Biodiversity#Threats

File:Biodiversity by Dano.jpg

Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of genes, species and ecosystems of a region".{{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}}{{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}} An advantage of this definition is that it presents a unified view of the traditional types of biological variety previously identified:

• taxonomic diversity (usually measured at the species diversity level)
• ecological diversity (often viewed from the perspective of ecosystem diversity)
• morphological diversity (which stems from genetic diversity and molecular diversity{{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|bibcode=2003JApEc..40..193C |doi-access=free }})
• 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.){{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}})

Biodiversity is most commonly used to replace the more clearly-defined and long-established terms, species diversity and species richness.{{Cite journal |last=Walker |first=Brian H. |date=1992 |title=Biodiversity and Ecological Redundancy |url=https://conbio.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1046/j.1523-1739.1992.610018.x |journal=Conservation Biology |language=en |volume=6 |issue=1 |pages=18–23 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1992.610018.x |issn=1523-1739}} However, there is no concrete definition for biodiversity, as its definition continues to be reimagined and redefined. To give a couple examples, the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) defined biodiversity in 2019 as "the variability that exists among living organisms (both within and between species) and the ecosystems of which they are part." The World Health Organization updated their website’s definition of biodiversity to be the “variability among living organisms from all sources.”{{Cite web |title=Biodiversity |url=https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/biodiversity |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.who.int |language=en}} Both these definitions, although broad, give a current understanding of what is meant by the term biodiversity.

{{Main|Global biodiversity}}

According to estimates by Mora et al. (2011), there are approximately 8.7 million terrestrial species and 2.2 million oceanic species. The authors note that these estimates are strongest for eukaryotic organisms and likely represent the lower bound of prokaryote diversity.{{cite journal |last1=Mora |first1=Camilo |last2=Tittensor |first2=Derek P. |last3=Adl |first3=Sina |last4=Simpson |first4=Alastair G. B. |last5=Worm |first5=Boris |last6=Mace |first6=Georgina M. |date=23 August 2011 |title=How Many Species Are There on Earth and in the Ocean? |journal=PLOS Biology |volume=9 |issue=8 |pages=e1001127 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 |pmc=3160336 |pmid=21886479 |doi-access=free}} Other estimates include:

• 220,000 vascular plants, estimated using the species-area relation method{{cite journal |last1=Wilson |first1=J. Bastow |last2=Peet |first2=Robert K. |last3=Dengler |first3=Jürgen |last4=Pärtel |first4=Meelis |date=1 August 2012 |title=Plant species richness: the world records |bibcode-access=free |journal=Journal of Vegetation Science |volume=23 |issue=4 |pages=796–802 |doi=10.1111/j.1654-1103.2012.01400.x |bibcode=2012JVegS..23..796W |doi-access=free }}
• 0.7-1 million marine species{{cite journal |last1=Appeltans |first1=W. |last2=Ahyong |first2=S. T. |last3=Anderson |first3=G. |last4=Angel |first4=M. V. |last5=Artois |first5=T. |display-authors=et al. |date=2012 |title=The Magnitude of Global Marine Species Diversity |journal=Current Biology |volume=22 |issue=23 |pages=2189–2202 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2012.09.036 |pmid=23159596 |doi-access=free|bibcode=2012CBio...22.2189A |hdl=1942/14524 |hdl-access=free}}
• 10–30 million insects;{{cite web |title=Numbers of Insects (Species and Individuals) |url=http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/buginfo/bugnos.htm |website=Smithsonian Institution |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20240115042918/https://www.si.edu/spotlight/buginfo/bugnos |archive-date= Jan 15, 2024 }} (of some 0.9 million we know today){{cite news |last=Galus |first=Christine |date=5 March 2007 |title=Protection de la biodiversité : un inventaire difficile |language=fr |work=Le Monde |url=http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2006/06/27/protection-de-la-biodiversite-un-inventaire-difficile_788741_3244.html |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230401134829/https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2006/06/27/protection-de-la-biodiversite-un-inventaire-difficile_788741_3244.html |archive-date= Apr 1, 2023 }}
• 5–10 million bacteria;{{Cite news |date=2006-07-31 |title=Thousands of microbes in one gulp |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5232928.stm |first1=Louisa |last1=Cheung |website=BBC NEWS |language=en-GB |url-status=live |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221223220931/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5232928.stm |archive-date= Dec 23, 2022 }}
• 1.5-3 million fungi, estimates based on data from the tropics, long-term non-tropical sites and molecular studies that have revealed cryptic speciation.{{cite journal |last=Hawksworth |first=D. L. |date=24 July 2012 |title=Global species numbers of fungi: are tropical studies and molecular approaches contributing to a more robust estimate? |journal=Biodiversity and Conservation |volume=21 |issue=9 |pages=2425–2433 |doi=10.1007/s10531-012-0335-x |bibcode=2012BiCon..21.2425H }} Some 0.075 million species of fungi had been documented by 2001;{{cite journal |last1=Hawksworth |first1=D |year=2001 |title=The magnitude of fungal diversity: The 1.5 million species estimate revisited |journal=Mycological Research |volume=105 |issue=12 |pages=1422–1432 |doi=10.1017/S0953756201004725 }}
• 1 million mites{{cite web |date=10 November 2003 |title=Acari at University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Web Page |url=http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/ACARI/index.html |access-date=21 June 2009 |publisher=Insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu}}
• 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.{{cite web |title=Fact Sheet – Expedition Overview |url=http://www.jcvi.org/cms/fileadmin/site/research/projects/gos/Expedition_Overview.pdf |url-status=dead |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 |access-date=29 August 2010 |publisher=J. Craig Venter Institute}} The findings may eventually cause a significant change in the way science defines species and other taxonomic categories.{{cite news |last1=Mirsky |first1=Steve |title=Naturally Speaking: Finding Nature's Treasure Trove with the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition; and Natural Products Chemistry |url=https://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode/74f46951-e7f2-99df-37873c5b678dc19d/ |work=Scientific American |date=21 March 2007 }}{{cite journal |last1=Gross |first1=Liza |title=Untapped Bounty: Sampling the Seas to Survey Microbial Biodiversity |journal=PLOS Biology |date=13 March 2007 |volume=5 |issue=3 |pages=e85 |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.0050085 |doi-access=free |pmid=20076663 |pmc=1821062 }}

