date=13 January 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210113050606/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/jan/13/top-scientists-warn-of-ghastly-future-of-mass-extinction-and-climate-disruption-aoe |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bradshaw |first1=Corey J. A. |last2=Ehrlich |first2=Paul R. |last3=Beattie |first3=Andrew |last4=Ceballos |first4=Gerardo |last5=Crist |first5=Eileen |last6=Diamond |first6=Joan |last7=Dirzo |first7=Rodolfo |last8=Ehrlich |first8=Anne H. |last9=Harte |first9=John |last10=Harte |first10=Mary Ellen |last11=Pyke |first11=Graham |last12=Raven |first12=Peter H. |last13=Ripple |first13=William J. |last14=Saltré |first14=Frédérik |last15=Turnbull |first15=Christine |last16=Wackernagel |first16=Mathis |last17=Blumstein |first17=Daniel T. |date=2021 |title=Underestimating the Challenges of Avoiding a Ghastly Future |journal=Frontiers in Conservation Science |volume=1 |issue= |pages= |doi=10.3389/fcosc.2020.615419 |doi-access=free }}</ref> The 2019 [[IPBES]] ''[[Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]]'' and biologists including [[Paul R. Ehrlich]] and [[Stuart Pimm]] have noted that [[human population growth]] and overconsumption are the main drivers of species decline.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stokstad |first1=Erik |title=Landmark analysis documents the alarming global decline of nature |journal=Science |date=6 May 2019 |doi=10.1126/science.aax9287 |doi-access=free |quote=For the first time at a global scale, the report has ranked the causes of damage. Topping the list, changes in land use—principally agriculture—that have destroyed habitat. Second, hunting and other kinds of exploitation. These are followed by climate change, pollution, and invasive species, which are being spread by trade and other activities. Climate change will likely overtake the other threats in the next decades, the authors note. Driving these threats are the growing human population, which has doubled since 1970 to 7.6 billion, and consumption. (Per capita of use of materials is up 15% over the past 5 decades.)}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pimm |first1=S. L. |last2=Jenkins |first2=C. N. |last3=Abell |first3=R. |last4=Brooks |first4=T. M. |last5=Gittleman |first5=J. L. |last6=Joppa |first6=L. N. |last7=Raven |first7=P. H. |last8=Roberts |first8=C. M. |last9=Sexton |first9=J. O. |title=The biodiversity of species and their rates of extinction, distribution, and protection |journal=Science |date=30 May 2014 |volume=344 |issue=6187 |pages=1246752 |doi=10.1126/science.1246752 |pmid=24876501 |s2cid=206552746 |quote=The overarching driver of species extinction is human population growth and increasing per capita consumption. }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/world/sutter-vanishing-help/|title=How to stop the sixth mass extinction |first=John D. |last=Sutter |date=12 December 2016|work=CNN|access-date=1 January 2017}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Graham |first=Chris|date=11 July 2017 |title=Earth undergoing sixth 'mass extinction' as humans spur 'biological annihilation' of wildlife|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/11/earth-undergoing-sixth-mass-extinction-humans-spur-biological/ |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220110/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/11/earth-undergoing-sixth-mass-extinction-humans-spur-biological/ |archive-date=10 January 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live|work= The Telegraph|access-date=25 July 2017}}{{cbignore}}</ref> [[E. O. Wilson]], who contends that human population growth has been devastating to the planet's biodiversity, stated that the "pattern of human population growth in the 20th century was more bacterial than primate." He added that when ''[[Homo sapiens]]'' reached a population of six billion their [[Biomass (ecology)|biomass]] exceeded that of any other large land dwelling animal species that had ever existed by over 100 times, and that "we and the rest of life cannot afford another 100 years like that."<ref>{{cite book |editor1-last=Crist |editor1-first=Eileen |editor2-last=Cafaro |editor2-first=Philip |date=2012 |title=Life on the Brink: Environmentalists Confront Overpopulation |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=heOrAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA83 |location= |publisher=[[University of Georgia Press]] |page=83 |isbn=978-0820343853}}</ref>
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| According to a 2020 study by the [[World Wildlife Fund]], the global human population already exceeds planet's [[biocapacity]] – it would take the equivalent of 1.56 Earths of biocapacity to meet our current demands.<ref>{{cite news |last=Lewis |first=Sophie |date=9 September 2020 |title=Animal populations worldwide have declined by almost 70% in just 50 years, new report says |url=https://www.cbsnews.com/news/biodiversity-endangered-species-animal-population-decline-world-wildlife-fund-report-2020-09-09/ |work=[[CBS News]] |access-date=10 September 2020|quote=The overuse of these finite resources by at least 56% has had a devastating effect on biodiversity, which is crucial to sustaining human life on Earth. "It is like living off 1.56 Earths," Mathis Wackernagel, David Lin, Alessandro Galli and Laurel Hanscom from the Global Footprint Network said in the report.}}</ref> The 2014 report further points that if everyone on the planet had the Footprint of the average resident of Qatar, we would need 4.8 Earths and if we lived the lifestyle of a typical resident of the US, we would need 3.9 Earths.<ref name="LivingPlanetReport2014"/>
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| ==The Holocene extinction==
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| {{Main|Holocene extinction}}
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| [[File:Summary of major environmental-change categories expressed as a percentage change (red) relative to baseline - fcosc-01-615419-g001.jpg|thumb|Summary of major biodiversity-related environmental-change categories expressed as a percentage of human-driven change (in red) relative to baseline (blue)]]
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| Rates of [[Biodiversity loss|decline in biodiversity]] in this sixth mass extinction match or exceed rates of loss in the five previous [[Extinction event|mass extinction events]] in the [[fossil record]].<ref>{{cite journal|last= Dirzo|first= Rodolfo|author2= Hillary S. Young|author3= Mauro Galetti|author4= Gerardo Ceballos|author5= Nick J. B. Isaac|author6= Ben Collen|title= Defaunation in the Anthropocene |journal= [[Science (journal)|Science]]|date= 2014|doi= 10.1126/science.1251817|pmid= 25061202|volume= 345| issue=6195|pages= 401–406|url=http://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Science-2014-Dirzo-401-6-2.pdf|quote=In the past 500 years, humans have triggered a wave of extinction, threat, and local population declines that may be comparable in both rate and magnitude with the five previous mass extinctions of Earth’s history.|bibcode= 2014Sci...345..401D|s2cid= 206555761}}</ref><ref name="proceedings1"/><ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 15361627 | year = 2004 | last1 = Koh | first1 = LP | last2 = Dunn | first2 = RR | last3 = Sodhi | first3 = NS | last4 = Colwell | first4 = RK | last5 = Proctor | first5 = HC | last6 = Smith | first6 = VS | title = Species coextinctions and the biodiversity crisis | volume = 305 | issue = 5690 | pages = 1632–1634 | doi = 10.1126/science.1101101 | journal = Science| url=http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rrdunn/KohDunnetal.pdfNCSU.edu|bibcode = 2004Sci...305.1632K | s2cid = 30713492 }}{{dead link|date=May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=McCallum |first1=Malcolm L. |title=Amphibian Decline or Extinction? Current Declines Dwarf Background Extinction Rate |journal=Journal of Herpetology |date=September 2007 |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=483–491 |doi=10.1670/0022-1511(2007)41[483:ADOECD]2.0.CO;2 |s2cid=30162903 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0802812105 | title = Colloquium Paper: Ecological extinction and evolution in the brave new ocean | year = 2008 | last1 = Jackson | first1 = J. B. C. | journal = [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] | volume = 105 | pages = 11458–11465 | pmid=18695220 | pmc=2556419 | bibcode=2008PNAS..10511458J| doi-access = free }}
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| </ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Dunn |first1=Robert R. |title=Modern Insect Extinctions, the Neglected Majority |journal=Conservation Biology |date=August 2005 |volume=19 |issue=4 |pages=1030–1036 |doi=10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00078.x |s2cid=38218672 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Ceballos | first1 = Gerardo| last2 = Ehrlich| first2 = Paul R.| last3 = Barnosky| first3= Anthony D. |author-link3=Anthony David Barnosky| last4 = García | first4 = Andrés| last5 = Pringle | first5 = Robert M.| last6 = Palmer| first6 =Todd M. | year = 2015 | title = Accelerated modern human–induced species losses: Entering the sixth mass extinction | journal = [[Science Advances]] | volume = 1 | issue = 5 | page = e1400253 | doi = 10.1126/sciadv.1400253 | pmid= 26601195| pmc=4640606| bibcode =2015SciA....1E0253C}}</ref> Loss of biodiversity results in the loss of [[natural capital]] that supplies [[ecosystem services|ecosystem goods and services]]. From the perspective of the method known as Natural Economy the economic value of 17 ecosystem services for Earth's [[biosphere]] (calculated in 1997) has an estimated value of US$33 trillion (3.3x10<sup>13</sup>) per year.<ref name="Costanza97">{{Cite journal|doi=10.1038/387253a0 |last1=Costanza |first1=R. |last2=d'Arge |first2=R. |last3=de Groot |first3=R. |last4=Farberk |first4=S. |last5=Grasso |first5=M. |last6=Hannon |first6=B. |last7=Limburg |first7=Karin |last8=Naeem |first8=Shahid |last9=O'Neill |first9=Robert V. |title=The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital |journal=Nature |volume=387 |pages=253–260 |year=1997 |url=http://www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf |issue=6630 |bibcode=1997Natur.387..253C |s2cid=672256 |display-authors=8 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20091226124242/http://www.uvm.edu/giee/publications/Nature_Paper.pdf |archive-date=26 December 2009 }}</ref> Species today are being wiped out at a rate 100 to 1,000 times higher than baseline, and the rate of extinctions is increasing. This process destroys the resilience and adaptability of life on Earth.<ref>UK Government Official Documents, February 2021, [https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957629/Dasgupta_Review_-_Headline_Messages.pdf "The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review Headline Messages"] p. 1</ref>
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| In 2019, a summary for policymakers of the largest, most comprehensive study to date of biodiversity and ecosystem services, the ''[[Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]]'', was published by the [[Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]] (IPBES). The main conclusions:
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| 1. Over the last 50 years, the state of nature has deteriorated at an unprecedented and accelerating rate.
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| 2. The main drivers of this deterioration have been changes in land and sea use, exploitation of living beings, climate change, pollution, and invasive species. These five drivers, in turn, are caused by societal behaviors, from consumption to governance.
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| 3. Damage to ecosystems undermines 35 of 44 selected UN targets, including the UN General Assembly's [[Sustainable Development Goals]] for poverty, hunger, health, water, cities' climate, oceans, and land. It can cause problems with food, water and humanity's air supply.
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| 4. To fix the problem, humanity will need a transformative change, including [[sustainable agriculture]], reductions in [[Consumption (economics)|consumption]] and waste, fishing quotas and collaborative water management. On page 8 the report proposes on page 8 of the summary " enabling visions of a good quality of life that do not entail ever-increasing material consumption" as one of the main measures. The report states that "Some pathways chosen to achieve the goals related to energy, economic growth, industry and infrastructure and sustainable consumption and production (Sustainable Development Goals 7, 8, 9 and 12), as well as targets related to poverty, food security and cities (Sustainable Development Goals 1, 2 and 11), could have substantial positive or negative impacts on nature and therefore on the achievement of other Sustainable Development Goals".<ref>{{cite book |title=Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services |date=6 May 2019 |publisher=the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services |url=https://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/spm_unedited_advance_for_posting_htn.pdf |access-date=10 May 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Deutsche Welle |first1=Deutsche |title=Why Biodiversity Loss Hurts Humans as Much as Climate Change Does |url=https://www.ecowatch.com/biodiversity-loss-human-health-2636410357.html |access-date=10 May 2019 |agency=Ecowatch |date=6 May 2019}}</ref>
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| The October 2020 "Era of Pandemics" report by IPBES asserted that the same human activities which are the underlying drivers of [[climate change and biodiversity loss]] are also the same drivers of [[pandemics]], including the [[COVID-19 pandemic]]. Dr. [[Peter Daszak]], Chair of the IPBES workshop, said "there is no great mystery about the cause of the COVID-19 pandemic – or of any modern pandemic . . . Changes in the way we use land; the expansion and intensification of agriculture; and unsustainable trade, production and consumption disrupt nature and increase contact between wildlife, livestock, pathogens and people. This is the path to pandemics."<ref>{{cite news |last=Mcelwee |first=Pamela |date=2 November 2020 |title=COVID-19 and the biodiversity crisis |url=https://thehill.com/opinion/energy-environment/523944-covid-19-and-the-biodiversity-crisis |work=[[The Hill (newspaper)|The Hill]] |access-date=27 November 2020}}</ref><ref name="IPBESPandemic">{{cite web |url=https://ipbes.net/pandemics |title=Escaping the 'Era of Pandemics': Experts Warn Worse Crises to Come Options Offered to Reduce Risk |author=<!--Not stated-->|date=2020|publisher=[[Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]]|access-date=27 November 2020}}</ref>
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| ==Conservation==
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| {{Main|Conservation biology}}
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| [[File:MEAConservationStrategies.jpg|thumb|A schematic image illustrating the relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem services, human well-being and poverty.<ref>
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| Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (2005). World Resources Institute, Washington, DC. [http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf ''Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Biodiversity Synthesis'']</ref> The illustration shows where conservation action, strategies, and plans can influence the drivers of the current biodiversity crisis at local, regional, to global scales.]]
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| [[File:Gletscherschmelze.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.35|The [[Retreat of glaciers since 1850|retreat]] of [[Aletsch Glacier]] in the [[Swiss Alps]] (situation in 1979, 1991 and 2002), due to [[global warming]].]]