Since the rate of extinction has increased, many extant species may become extinct before they are described.{{cite news |last=McKie |first=Robin |date=25 September 2005 |title=Discovery of new species and extermination at high rate |newspaper=The Guardian |location=London |url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/sep/25/taxonomy.conservationandendangeredspecies}} Not surprisingly, in the animalia the most studied groups are birds and mammals, whereas fishes and arthropods are the least studied animals groups.{{cite journal |last1=Bautista |first1=Luis M. |last2=Pantoja |first2=Juan Carlos |date=2005 |title=What species should we study next? |journal=Bulletin of the British Ecological Society |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=27–28 |hdl-access=free |hdl=10261/43928}}

{{Main|Biodiversity loss|4 = }}

File:1970- Decline in species populations - Living Planet Index.svg

During the last century, decreases in biodiversity have been increasingly observed. It was estimated in 2007 that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050.{{cite news |last=Gabriel |first=Sigmar |date=9 March 2007 |title=30% of all species lost by 2050 |work=BBC News |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6432217.stm}} Of these, about one eighth of known plant species are threatened with extinction.{{cite web |last=Reid |first=Walter V. |date=1995 |title=Reversing the loss of biodiversity: An overview of international measures |url=http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln37/reid.html |work=Arid Lands Newsletter |publisher=Ag.arizona.edu |number=37}} Estimates reach as high as 140,000 species per year (based on Species-area theory).{{cite journal |last1=Pimm |first1=Stuart L. |last2=Russell |first2=Gareth J. |last3=Gittleman |first3=John L. |last4=Brooks |first4=Thomas M. |title=The Future of Biodiversity |journal=Science |date=21 July 1995 |volume=269 |issue=5222 |pages=347–350 |doi=10.1126/science.269.5222.347 |pmid=17841251 |bibcode=1995Sci...269..347P }} This figure indicates unsustainable ecological practices, because few species emerge each year.{{Cite web |title=The Statistics of Biodiversity Loss [2020 WWF Report] |url=https://earth.org/data_visualization/biodiversity-loss-in-numbers-the-2020-wwf-report/ |access-date=2024-07-04 |website=Earth.Org |language=en}} 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.{{cite news |date=2 February 2021 |title=Economics of biodiversity review: what are the recommendations? |work=The Guardian |location= |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2021/feb/02/economics-of-biodiversity-review-what-are-the-recommendations |access-date=17 December 2021 |vauthors=Carrington D}}{{cite web |last=Dasgupta |first=Partha |author-link=Partha Dasgupta |date=2021 |title=The Economics of Biodiversity: The Dasgupta Review Headline Messages |url=https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/957629/Dasgupta_Review_-_Headline_Messages.pdf |access-date=16 December 2021 |website= |publisher=UK government |page=1 |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.}} and expected to still grow in the upcoming years.{{cite journal |last1=De Vos |first1=Jurriaan M. |last2=Joppa |first2=Lucas N. |last3=Gittleman |first3=John L. |last4=Stephens |first4=Patrick R. |last5=Pimm |first5=Stuart L. |title=Estimating the normal background rate of species extinction |journal=Conservation Biology |date=April 2015 |volume=29 |issue=2 |pages=452–462 |doi=10.1111/cobi.12380 |pmid=25159086 |bibcode=2015ConBi..29..452D |url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/98443/1/Conservation_Biology_2014_early-view.pdf }}{{cite journal |vauthors=Ceballos G, Ehrlich PR, Raven PH |date=June 2020 |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 |bibcode=2020PNAS..11713596C |doi=10.1073/pnas.1922686117 |pmc=7306750 |pmid=32482862 |doi-access=free}} As of 2012, some studies suggest that 25% of all mammal species could be extinct in 20 years.{{cite news |date=7 June 2012 |title=Researches find threat from biodiversity loss equals climate change threat |newspaper=Winnipeg Free Press |url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/sci_tech/researches-find-threat-from-biodiversity-loss-equals-climate-change-threat-157847545.html}}