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| [[Conservation biology]] matured in the mid-20th century as [[ecologists]], [[naturalists]] and other [[scientists]] began to research and address issues pertaining to global biodiversity declines.<ref name="Soule86">{{cite journal | doi = 10.2307/1310054 | year = 1986 | last = Soulé | first = Michael E. | title = What is conservation biology? | journal = [[BioScience]] | volume = 35 | issue = 11| pages = 727–734 | jstor=1310054| citeseerx = 10.1.1.646.7332 }}</ref><ref name="Davis96">{{cite book|first=Peter |last=Davis|title=Museums and the natural environment: the role of natural history museums in biological conservation|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=3pLtAAAAMAAJ}}|year=1996|publisher=Leicester University Press|isbn=978-0-7185-1548-5}}</ref><ref name="Dyke2008">{{cite book|first=Fred Van |last=Dyke|title=Conservation Biology: Foundations, Concepts, Applications|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Evh1UD3ZYWcC}}|date=29 February 2008|publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-1-4020-6890-4}}</ref>
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| The conservation ethic advocates management of [[natural resource]]s for the purpose of sustaining biodiversity in [[species]], [[ecosystems]], the [[Evolution|evolutionary process]] and human culture and society.<ref name="proceedings1">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0801921105 | author1 = Wake D. B. | author2 = Vredenburg V. T. | year = 2008 | title = Are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A view from the world of amphibians | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 105 | pages = 11466–11473 | pmid = 18695221 | pmc = 2556420 | bibcode = 2008PNAS..10511466W | df = dmy-all | doi-access = free }}</ref><ref name="Soule86" /><ref name="Dyke2008"/><ref name="Hunter1996">{{cite book|first=Malcolm L. |last=Hunter|title=Fundamentals of Conservation Biology|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=5f2wQgAACAAJ}}|year=1996|publisher=Blackwell Science|isbn=978-0-86542-371-8}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Bowen | first1 = B. W. | s2cid = 33096004 | year = 1999 | title = Preserving genes, species, or ecosystems? Healing the fractured foundations of conservation policy | journal = Molecular Ecology | volume = 8 | issue = 12 Suppl 1 | pages = S5–S10 | doi=10.1046/j.1365-294x.1999.00798.x| pmid = 10703547 }}</ref>
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| Conservation biology is reforming around strategic plans to protect biodiversity.<ref name="Soule86"/><ref name="Soulé1986">{{cite book|first=Michael E. |last=Soulé|title=Conservation Biology: The Science of Scarcity and Diversity|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=Qi1jUut7JL8C}}|date=1 January 1986|publisher=Sinauer Associates|isbn=978-0-87893-794-3}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/35012251 | author1 = Margules C. R. | author2 = Pressey R. L. | year = 2000 | title = Systematic conservation planning | url = http://www.geography.ryerson.ca/jmaurer/411SystConservPlan.pdf | journal = Nature | volume = 405 | issue = 6783 | pages = 243–253 | pmid = 10821285 | s2cid = 4427223 | url-status = dead | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090205110653/http://www.geography.ryerson.ca/jmaurer/411SystConservPlan.pdf | archive-date = 5 February 2009 | df = dmy-all }}</ref> Preserving global biodiversity is a priority in strategic conservation plans that are designed to engage public policy and concerns affecting local, regional and global scales of communities, ecosystems and cultures.<ref>Example: Gascon, C., Collins, J. P., Moore, R. D., Church, D. R., McKay, J. E. and Mendelson, J. R. III (eds) (2007). ''Amphibian Conservation Action Plan''. IUCN/SSC Amphibian Specialist Group. Gland, Switzerland and Cambridge, UK. 64pp. [http://www.amphibians.org/newsletter/ACAP.pdf Amphibians.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704172505/http://www.amphibians.org/newsletter/ACAP.pdf |date=4 July 2007 }}, see also [http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf Millenniumassessment.org], [http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l28176.htm Europa.eu] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212233945/http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l28176.htm |date=12 February 2009 }}</ref> Action plans identify [[Ecological economics#Methodology|ways]] of sustaining human well-being, employing [[natural capital]], [[Capital market|market capital]] and [[ecosystem services]].<ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00100-9 |title=Population diversity and ecosystem services |year=2003 |last1=Luck |first1=Gary W. |last2=Daily |first2=Gretchen C. |last3=Ehrlich |first3=Paul R. |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |volume=18 |issue=7 |pages=331–336 |url=http://www.ese.u-psud.fr/epc/conservation/PDFs/luck.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060219125309/http://www.ese.u-psud.fr/epc/conservation/PDFs/luck.pdf |archive-date=19 February 2006 |citeseerx=10.1.1.595.2377 }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813135309/http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx|url-status=dead|title=Millennium Ecosystem Assessment|archive-date=13 August 2015|website=www.millenniumassessment.org}}</ref>
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| In the [[EU Directive 1999/22/EC]] zoos are described as having a role in the preservation of the biodiversity of wildlife animals by conducting research or participation in [[breeding program]]s.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/bestanden/documenten-en-publicaties/kamerstukken/2014/03/25/beantwoording-kamervragen-over-fokken-en-doden-van-gezonde-dieren-in-dierentuinen/beantwoording-kamervragen-over-fokken-en-doden-van-gezonde-dieren-in-dierentuinen.pdf |title=Beantwoording vragen over fokken en doden van gezonde dieren in dierentuinen |publisher=Ministry of Economic Affairs (Netherlands) |date=25 March 2014 |access-date=9 June 2014 |language=nl |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140714161822/http://www.rijksoverheid.nl/bestanden/documenten-en-publicaties/kamerstukken/2014/03/25/beantwoording-kamervragen-over-fokken-en-doden-van-gezonde-dieren-in-dierentuinen/beantwoording-kamervragen-over-fokken-en-doden-van-gezonde-dieren-in-dierentuinen.pdf |archive-date=14 July 2014 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
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| ===Protection and restoration techniques===
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| Removal of exotic species will allow the species that they have negatively impacted to recover their ecological niches. Exotic species that have become pests can be identified taxonomically (e.g., with [[Digital Automated Identification SYstem]] (DAISY), using the [[Consortium for the Barcode of Life|barcode of life]]).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.barcoding.si.edu/ |title=Barcode of Life |publisher=Barcoding.si.edu |date=26 May 2010 |access-date=24 September 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/303405,camel-cull-would-help-curb-global-warming.html|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801074239/http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/303405,camel-cull-would-help-curb-global-warming.html|url-status=dead|title=Earth Times: show/303405,camel-cull-would-help-curb-global-warming.ht…|date=1 August 2012|archive-date=1 August 2012}}</ref> Removal is practical only given large groups of individuals due to the economic cost.
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| As sustainable populations of the remaining native species in an area become assured, "missing" species that are candidates for reintroduction can be identified using databases such as the ''[[Encyclopedia of Life#Resources and collaborations|Encyclopedia of Life]]'' and the [[Global Biodiversity Information Facility]].
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| * [[Biodiversity banking]] places a monetary value on biodiversity. One example is the Australian [[Native Vegetation Management Framework]].