In absolute terms, the planet has lost 58% of its biodiversity since 1970 according to a 2016 study by the World Wildlife Fund.{{Cite report |url=https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/964/files/original/lpr_living_planet_report_2016.pdf?1477582118&_ga=1.148678772.2122160181.1464121326 |title=Living Planet Report 2016 Risk and resilience in a new era |date=2016 |publisher=World Wildlife Fund International |access-date=20 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210807200945/https://c402277.ssl.cf1.rackcdn.com/publications/964/files/original/lpr_living_planet_report_2016.pdf?1477582118&_ga=1.148678772.2122160181.1464121326 |archive-date=7 August 2021 |url-status=live}} 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.{{citation |title=Living Planet Report 2014 |url=http://assets.worldwildlife.org/publications/723/files/original/LPR2014_low_res-2.pdf?1412025775 |access-date=4 October 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141006101711/http://assets.worldwildlife.org/publications/723/files/original/LPR2014_low_res-2.pdf?1412025775 |url-status=dead |publisher=World Wildlife Fund |format=PDF |archive-date=6 October 2014}}

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.{{Cite journal |last1=Hallmann |first1=Caspar A. |last2=Sorg |first2=Martin |last3=Jongejans |first3=Eelke |last4=Siepel |first4=Henk |last5=Hofland |first5=Nick |last6=Schwan |first6=Heinz |last7=Stenmans |first7=Werner |last8=Müller |first8=Andreas |last9=Sumser |first9=Hubert |last10=Hörren |first10=Thomas |last11=Goulson |first11=Dave |date=2017-10-18 |title=More than 75 percent decline over 27 years in total flying insect biomass in protected areas |journal=PLOS ONE |volume=12 |issue=10 |pages=e0185809 |bibcode=2017PLoSO..1285809H |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0185809 |pmc=5646769 |pmid=29045418 |doi-access=free}} 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."{{cite news |last1=Carrington |first1=Damian |date=18 October 2017 |title=Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect numbers |newspaper=The Guardian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers |url-status=live |access-date=20 July 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711061707/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers |archive-date=11 July 2022}}

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.{{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}}

Of 70,000 monitored species, around 48% are experiencing population declines from human activity (in 2023), whereas only 3% have increasing populations.{{cite news |author= |date=May 23, 2023 |title=Biodiversity: Almost half of animals in decline, research shows |work=BBC |location= |url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-northern-ireland-65681648 |access-date=June 10, 2023}}{{cite journal |last1=Finn |first1=Catherine |last2=Grattarola |first2=Florencia |last3=Pincheira-Donoso |first3=Daniel |date=2023 |title=More losers than winners: investigating Anthropocene defaunation through the diversity of population trends |journal=Biological Reviews |volume= 98|issue= 5|pages= 1732–1748|doi=10.1111/brv.12974 |pmid=37189305 |doi-access=free }}{{cite news |last=Paddison |first=Laura |date=May 22, 2023 |title=Global loss of wildlife is 'significantly more alarming' than previously thought, according to a new study |work=CNN |location= |url=https://www.cnn.com/2023/05/22/world/wildlife-crisis-biodiversity-scn-climate-intl/index.html |access-date=June 10, 2023}}

File:Summary of major environmental-change categories expressed as a percentage change (red) relative to baseline - fcosc-01-615419-g001.jpgRates of decline in biodiversity in the current sixth mass extinction match or exceed rates of loss in the five previous mass extinction events in the fossil record.{{refn|{{Cite journal|date = 25 July 2014 | title = Vanishing fauna (Special issue)|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}}{{cite news|author= |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}}{{cite journal |last1=Dirzo |first1=Rodolfo |last2=Young |first2=Hillary S. |last3=Galetti |first3=Mauro |last4=Ceballos |first4=Gerardo |last5=Isaac |first5=Nick J. B. |last6=Collen |first6=Ben |title=Defaunation in the Anthropocene |journal=Science |date=25 July 2014 |volume=345 |issue=6195 |pages=401–406 |doi=10.1126/science.1251817 |pmid=25061202 |bibcode=2014Sci...345..401D |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/1436030/ }}{{cite journal |last1=Koh |first1=Lian Pin |last2=Dunn |first2=Robert R. |last3=Sodhi |first3=Navjot S. |last4=Colwell |first4=Robert K. |last5=Proctor |first5=Heather C. |last6=Smith |first6=Vincent S. |title=Species Coextinctions and the Biodiversity Crisis |journal=Science |date=10 September 2004 |volume=305 |issue=5690 |pages=1632–1634 |doi=10.1126/science.1101101 |pmid=15361627 |bibcode=2004Sci...305.1632K }}{{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 }}{{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 | issue = Suppl 1 | pages = 11458–11465 | pmid=18695220 | pmc=2556419 | bibcode=2008PNAS..10511458J| doi-access = free }}

{{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 |bibcode=2005ConBi..19.1030D }}{{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}}}} Biodiversity loss is in fact "one of the most critical manifestations of the Anthropocene" (since around the 1950s); the continued decline of biodiversity constitutes "an unprecedented threat" to the continued existence of human civilization.{{cite journal |last1=Dirzo |first1=Rodolfo |last2=Ceballos |first2=Gerardo |last3=Ehrlich |first3=Paul R. |author-link3=Paul R. Ehrlich |date=2022 |title=Circling the drain: the extinction crisis and the future of humanity |url= |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B |volume=377 |issue=1857 |pages= |doi=10.1098/rstb.2021.0378 |pmc=9237743 |pmid=35757873 }} The reduction is caused primarily by human impacts, particularly habitat destruction.