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| * [[Gene bank]]s are collections of specimens and genetic material. Some banks intend to reintroduce banked species to the ecosystem (e.g., via tree nurseries).<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.hbvl.be/Archief/guid/vlaanderen-heeft-45-zaadtuinen-voor-autochtone-bomen-en-struiken.aspx?artikel=0935212d-8b19-45a4-9cda-167ff68d347c |title=Belgium creating 45 "seed gardens"; gene banks with intent to reintroduction |publisher=Hbvl.be |date=8 September 2011 |access-date=24 September 2011}}</ref>
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| * Reduction and better targeting of pesticides allows more species to survive in agricultural and urbanized areas.
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| * Location-specific approaches may be less useful for protecting migratory species. One approach is to create [[wildlife corridor]]s that correspond to the animals' movements. National and other boundaries can complicate corridor creation.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Kaiser|first=J.|date=2001-09-21|title=Bold Corridor Project Confronts Political Reality|journal=Science|volume=293|issue=5538|pages=2196–2199|doi=10.1126/science.293.5538.2196|pmid=11567122|s2cid=153587982}}</ref>
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| ==Protected areas==
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| Protected areas, including forest reserves and biosphere reserves, serve many functions including for affording protection to wild animals and their habitat.<ref>{{Cite book|url=http://www.dolomitipark.it/doc_pdf/parchi.sola.terra/07.ProtectedAreas_Biodiversity.pdf|title=Protected Areas and Biodiversity: An Overview of Key Issues|last1=Mulongoy|first1=Kalemani Jo|last2=Chape|first2=Stuart|publisher=CBD Secretariat and UNEP-WCMC|year=2004|location=Montreal, Canada and Cambridge, UK|pages=15 and 25|access-date=23 October 2017|archive-date=22 September 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170922234612/http://www.dolomitipark.it/doc_pdf/parchi.sola.terra/07.ProtectedAreas_Biodiversity.pdf|url-status=dead}}</ref> Protected areas have been set up all over the world with the specific aim of protecting and conserving plants and animals. Some scientists have called on the global community to designate as protected areas of 30 percent of the planet by 2030, and 50 percent by 2050, in order to mitigate biodiversity loss from anthropogenic causes.<ref>{{cite journal |last1= Baillie|first1=Jonathan|last2=Ya-Ping|first2=Zhang|date=14 September 2018 |title=Space for nature|journal=[[Science (journal)|Science]]|volume=361 |issue=6407 |pages=1051 |doi=10.1126/science.aau1397|pmid=30213888|bibcode=2018Sci...361.1051B|doi-access=free}}</ref> In a study published 4 September in [[Science Advances]] researchers mapped out regions that can help meet critical conservation and climate goals.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Lambert|first=Jonathan|date=2020-09-04|title=Protecting half the planet could help solve climate change and save species|url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/protecting-half-planet-climate-change-save-species|access-date=2020-09-05|website=Science News|language=en-US}}</ref>
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| Protected areas safeguard nature and cultural resources and contribute to livelihoods, particularly at local level. There are over 238 563 designated protected areas worldwide, equivalent to 14.9 percent of the earth's land surface, varying in their extension, level of protection, and type of management (IUCN, 2018).<ref>{{Cite web|title=Protected areas|url=https://www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas|website=International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)|date=20 August 2015}}</ref>[[File:Percentage of forest in legally protected areas, 2020.svg|thumb|Percentage of forest in legally protected areas, 2020, from the [[Food and Agriculture Organization]] publication The State of the World's Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief<ref>{{Cite book |title=The State of the World's Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief|publisher=FAO & UNEP|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-132707-4|location=Rome|doi=10.4060/ca8985en|s2cid=241416114}}</ref>]]Forest protected areas are a subset of all protected areas in which a significant portion of the area is forest.<ref name=":8" /> This may be the whole or only a part of the protected area.<ref name=":8" /> Globally, 18 percent of the world's forest area, or more than 700 million hectares, fall within legally established protected areas such as national parks, conservation areas and game reserves.<ref name=":8" />
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| The benefits of protected areas extend beyond their immediate environment and time. In addition to conserving nature, protected areas are crucial for securing the long-term delivery of ecosystem services. They provide numerous benefits including the conservation of genetic resources for food and agriculture, the provision of medicine and health benefits, the provision of water, recreation and tourism, and for acting as a buffer against disaster. Increasingly, there is acknowledgement of the wider socioeconomic values of these natural ecosystems and of the ecosystem services they can provide.<ref>{{Cite web|title=FAO – Sustainable Forest Management (SFM) Toolbox|url=http://www.fao.org/sustainable-forest-management/toolbox/modules/forest-protected-areas/basic-knowledge/en/|access-date=8 December 2020|archive-date=30 November 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201130120903/http://www.fao.org/sustainable-forest-management/toolbox/modules/forest-protected-areas/basic-knowledge/en/|url-status=dead}}</ref>
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| Forest protected areas in particular play many important roles including as a provider of habitat, shelter, food and genetic materials, and as a buffer against disaster. They deliver stable supplies of many goods and environmental services. The role of protected areas, especially forest protected areas, in mitigating and adapting to climate change has increasingly been recognized over the last few years. Protected areas not only store and sequester carbon (i.e. the global network of protected areas stores at least 15 percent of terrestrial carbon), but also enable species to adapt to changing climate patterns by providing refuges and migration corridors. Protected areas also protect people from sudden climate events and reduce their vulnerability to weather-induced problems such as floods and droughts (UNEP–WCMC, 2016).
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| ===National parks===
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| {{Main|National park}}
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| National park is a large natural or near natural areas set aside to protect large-scale ecological processes, which also provide a foundation for environmentally and culturally compatible, spiritual, scientific, educational, recreational and visitor opportunities. These areas are selected by governments or private organizations to protect natural biodiversity along with its underlying ecological structure and supporting environmental processes, and to promote education and recreation. The [[International Union for Conservation of Nature]] (IUCN), and its World Commission on Protected Areas (WCPA), has defined "National Park" as its Category II type of protected areas.<ref>{{Cite web|title=Protected areas, Category II: National Park|url=https://www.iucn.org/theme/protected-areas/about/protected-areas-categories/category-ii-national-park|website=International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN)|date=5 February 2016}}</ref>
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| National parks are usually owned and managed by national or state governments. In some cases, a limit is placed on the number of visitors permitted to enter certain fragile areas. Designated trails or roads are created. The visitors are allowed to enter only for study, cultural and recreation purposes. Forestry operations, grazing of animals and hunting of animals are regulated and the exploitation of habitat or wildlife is banned.
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| ===Wildlife sanctuary===
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| [[Wildlife sanctuary|Wildlife sanctuaries]] aim only at the conservation of species and have the following features:
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| # The boundaries of the sanctuaries are not limited by state legislation.
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| # The killing, hunting or capturing of any species is prohibited except by or under the control of the highest authority in the department which is responsible for the management of the sanctuary.
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| # Private ownership may be allowed.
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| # [[Forestry]] and other usages can also be permitted.
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| ===Forest reserves===
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| There is an estimated 726 million ha of forest in protected areas worldwide. Of the six major world regions, South America has the highest share of forests in protected areas, 31 percent.<ref>{{Cite book |title=Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 – Key findings|publisher=FAO|year=2020|isbn=978-92-5-132581-0|doi=10.4060/ca8753en|s2cid=130116768}}</ref>
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| The [[forest]]s play a vital role in harboring more than 45,000 floral and 81,000 faunal species of which 5150 floral and 1837 faunal species are [[Endemism|endemic]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Sahayaraj|first=K.|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GmwlBAAAQBAJ&q=5150+floral+and+1837+faunal+species+are+endemic+to+forests&pg=PA157|title=Basic and Applied Aspects of Biopesticides|date=2014-07-10|publisher=Springer|isbn=978-81-322-1877-7|language=en}}</ref> In addition, there are 60,065 different tree species in the world.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Beech |first1=E. |last2=Rivers |first2=M. |last3=Oldfield |first3=S. |last4=Smith |first4=P. P. |title=GlobalTreeSearch: The first complete global database of tree species and country distributions |journal=Journal of Sustainable Forestry |date=4 July 2017 |volume=36 |issue=5 |pages=454–489 |doi=10.1080/10549811.2017.1310049 |s2cid=89858214 }}</ref> Plant and animal species confined to a specific geographical area are called endemic species. In forest reserves, rights to activities like hunting and grazing are sometimes given to communities living on the fringes of the forest, who sustain their livelihood partially or wholly from forest resources or products. The unclassed forests cover 6.4 percent of the total forest area and they are marked by the following characteristics:
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| # They are large inaccessible forests.
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| # Many of these are unoccupied.
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| # They are ecologically and economically less important.
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| ====Steps to conserve the forest cover====
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| {{see|Forest cover}}
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| # An extensive [[reforestation]]/[[afforestation]] programme should be followed.
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| # Alternative [[environment-friendly]] sources of fuel energy such as [[biogas]] other than wood should be used.
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| # Loss of biodiversity due to [[forest fire]] is a major problem, immediate steps to prevent forest fire need to be taken.
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| # [[Overgrazing]] by cattle can damage a forest seriously. Therefore, certain steps should be taken to prevent overgrazing by cattle.
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| # Hunting and [[poaching]] should be banned.
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| ===Zoological parks===
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| In [[zoological park]]s or zoos, live animals are kept for public [[recreation]], education and conservation purposes. Modern zoos offer veterinary facilities, provide opportunities for threatened species to [[captive breeding|breed in captivity]] and usually build environments that simulate the native habitats of the animals in their care. Zoos play a major role in creating [[environmental awareness|awareness]] about the need to conserve nature.
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| ===Botanical gardens===
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| In [[botanical garden]]s, plants are grown and displayed primarily for scientific and educational purposes. They consist of a collection of living plants, grown outdoors or under glass in [[greenhouse]]s and conservatories. Also, a botanical garden may include a collection of dried plants or [[herbarium]] and such facilities as lecture rooms, laboratories, libraries, museums and experimental or research plantings.
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| ==Resource allocation==
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| Focusing on limited areas of higher potential biodiversity promises greater immediate return on investment than spreading resources evenly or focusing on areas of little diversity but greater interest in biodiversity.<ref>[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=conservationists-triage-determine-which-endangered-species-to-save Conservationists Use Triage to Determine which Species to Save and Not; Like battlefield medics, conservationists are being forced to explicitly apply triage to determine which creatures to save and which to let go] 23 July 2012 ''[[Scientific American]]''.</ref>
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| A second strategy focuses on areas that retain most of their original diversity, which typically require little or no restoration. These are typically non-urbanized, non-agricultural areas. Tropical areas often fit both criteria, given their natively high diversity and relative lack of development.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Jones-Walters | first1 = L. | last2 = Mulder | first2 = I. | doi = 10.1016/j.jnc.2009.06.001 | title = Valuing nature: The economics of biodiversity | journal = Journal for Nature Conservation | volume = 17 | issue = 4 | pages = 245–247 | year = 2009 | url=http://mdvnaturalist.com/images/econmics_of_biodiversity.pdf}}</ref>
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| ===In society===
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| {{See also|Decision-making|Resource allocation}}
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| In September 2020 scientists reported that "immediate efforts, consistent with the broader [[sustainability]] agenda but of unprecedented ambition and [[governance|coordination]], could enable the provision of [[food security|food]] for the [[human population growth|growing human population]] while reversing the global terrestrial biodiversity trends caused by [[Habitat conservation|habitat conversion]]" and recommend measures such as for addressing drivers of [[Land use, land-use change, and forestry|land-use change]], and for increasing the extent of land under [[Conservation management system|conservation management]], efficiency in [[sustainable agriculture|agriculture]] and the shares of [[plant-based diet]]s.<ref>{{cite news |title=Bending the curve of biodiversity loss |url=https://phys.org/news/2020-09-biodiversity-loss.html |access-date=8 October 2020 |work=phys.org |language=en}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Leclère |first1=David |last2=Obersteiner |first2=Michael |last3=Barrett |first3=Mike |last4=Butchart |first4=Stuart H. M. |last5=Chaudhary |first5=Abhishek |last6=De Palma |first6=Adriana |last7=DeClerck |first7=Fabrice A. J. |last8=Di Marco |first8=Moreno |last9=Doelman |first9=Jonathan C. |last10=Dürauer |first10=Martina |last11=Freeman |first11=Robin |last12=Harfoot |first12=Michael |last13=Hasegawa |first13=Tomoko |last14=Hellweg |first14=Stefanie |last15=Hilbers |first15=Jelle P. |last16=Hill |first16=Samantha L. L. |last17=Humpenöder |first17=Florian |last18=Jennings |first18=Nancy |last19=Krisztin |first19=Tamás |last20=Mace |first20=Georgina M. |last21=Ohashi |first21=Haruka |last22=Popp |first22=Alexander |last23=Purvis |first23=Andy |last24=Schipper |first24=Aafke M. |last25=Tabeau |first25=Andrzej |last26=Valin |first26=Hugo |last27=van Meijl |first27=Hans |last28=van Zeist |first28=Willem-Jan |last29=Visconti |first29=Piero |last30=Alkemade |first30=Rob |last31=Almond |first31=Rosamunde |last32=Bunting |first32=Gill |last33=Burgess |first33=Neil D. |last34=Cornell |first34=Sarah E. |last35=Di Fulvio |first35=Fulvio |last36=Ferrier |first36=Simon |last37=Fritz |first37=Steffen |last38=Fujimori |first38=Shinichiro |last39=Grooten |first39=Monique |last40=Harwood |first40=Thomas |last41=Havlík |first41=Petr |last42=Herrero |first42=Mario |last43=Hoskins |first43=Andrew J. |last44=Jung |first44=Martin |last45=Kram |first45=Tom |last46=Lotze-Campen |first46=Hermann |last47=Matsui |first47=Tetsuya |last48=Meyer |first48=Carsten |last49=Nel |first49=Deon |last50=Newbold |first50=Tim |last51=Schmidt-Traub |first51=Guido |last52=Stehfest |first52=Elke |last53=Strassburg |first53=Bernardo B. N. |last54=van Vuuren |first54=Detlef P. |last55=Ware |first55=Chris |last56=Watson |first56=James E. M. |last57=Wu |first57=Wenchao |last58=Young |first58=Lucy |title=Bending the curve of terrestrial biodiversity needs an integrated strategy |journal=Nature |date=September 2020 |volume=585 |issue=7826 |pages=551–556 |doi=10.1038/s41586-020-2705-y |pmid=32908312 |bibcode=2020Natur.585..551L |hdl=2066/228862 |s2cid=221624255 |url=http://pure.iiasa.ac.at/id/eprint/16699/1/Leclere_et_al_ms_R3_CommentsAccepted.pdf }}</ref>