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.{{Cite book |last=Hassan |first=Rashid M. |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=UFVmiSAr-okC|page=105}} |title=Ecosystems and human well-being: current state and trends : findings of the Condition and Trends Working Group of the Millennium Ecosystem Assessment |publisher=Island Press |year=2006 |isbn=978-1-55963-228-7 |page=105 |display-authors=etal}}

Loss of biodiversity results in the loss of natural capital that supplies ecosystem goods and services. 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.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

In 2006, many species were formally classified as rare or endangered or 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.{{cite web |last=Lovett |first=Richard A. |date=2 May 2006 |title=Endangered Species List Expands to 16,000 |url=http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2006/05/0502_060502_endangered.html |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 |df=dmy-all}} As of late 2022 9251 species were considered part of the IUCN's critically endangered.{{Cite web|url=https://www.iucnredlist.org/resources/summary-statistics|title=IUCN Red List of Threatened Species}}

Numerous scientists and the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services assert that human population growth and overconsumption are the primary factors in this decline.{{cite journal |last1=Stokstad |first1=Erik |date=6 May 2019 |title=Landmark analysis documents the alarming global decline of nature |journal=Science |doi=10.1126/science.aax9287 |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.) |doi-access=free}}{{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 |doi=10.1126/science.1246752 |pmid=24876501 }}{{cite journal |last1=Cafaro |first1=Philip |last2=Hansson |first2=Pernilla |last3=Götmark |first3=Frank |title=Overpopulation is a major cause of biodiversity loss and smaller human populations are necessary to preserve what is left |journal=Biological Conservation |date=August 2022 |volume=272 |pages=109646 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109646 |bibcode=2022BCons.27209646C|url=https://www.sustainable.soltechdesigns.com/Overpopulation-and-biodiversty-loss(2022).pdf |quote=Conservation biologists standardly list five main direct drivers of biodiversity loss: habitat loss, overexploitation of species, pollution, invasive species, and climate change. The Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services found that in recent decades habitat loss was the leading cause of terrestrial biodiversity loss, while overexploitation (overfishing) was the most important cause of marine losses (IPBES, 2019). All five direct drivers are important, on land and at sea, and all are made worse by larger and denser human populations.}}{{cite journal |last1=Crist |first1=Eileen |last2=Mora |first2=Camilo |last3=Engelman |first3=Robert |title=The interaction of human population, food production, and biodiversity protection |journal=Science |date=21 April 2017 |volume=356 |issue=6335 |pages=260–264 |doi=10.1126/science.aal2011 |pmid=28428391 |bibcode=2017Sci...356..260C }}{{cite journal |last1= Ceballos|first1=Gerardo|last2=Ehrlich|first2=Paul R.|date=2023 |title=Mutilation of the tree of life via mass extinction of animal genera|url= |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America|volume=120 |issue=39 |pages=e2306987120|doi=10.1073/pnas.2306987120|doi-access=free |pmid=37722053 |pmc=10523489 |bibcode=2023PNAS..12006987C |access-date=}} However, other scientists have criticized this finding and say that loss of habitat caused by "the growth of commodities for export" is the main driver.{{Cite journal |last1=Hughes |first1=Alice C. |last2=Tougeron |first2=Kévin |last3=Martin |first3=Dominic A. |last4=Menga |first4=Filippo |last5=Rosado |first5=Bruno H. P. |last6=Villasante |first6=Sebastian |last7=Madgulkar |first7=Shweta |last8=Gonçalves |first8=Fernando |last9=Geneletti |first9=Davide |last10=Diele-Viegas |first10=Luisa Maria |last11=Berger |first11=Sebastian |last12=Colla |first12=Sheila R. |last13=de Andrade Kamimura |first13=Vitor |last14=Caggiano |first14=Holly |last15=Melo |first15=Felipe |date=2023-01-01 |title=Smaller human populations are neither a necessary nor sufficient condition for biodiversity conservation |journal=Biological Conservation |language=en |volume=277 |pages=109841 |doi=10.1016/j.biocon.2022.109841 |quote=Through examining the drivers of biodiversity loss in highly biodiverse countries, we show that it is not population driving the loss of habitats, but rather the growth of commodities for export, particularly soybean and oil-palm, primarily for livestock feed or biofuel consumption in higher income economies. |doi-access=free|bibcode=2023BCons.27709841H }} A 2025 study found that human activities are responsible for biodiversity loss across all species and ecosystems.{{cite news |last=Weston|first=Phoebe |date=March 26, 2025 |title=Biodiversity loss in all species and every ecosystem linked to humans – report|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2025/mar/26/human-link-biodiversity-loss-species-ecosystems-climate-pollution-eawag-study-nature-aoe|work= |location= |publisher=The Guardian |access-date=March 29, 2025}}