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| ==Citizen science==
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| [[Citizen science]], also known as public participation in scientific research, has been widely used in environmental sciences and is particularly popular in a biodiversity-related context. It has been used to enable scientists to involve the general public in biodiversity research, thereby enabling the scientists to collect data that they would otherwise not have been able to obtain. An online survey of 1,160 CS participants across 63 biodiversity citizen science projects in Europe, Australia and New Zealand reported positive changes in (a) content, process and nature of science knowledge, (b) skills of science inquiry, (c) self-efficacy for science and the environment, (d) interest in science and the environment, (e) motivation for science and the environment and (f) behaviour towards the environment.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Peter |first1=Maria |last2=Diekötter |first2=Tim |last3=Höffler |first3=Tim |last4=Kremer |first4=Kerstin |title=Biodiversity citizen science: Outcomes for the participating citizens |journal=People and Nature |date=April 2021 |volume=3 |issue=2 |pages=294–311 |doi=10.1002/pan3.10193 |s2cid=233774150 }}</ref>
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| Volunteer observers have made significant contributions to on-the-ground knowledge about biodiversity, and recent improvements in technology have helped increase the flow and quality of occurrences from citizen sources. A 2016 study published in Biological Conservation<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Chandler |first1=Mark |last2=See |first2=Linda |last3=Copas |first3=Kyle |last4=Bonde |first4=Astrid M.Z. |last5=López |first5=Bernat Claramunt |last6=Danielsen |first6=Finn |last7=Legind |first7=Jan Kristoffer |last8=Masinde |first8=Siro |last9=Miller-Rushing |first9=Abraham J. |last10=Newman |first10=Greg |last11=Rosemartin |first11=Alyssa |last12=Turak |first12=Eren |title=Contribution of citizen science towards international biodiversity monitoring |journal=Biological Conservation |date=September 2017 |volume=213 |pages=280–294 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2016.09.004 }}</ref> registers the massive contributions that citizen scientists already make to data mediated by the [[Global Biodiversity Information Facility|Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF)]]. Despite some limitations of the dataset-level analysis, it's clear that nearly half of all occurrence records shared through the GBIF network come from datasets with significant volunteer contributions. Recording and sharing observations are enabled by several global-scale platforms, including [[iNaturalist]] and [[eBird]].<ref>{{cite book |last1=Walters |first1=Michele |last2=Scholes |first2=Robert J. |title=The GEO Handbook on Biodiversity Observation Networks |date=2017 |publisher=Springer Nature |isbn=978-3-319-27288-7 |doi=10.1007/978-3-319-27288-7 |hdl=20.500.12657/28080 }}{{pn|date=September 2021}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Aristeidou |first1=Maria |last2=Herodotou |first2=Christothea |last3=Ballard |first3=Heidi L. |last4=Higgins |first4=Lila |last5=Johnson |first5=Rebecca F. |last6=Miller |first6=Annie E. |last7=Young |first7=Alison N. |last8=Robinson |first8=Lucy D. |title=How Do Young Community and Citizen Science Volunteers Support Scientific Research on Biodiversity? The Case of iNaturalist |journal=Diversity |date=July 2021 |volume=13 |issue=7 |pages=318 |doi=10.3390/d13070318 |doi-access=free }}</ref>
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| ==Legal status==
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| [[File:Hopetoun falls.jpg|thumb|right|A great deal of work is occurring to preserve the natural characteristics of [[Hopetoun Falls]], [[Australia]] while continuing to allow visitor access.]]
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| ===International===
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| * United Nations [[Convention on Biological Diversity]] (1992) and [[Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety]];
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| * Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species ([[CITES]]);
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| * [[Ramsar Convention]] (Wetlands);
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| * [[Bonn Convention]] on Migratory Species;
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| * United Nations [[World Heritage Site#Convention and background|Convention concerning the Protection of the World's Cultural and Natural Heritage]] (indirectly by protecting biodiversity habitats)
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| * Regional Conventions such as the Apia Convention
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| * Bilateral agreements such as the [[Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement]].
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| Global agreements such as the [[Convention on Biological Diversity]], give "sovereign national rights over biological resources" (not property). The agreements commit countries to "conserve biodiversity", "develop resources for sustainability" and "share the benefits" resulting from their use. Biodiverse countries that allow [[bioprospecting]] or collection of natural products, expect a share of the benefits rather than allowing the individual or institution that discovers/exploits the resource to capture them privately. Bioprospecting can become a type of [[biopiracy]] when such principles are not respected.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Shiva |first1=Vandana |title=Bioprospecting as Sophisticated Biopiracy |journal=Signs: Journal of Women in Culture and Society |date=January 2007 |volume=32 |issue=2 |pages=307–313 |doi=10.1086/508502 |s2cid=144229002 }}</ref>
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| Sovereignty principles can rely upon what is better known as [[International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture|Access and Benefit Sharing Agreements]] (ABAs). The Convention on Biodiversity implies [[informed consent]] between the source country and the collector, to establish which resource will be used and for what and to settle on a [[International Treaty on Plant Genetic Resources for Food and Agriculture|fair agreement on benefit sharing]].
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| ==== European Union ====
| |
| In May 2020, the European Union published its Biodiversity Strategy for 2030. The biodiversity strategy is an essential part of the [[climate change mitigation]] strategy of the European Union. From the 25% of the European budget that will go to fight climate change, large part will go to restore biodiversity and [[Nature-based solutions|nature based solutions]].
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| The [[EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030]] include the next targets:
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| * Protect 30% of the sea territory and 30% of the land territory especially [[Old-growth forest]]s.
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| * Plant 3 billion trees by 2030.
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| * Restore at least 25,000 kilometers of rivers, so they will become free flowing.
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| * Reduce the use of [[Pesticide]]s by 50% by 2030.
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| * Increase [[Organic farming]]. In linked EU program [[From Farm to Fork]] it is said, that the target is making 25% of EU agriculture organic, by 2030.<ref>{{cite web |title=From Farm to Fork |url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions-being-taken-eu/farm-fork_en |website=European Commission website |publisher=European Union |access-date=26 May 2020}}</ref>
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| * Increase [[Biodiverisity in agriculture]].
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| * Give €20 billion per year to the issue and make it part of the business practice.
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| Approximately half of the global [[GDP]] depend on nature. In Europe many parts of the economy that generate trillions of euros per year depend on nature. The benefits of [[Natura 2000]] alone in Europe are €200 – €300 billion per year.<ref>{{cite web |title=EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 |url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions-being-taken-eu/eu-biodiversity-strategy-2030_en |website=European Commission website |publisher=European Union |access-date=25 May 2020}}</ref>
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| ===National level laws===
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| Biodiversity is taken into account in some political and judicial decisions:
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| * The relationship between law and ecosystems is very ancient and has consequences for biodiversity. It is related to private and public property rights. It can define protection for threatened ecosystems, but also some rights and duties (for example, [[fishing]] and hunting rights).{{Citation needed|date=December 2010}}
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| * Law regarding species is more recent. It defines species that must be protected because they may be threatened by extinction. The U.S. [[Endangered Species Act]] is an example of an attempt to address the "law and species" issue.
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| * Laws regarding gene pools are only about a century old.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} Domestication and plant breeding methods are not new, but advances in genetic engineering have led to tighter laws covering distribution of [[genetically modified organisms]], gene [[patent]]s and process patents.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/patents.shtml |title=Gene Patenting |publisher=Ornl.gov |access-date=21 June 2009}}</ref> Governments struggle to decide whether to focus on for example, genes, genomes, or organisms and species.{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}
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| Uniform approval for use of biodiversity as a legal standard has not been achieved, however. Bosselman argues that biodiversity should not be used as a legal standard, claiming that the remaining areas of scientific uncertainty cause unacceptable administrative waste and increase litigation without promoting preservation goals.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bosselman |first1=Fred |title=A Dozen Biodiversity Puzzles |journal=NYU Environmental Law Journal |date=15 December 2004 |volume=12 |issue=366 |ssrn=1523937 |url=https://scholarship.kentlaw.iit.edu/fac_schol/85/ }}</ref>
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| India passed the [[Biological Diversity Act]] in 2002 for the conservation of biological diversity in India. The Act also provides mechanisms for equitable sharing of benefits from the use of traditional biological resources and knowledge.
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| ==Analytical limits==
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| ===Taxonomic and size relationships===
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| Less than 1% of all species that have been described have been studied beyond simply noting their existence.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.00000-e1.x | author = Wilson Edward O | year = 2000 | title = On the Future of Conservation Biology | journal = Conservation Biology | volume = 14 | issue = 1| pages = 1–3 | s2cid = 83906221 }}</ref> The vast majority of Earth's species are microbial. Contemporary biodiversity physics is "firmly fixated on the visible [macroscopic] world".<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/429804a | author = Nee S | year = 2004 | title = More than meets the eye | journal = Nature | volume = 429 | issue = 6994| pages = 804–805 | pmid = 15215837 |bibcode = 2004Natur.429..804N | s2cid = 1699973 }}</ref> For example, microbial life is [[metabolically]] and environmentally more diverse than multicellular life (see e.g., [[extremophile]]). "On the tree of life, based on analyses of small-subunit [[ribosomal RNA]], visible life consists of barely noticeable twigs. The inverse relationship of size and population recurs higher on the evolutionary ladder—to a first approximation, all multicellular species on Earth are insects".<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/448657a | bibcode=2007Natur.448..657S | title = Biodiversity: World of insects | year = 2007 | last1 = Stork | first1 = Nigel E. | journal = Nature | volume = 448 | issue = 7154 | pages = 657–658 | pmid = 17687315 | s2cid=9378467 }}</ref> [[Decline in insect populations|Insect extinction]] rates are high—supporting the Holocene extinction hypothesis.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1126/science.1095046 | author = Thomas J. A. | year = 2004 | title = Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction Crisis | url = https://www.science.org/doi/abs/10.1126/science.1095046 | journal = Science | volume = 303 | issue = 5665| pages = 1879–1881 | pmid = 15031508 |bibcode = 2004Sci...303.1879T | author2 = Telfer M. G. | author3 = Roy D. B. | author4 = Preston C. D. | author5 = Greenwood J. J. D. | author6 = Asher J. | author7 = Fox R. | author8 = Clarke R. T. | author9 = Lawton J. H. | s2cid = 22863854 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00078.x | title = Modern Insect Extinctions, the Neglected Majority | year = 2005 | last1 = Dunn | first1 = Robert R. | s2cid = 38218672 | journal = Conservation Biology | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 1030–1036 }}</ref>
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| == Diversity study (botany) ==
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| The number of morphological attributes that can be scored for diversity study is generally limited and prone to environmental influences; thereby reducing the fine resolution required to ascertain the phylogenetic relationships. DNA based markers- microsatellites otherwise known as ''simple sequence repeats'' (SSR) were therefore used for the diversity studies of certain species and their wild relatives.
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| In the case of [[cowpea]], a study conducted to assess the level of genetic diversity in cowpea germplasm and related wide species, where the relatedness among various taxa was compared, primers useful for classification of taxa identified, and the origin and phylogeny of cultivated cowpea classified show that SSR markers are useful in validating with species classification and revealing the center of diversity.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Ogunkanmi|first=Liasu Adebayo|title=Genetic diversity of cowpea and its wild relatives|journal=Unilag SPGS (Thesis & Dissertation 1970–2012)|pages=144–145}}</ref>
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| ==See also==
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| {{col div|colwidth=30em}}
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| * [[Australian Grains Genebank]]
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| * [[Bioversity International]]
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| * [[Defaunation]]
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| * [[Deforestation and climate change]]
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| * [[Ecological collapse]]
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| * [[Ecological indicator]]
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| * [[Ecosystem collapse]]
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| * [[Genetic diversity]]
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| * [[Index of biodiversity articles]]
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| * [[International Day for Biological Diversity]]
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| * [[Megadiverse countries]]
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| * [[Soil biodiversity]]
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| * [[Species diversity]]
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| * [[World Scientists' Warning to Humanity]]
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| * [[Zero-Force Evolutionary Law]]
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| * [[French Office for Biodiversity]]