Some studies have however pointed out that habitat destruction for the expansion of agriculture and the overexploitation of wildlife are the more significant drivers of contemporary biodiversity loss, not climate change.{{cite news |last=Ketcham |first=Christopher |date=December 3, 2022 |title=Addressing Climate Change Will Not "Save the Planet" |work=The Intercept |location= |url=https://theintercept.com/2022/12/03/climate-biodiversity-green-energy/ |access-date=December 8, 2022}}{{cite journal |last1=Caro |first1=Tim |last2=Rowe |first2=Zeke |last3=Berger |first3=Joel |last4=Wholey |first4=Philippa |last5=Dobson |first5=Andrew |title=An inconvenient misconception: Climate change is not the principal driver of biodiversity loss |journal=Conservation Letters |date=May 2022 |volume=15 |issue=3 |doi=10.1111/conl.12868 |bibcode=2022ConL...15E2868C |doi-access=free }}

File:Map latitudinal gradient of biodiversity mannion 2014.png

Biodiversity is not evenly distributed, rather it varies greatly across the globe as well as within regions and seasons. Among other factors, the diversity of all living things (biota) depends on temperature, precipitation, altitude, soils, geography and the interactions between other species.{{cite journal |last1=Clay |first1=Keith |last2=Holah |first2=Jenny |title=Fungal Endophyte Symbiosis and Plant Diversity in Successional Fields |journal=Science |date=10 September 1999 |volume=285 |issue=5434 |pages=1742–1744 |doi=10.1126/science.285.5434.1742 |pmid=10481011 }} The study of the spatial distribution of organisms, species and ecosystems, is the science of biogeography.

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 Yasuní National Park in Ecuador, have particularly high biodiversity.{{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 }}{{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 }}

There is local biodiversity, which directly impacts daily life, affecting the availability of fresh water, food choices, and fuel sources for humans. Regional biodiversity includes habitats and ecosystems that synergizes and either overlaps or differs on a regional scale. National biodiversity within a country determines the ability for a country to thrive according to its habitats and ecosystems on a national scale. Also, within a country, endangered species are initially supported on a national level then internationally. Ecotourism may be utilized to support the economy and encourages tourists to continue to visit and support species and ecosystems they visit, while they enjoy the available amenities provided. International biodiversity impacts global livelihood, food systems, and health. Problematic pollution, over consumption, and climate change can devastate international biodiversity. Nature-based solutions are a critical tool for a global resolution. Many species are in danger of becoming extinct and need world leaders to be proactive with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework.

Terrestrial biodiversity is thought to be up to 25 times greater than ocean biodiversity.{{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 | bibcode = 2001GeolJ..36..211B }} 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.{{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}}{{pn|date=November 2024}} Text was added from this source which has a Wikipedia-specific licence statement 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.{{cite journal |last1=Mora |first1=Camilo |last2=Tittensor |first2=Derek P. |last3=Adl |first3=Sina |last4=Simpson |first4=Alastair G. B. |last5=Worm |first5=Boris |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 |doi-access=free |pmid=21886479 |pmc=3160336 }} However, this estimate seems to under-represent the diversity of microorganisms.{{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}} 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. Forests span around 4 billion acres (nearly a third of the Earth's land mass) and are home to approximately 80% of the world's biodiversity. About 1 billion hectares are covered by primary forests. Over 700 million hectares of the world's woods are officially protected.{{Cite web |title=Global Forest Resource Assessment 2020 |url=http://www.fao.org/forest-resources-assessment/2020 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Food and Agriculture Organization |language=en}}{{Cite web |title=The State of the World's Forests 2020: Forests, biodiversity and people [EN/AR/RU] – World {{!}} ReliefWeb |url=https://reliefweb.int/report/world/state-world-s-forests-2020-forests-biodiversity-and-people-enarru |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=reliefweb.int |date=September 2020 |language=en}}

The biodiversity of forests varies considerably according to factors such as forest type, geography, climate and soils – in addition to human use. 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. 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. European forests in EU and non-EU nations comprise more than 30% of Europe's land mass (around 227 million hectares), representing an almost 10% growth since 1990.{{Cite web |title=39% of the EU is covered with forests |url=https://ec.europa.eu/eurostat/web/products-eurostat-news/-/edn-20210321-1 |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=ec.europa.eu |language=en-GB}}{{Cite web |last=Cavallito |first=Matteo |date=2021-04-08 |title=European forests are expanding. But their future is unwritten |url=https://resoilfoundation.org/en/environment/eu-forests-growth/ |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=Re Soil Foundation |language=en-US}}