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| {{colend}}
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| ==Sources==
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| {{Free-content attribution
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| | title = Global Forest Resources Assessment 2020 Key findings
| |
| | author = FAO
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| | publisher = FAO
| |
| | page numbers =
| |
| | source =
| |
| | documentURL = http://www.fao.org/3/CA8753EN/CA8753EN.pdf
| |
| | license statement URL = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Global_Forest_Resources_Assessment_2020_%E2%80%93_Key_findings.pdf
| |
| | license = CC BY-SA 3.0
| |
| }}
| |
| | |
| {{Free-content attribution
| |
| | title = The State of the World’s Forests 2020. Forests, biodiversity and people – In brief
| |
| | author = FAO & UNEP
| |
| | publisher = FAO & UNEP
| |
| | page numbers =
| |
| | source =
| |
| | documentURL = https://doi.org/10.4060/ca8985en
| |
| | license statement URL = https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_State_of_the_World%E2%80%99s_Forests_2020._In_brief.pdf
| |
| | license = CC BY-SA 3.0
| |
| }}
| |
| | |
| ==References== | |
| <!-- SystBio4:149. Zootaxa1407:3. -->
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| {{Reflist}} | | {{Reflist}} |
|
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|
| ==Further reading== | | == Related pages == |
| {{Refbegin}}
| | *[[Biodiversity Convention]] |
| * {{cite book|first=Simon A. |last=Levin|title=Encyclopedia of Biodiversity|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=z-cBnwEACAAJ}}|year=2013|publisher=ACADEMIC PressINC|isbn=978-0-12-384719-5}}
| | *[[Conservation biology]] |
| * {{cite book|first1=Christian |last1=Lévêque|first2=Jean-Claude|last2= Mounolou|title=Biodiversity|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=ZFZqeeltG7QC}}|date=16 January 2004|publisher=Wiley|isbn=978-0-470-84957-6}}
| | *[[Endemism]] |
| * {{cite book|first1=Lynn |last1=Margulis|first2=Karlene V.|last2= Schwartz|first3=Michael |last3=Dolan|title=Diversity of Life: The Illustrated Guide to the Five Kingdoms|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=8wJXWBMsEOkC}}|year=1999|publisher= [[Jones & Bartlett Publishers]]|isbn=978-0-7637-0862-7 |author-link1=Margulis, L.|location=Sudbury}}
| | *[[Neurodiversity]] |
| * {{Cite journal | last1 = Markov | first1 = A. V. | last2 = Korotayev | first2 = A. V. | doi = 10.1016/j.palwor.2007.01.002 | title = Phanerozoic marine biodiversity follows a hyperbolic trend | journal = Palaeoworld | volume = 16 | issue = 4 | pages = 311–318 | year = 2007 }}
| |
| * {{Cite journal | last1 = Moustakas | first1 = A. | last2 = Karakassis | first2 = I. | doi = 10.1007/s00477-008-0254-2 | title = A geographic analysis of the published aquatic biodiversity research in relation to the ecological footprint of the country where the work was done | journal = Stochastic Environmental Research and Risk Assessment | volume = 23 | issue = 6 | pages = 737–748 | year = 2008 | s2cid = 121649697 }}
| |
| * {{cite book|first1=Michael J. |last1=Novacek|title=The Biodiversity Crisis: Losing what Counts|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=MIV9QgAACAAJ}}|year=2001|publisher=New Press|isbn=978-1-56584-570-1}}
| |
| * [https://web.archive.org/web/20110101153304/http://www.inwent.org/ez/articles/178462/index.en.shtml D+C-Interview with Achim Steiner, UNEP: "Our generation's responsibility"]
| |
| * {{Cite journal | last1 = Mora | first1 = C. | last2 = Tittensor | first2 = D. P. | last3 = Adl | first3 = S. | last4 = Simpson | first4 = A. G. B. | last5 = Worm | first5 = B. | editor1-last = Mace | editor1-first = Georgina M | title = How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean? | doi = 10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 | journal = PLOS Biology | volume = 9 | issue = 8 | pages = e1001127 | year = 2011 | pmid = 21886479| pmc =3160336 }}
| |
| * {{Cite journal | last1 = Pereira | first1 = H. M. | last2 = Navarro | first2 = L. M. | last3 = Martins | first3 = I. S. S. | s2cid = 154898897 | title = Global Biodiversity Change: The Bad, the Good, and the Unknown | doi = 10.1146/annurev-environ-042911-093511 | journal = Annual Review of Environment and Resources | volume = 37 | pages = 25–50 | year = 2012 }}
| |
| * {{cite journal|vauthors=Ripple WJ, Wolf C, Newsome TM, Galetti M, Alamgir M, Crist E, Mahmoud MI, Laurance WF|title=World Scientists' Warning to Humanity: A Second Notice|journal=[[BioScience]]|date= 2017|volume=67|issue=12|pages=1026–1028|doi=10.1093/biosci/bix125|doi-access=free}}
| |
| * {{cite journal |last1=Sonter |first1=Laura J. |last2=Dade |first2=Marie C.|display-authors=etal. |date=2020 |title=Renewable energy production will exacerbate mining threats to biodiversity |url= |journal=[[Nature Communications]] |volume=11 |issue=4174 |page=4174 |doi=10.1038/s41467-020-17928-5|pmid=32873789 |pmc=7463236 |bibcode=2020NatCo..11.4174S }}
| |
| * {{cite book |last= Wilson|first=E. O.|date=2016|title=Half-Earth: Our Planet's Fight for Life|publisher=Liveright|isbn=978-1-63149-082-8|author-link=E. O. Wilson|title-link=Half-Earth}}
| |
| {{Refend}}
| |
| | |
| ==External links==
| |
| {{Wiktionary|biodiversity}}
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| {{Wikiquote}}
| |
| {{Commons category}}
| |
| * [https://www.natureserve.org/ NatureServe: This site serves as a portal for accessing several types of publicly available biodiversity data] | |
| * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120426140841/http://css.snre.umich.edu/css_doc/CSS09-08.pdf Biodiversity Factsheet] by the [[University of Michigan]]'s Center for Sustainable Systems
| |
| * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120926034031/http://savingspecies.org/2012/stunning-new-biodiversity-maps-show-where-to-prioritize-conservation/ Color-coded images of vertebrate biodiversity hotspots] | |
| * [http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf Biodiversity Synthesis Report] (PDF) by the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA, 2005)
| |
| * [https://web.archive.org/web/20120327075212/http://www.biodiversityhotspots.org/xp/hotspots/Documents/cihotspotmap.pdf Conservation International hotspot map]
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| * [https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/final-report-the-economics-of-biodiversity-the-dasgupta-review The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review] 2021
| |
| * [https://www.globio.info/ GLOBIO], an ongoing program to map the past, current and future impacts of human activities on biodiversity
| |
| * [https://web.archive.org/web/20050825002841/http://stort.unep-wcmc.org/imaps/gb2002/book/viewer.htm World Map of Biodiversity] an interactive map from the [[United Nations Environment Programme]] [[World Conservation Monitoring Centre]] | |
| * [https://www.biodiversitylibrary.org/ Biodiversity Heritage Library] – Open access digital library of taxonomic literature. | |
| * [https://www.biodiversitymapping.org/ Mapping of biodiversity]
| |
| * [https://www.eol.org/ Encyclopedia of Life] – Documenting all species of life on earth.
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| {{Biodiversity Worldwide}}
| | == Further reading == |
| {{Biology nav}}
| | *Levin, Simon A. 2013. ''Encyclopedia of biodiversity''. Academic Press. ISBN 978-0-12-384719-5 |
| {{threatened species}}
| | *Wilson E.O. 2016. ''Half-Earth: our planet's fight for life''. Liveright. ISBN 978-1631490828 |
| {{Nature}}
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| {{Zoos}}
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| {{Natural resources}}
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| {{Deforestation and desertification}}
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| {{Authority control}}
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| [[Category:Biodiversity| ]]
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| [[Category:Biogeography]]
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| [[Category:Conservation biology]]
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| [[Category:Population genetics]]
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| [[Category:Species]]
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| [[Category:Ecology]] | | [[Category:Ecology]] |
| | [[Category:Conservation]] |
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