{{Main|Latitudinal gradients in species diversity}}

Generally, there is an increase in biodiversity from the poles to the tropics. Thus localities at lower latitudes have more species than localities at higher latitudes. 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 at the poles.{{cite journal |last1=Mora |first1=Camilo |last2=Robertson |first2=D. Ross |title=Causes of Latitudinal Gradients in Species Richness: A Test with Fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific |journal=Ecology |date=July 2005 |volume=86 |issue=7 |pages=1771–1782 |doi=10.1890/04-0883 |bibcode=2005Ecol...86.1771M }}

Even though terrestrial biodiversity declines from the equator to the poles, some studies claim that this characteristic is unverified in aquatic ecosystems, especially in marine ecosystems.{{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 | bibcode=2005AqEco..39..367M }} The latitudinal distribution of parasites does not appear to follow this rule.{{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}} Also, in terrestrial ecosystems the soil bacterial diversity has been shown to be highest in temperate climatic zones,{{Cite journal |last1=Bahram |first1=Mohammad |last2=Hildebrand |first2=Falk |last3=Forslund |first3=Sofia K. |last4=Anderson |first4=Jennifer L. |last5=Soudzilovskaia |first5=Nadejda A. |last6=Bodegom |first6=Peter M. |last7=Bengtsson-Palme |first7=Johan |last8=Anslan |first8=Sten |last9=Coelho |first9=Luis Pedro |last10=Harend |first10=Helery |last11=Huerta-Cepas |first11=Jaime |last12=Medema |first12=Marnix H. |last13=Maltz |first13=Mia R. |last14=Mundra |first14=Sunil |last15=Olsson |first15=Pål Axel |date=August 2018 |title=Structure and function of the global topsoil microbiome |journal=Nature |volume=560 |issue=7717 |pages=233–237 |doi=10.1038/s41586-018-0386-6 |pmid=30069051 |bibcode=2018Natur.560..233B |hdl=1887/73861 |hdl-access=free }} and has been attributed to carbon inputs and habitat connectivity.{{Cite journal |last1=Bickel |first1=Samuel |last2=Or |first2=Dani |date=2020-01-08 |title=Soil bacterial diversity mediated by microscale aqueous-phase processes across biomes |journal=Nature Communications |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=116 |doi=10.1038/s41467-019-13966-w |pmc=6949233 |pmid=31913270|bibcode=2020NatCo..11..116B }}

In 2016, an alternative hypothesis ("the fractal biodiversity") was proposed to explain the biodiversity latitudinal gradient.{{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 | bibcode = 2016Biolg..71..669C }} 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.{{Citation|last=Cogitore, Clément (1983–....).|title=Hypothesis|date=January 1988|isbn=9780309037396|oclc=968249007}}

A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of endemic species that have experienced great habitat loss.{{cite web|url= http://www.biodiversitya-z.org/content/biodiversity-hotspots | author = Biodiversity A–Z | title = Biodiversity Hotspots}} The term hotspot was introduced in 1988 by Norman Myers.{{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 | bibcode = 1988ThEnv...8..187M }}{{cite journal |last1=Myers |first1=Norman |title=The biodiversity challenge: Expanded hot-spots analysis |journal=The Environmentalist |date=December 1990 |volume=10 |issue=4 |pages=243–256 |doi=10.1007/BF02239720 |pmid=12322583 |bibcode=1990ThEnv..10..243M }}{{cite journal |last1=Tittensor |first1=Derek P. |last2=Mora |first2=Camilo |last3=Jetz |first3=Walter |last4=Lotze |first4=Heike K. |last5=Ricard |first5=Daniel |last6=Berghe |first6=Edward Vanden |last7=Worm |first7=Boris |title=Global patterns and predictors of marine biodiversity across taxa |journal=Nature |date=August 2010 |volume=466 |issue=7310 |pages=1098–1101 |doi=10.1038/nature09329 |pmid=20668450 |bibcode=2010Natur.466.1098T }}{{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}} While hotspots are spread all over the world, the majority are forest areas and most are located in the tropics.{{Cite web |title=Explore the Biodiversity Hotspots {{!}} CEPF |url=https://www.cepf.net/our-work/biodiversity-hotspots |access-date=2024-03-10 |website=www.cepf.net |language=en}}

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.{{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}}{{cite journal |last1=Myers |first1=Norman |last2=Mittermeier |first2=Russell A. |last3=Mittermeier |first3=Cristina G. |last4=da Fonseca |first4=Gustavo A. B. |last5=Kent |first5=Jennifer |title=Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities |journal=Nature |date=February 2000 |volume=403 |issue=6772 |pages=853–858 |doi=10.1038/35002501 |pmid=10706275 |bibcode=2000Natur.403..853M }} 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.{{cite web

|url=http://www.humboldt.org.co/iavh_en/index.php/component/k2/item/129-colombia-in-the-world.html

|title=Colombia in the World

|publisher=Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Research on Biological Resources

|access-date=30 December 2013

|url-status=dead

|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

|archive-date=29 October 2013

}} Madagascar dry deciduous forests and lowland rainforests possess a high ratio of endemism.{{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}}{{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}} Since the island separated from mainland Africa 66 million years ago, many species and ecosystems have evolved independently.{{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}} Indonesia's 17,000 islands cover {{convert|735355|sqmi}} and contain 10% of the world's flowering plants, 12% of mammals and 17% of reptiles, amphibians and birds—along with nearly 240 million people.{{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 }} Many regions of high biodiversity and/or endemism arise from specialized habitats which require unusual adaptations, for example, alpine environments in high mountains, or Northern European peat bogs.

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, Hampshire "all nature is so full, that that district produces the most variety which is the most examined."{{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}}

{{Main|Evolution}}

Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution.{{cite journal |last=Algeo |first=T. J. |author2=Scheckler, S. E. |date=29 January 1998 |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 |volume=353 |issue=1365 |pages=113–130 |doi=10.1098/rstb.1998.0195 |pmc=1692181}} 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 formation of the Earth. Until approximately 2.5 billion years ago, all life consisted of microorganisms – archaea, bacteria, and single-celled protozoans and protists.

{{Life timeline}}

File:Phanerozoic Biodiversity.png

Biodiversity grew fast during the Phanerozoic (the last 540 million years), especially during the so-called Cambrian explosion—a period during which nearly every phylum of multicellular organisms first appeared. However, recent studies suggest that this diversification had started earlier, at least in the Ediacaran, and that it continued in the Ordovician.{{cite journal |last1=Servais |first1=Thomas |last2=Cascales-Miñana |first2=Borja |last3=Harper |first3=David A.T. |last4=Lefebvre |first4=Bertrand |last5=Munnecke |first5=Axel |last6=Wang |first6=Wenhui |last7=Zhang |first7=Yuandong |title=No (Cambrian) explosion and no (Ordovician) event: A single long-term radiation in the early Palaeozoic |journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology |date=August 2023 |volume=623 |pages=111592 |doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2023.111592 |bibcode=2023PPP...62311592S }} Over the next 400 million years or so, invertebrate diversity showed little overall trend and vertebrate diversity shows an overall exponential trend.{{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}} This dramatic rise in diversity was marked by periodic, massive losses of diversity classified as mass extinction events. A significant loss occurred in anamniotic limbed vertebrates when rainforests collapsed in the Carboniferous,{{cite journal |last1=Sahney |first1=Sarda |last2=Benton |first2=Michael J. |last3=Falcon-Lang |first3=Howard J. |title=Rainforest collapse triggered Carboniferous tetrapod diversification in Euramerica |journal=Geology |date=December 2010 |volume=38 |issue=12 |pages=1079–1082 |doi=10.1130/G31182.1 |bibcode=2010Geo....38.1079S }} but amniotes seem to have been little affected by this event; their diversification slowed down later, around the Asselian/Sakmarian boundary, in the early Cisuralian (Early Permian), about 293 Ma ago.{{cite journal |last1=Didier |first1=Gilles |last2=Laurin |first2=Michel |title=Testing extinction events and temporal shifts in diversification and fossilization rates through the skyline Fossilized Birth-Death (FBD) model: The example of some mid-Permian synapsid extinctions |journal=Cladistics |date=23 April 2024 |volume=40 |issue=3 |pages=282–306 |doi=10.1111/cla.12577 |doi-access=free |pmid=38651531 }} The worst was the Permian-Triassic extinction event, 251 million years ago.{{cite journal |last1=Viglietti |first1=Pia A. |last2=Benson |first2=Roger B. J. |last3=Smith |first3=Roger M. H. |last4=Botha |first4=Jennifer |last5=Kammerer |first5=Christian F. |last6=Skosan |first6=Zaituna |last7=Butler |first7=Elize |last8=Crean |first8=Annelise |last9=Eloff |first9=Bobby |last10=Kaal |first10=Sheena |last11=Mohoi |first11=Joël |last12=Molehe |first12=William |last13=Mtalana |first13=Nolusindiso |last14=Mtungata |first14=Sibusiso |last15=Ntheri |first15=Nthaopa |last16=Ntsala |first16=Thabang |last17=Nyaphuli |first17=John |last18=October |first18=Paul |last19=Skinner |first19=Georgina |last20=Strong |first20=Mike |last21=Stummer |first21=Hedi |last22=Wolvaardt |first22=Frederik P. |last23=Angielczyk |first23=Kenneth D. |title=Evidence from South Africa for a protracted end-Permian extinction on land |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=27 April 2021 |volume=118 |issue=17 |pages=e2017045118 |doi=10.1073/pnas.2017045118 |doi-access=free |pmid=33875588 |pmc=8092562 |bibcode=2021PNAS..11817045V }}{{cite journal |last1=Kammerer |first1=Christian F. |last2=Viglietti |first2=Pia A. |last3=Butler |first3=Elize |last4=Botha |first4=Jennifer |title=Rapid turnover of top predators in African terrestrial faunas around the Permian-Triassic mass extinction |journal=Current Biology |date=June 2023 |volume=33 |issue=11 |pages=2283–2290.e3 |doi=10.1016/j.cub.2023.04.007 |pmid=37220743 |bibcode=2023CBio...33E2283K }} Vertebrates took 30 million years to recover from this event.{{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 |volume=275 |issue=1636 |pages=759–765 |doi=10.1098/rspb.2007.1370 |pmc=2596898 |pmid=18198148}}

The most recent major mass extinction event, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event, occurred 66 million years ago. This period has attracted more attention than others because it resulted in the extinction of the {{nowrap|non-avian}} dinosaurs, which were represented by many lineages at the end of the Maastrichtian, just before that extinction event. However, many other taxa were affected by this crisis, which affected even marine taxa, such as ammonites, which also became extinct around that time.{{cite journal |last1=Machalski |first1=Marcin |title=The youngest Maastrichtian ammonite faunas from Poland and their dating by scaphitids |journal=Cretaceous Research |date=1 October 2005 |volume=26 |issue=5 |pages=813–836 |doi=10.1016/j.cretres.2005.05.007 |bibcode=2005CrRes..26..813M }}

The biodiversity of the past is called Paleobiodiversity. The fossil record suggests that the last few million years featured the greatest biodiversity in history. 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 geologic sections.{{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 |bibcode=2007PreR..158..141S |doi=10.1016/j.precamres.2007.04.009}} Some scientists believe that corrected for sampling artifacts, modern biodiversity may not be much different from biodiversity 300 million years ago,{{cite journal |last1=Alroy |first1=J. |last2=Marshall |first2=C. R. |last3=Bambach |first3=R. K. |last4=Bezusko |first4=K. |last5=Foote |first5=M. |last6=Fürsich |first6=F. T. |last7=Hansen |first7=T. A. |last8=Holland |first8=S. M. |last9=Ivany |first9=L. C. |last10=Jablonski |first10=D. |last11=Jacobs |first11=D. K. |last12=Jones |first12=D. C. |last13=Kosnik |first13=M. A. |last14=Lidgard |first14=S. |last15=Low |first15=S. |last16=Miller |first16=A. I. |last17=Novack-Gottshall |first17=P. M. |last18=Olszewski |first18=T. D. |last19=Patzkowsky |first19=M. E. |last20=Raup |first20=D. M. |last21=Roy |first21=K. |last22=Sepkoski |first22=J. J. |last23=Sommers |first23=M. G. |last24=Wagner |first24=P. J. |last25=Webber |first25=A. |title=Effects of sampling standardization on estimates of Phanerozoic marine diversification |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=22 May 2001 |volume=98 |issue=11 |pages=6261–6266 |doi=10.1073/pnas.111144698 |doi-access=free |pmid=11353852 |pmc=33456 }} whereas others consider the fossil record reasonably reflective of the diversification of life.{{cite journal |last1=Marjanović |first1=David |last2=Laurin |first2=Michel |title=Assessing Confidence Intervals for Stratigraphic Ranges of Higher Taxa: The Case of Lissamphibia |journal=Acta Palaeontologica Polonica |date=September 2008 |volume=53 |issue=3 |pages=413–432 |doi=10.4202/app.2008.0305|doi-access=free }} Estimates of the present global macroscopic species diversity vary from 2 million to 100 million, with a best estimate of somewhere near 9 million, the vast majority arthropods.{{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 }} Diversity appears to increase continually in the absence of natural selection.{{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}}

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 pattern of growth, life on land (insects, plants and tetrapods) shows an exponential rise in diversity. 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 taxonomic diversity of tetrapods would continue to increase exponentially until most or all of the available eco-space is filled."

It also appears that the diversity continues to increase over time, especially after mass extinctions.{{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 }}

On the other hand, changes through the Phanerozoic correlate much better with the 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. 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.{{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 |bibcode=2015Palgy..58..871H |doi-access=free }} 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.{{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}} The hyperbolic character of biodiversity growth can be similarly accounted for by a feedback between diversity and community structure complexity. 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.

{{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 }}

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.[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 It has been argued that the present rate of extinction is sufficient to eliminate most species on the planet Earth within 100 years.{{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}}

New species are regularly discovered (on average between 5–10,000 new species each year, most of them insects) and many, though discovered, are not yet classified (estimates are that nearly 90% of all arthropods are not yet classified). Most of the terrestrial diversity is found in tropical forests 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.

{{Further|History of life|Earliest known life forms}}

It is estimated that 5 to 50 billion species have existed on the planet.{{Cite journal |last=Barry |first=John C. |date=1992 |title=Extinction: Bad genes or bad luck? By David M. Raup. New York: W. W. Norton. 1991. xvii + 210 pp. ISBN 0-393-03008-3. $19.95 (cloth) |journal=American Journal of Physical Anthropology |volume=88 |issue=4 |pages=563–564 |doi=10.1002/ajpa.1330880410 }} Assuming that there may be a maximum of about 50 million species currently alive,{{Cite journal |last=May |first=Robert M. |date=1988-09-16 |title=How Many Species Are There on Earth? |journal=Science |volume=241 |issue=4872 |pages=1441–1449 |doi=10.1126/science.241.4872.1441 |pmid=17790039 |bibcode=1988Sci...241.1441M }} it stands to reason that greater than 99% of the planet's species went extinct prior to the evolution of humans.{{cite book |doi=10.1007/978-94-011-5874-9_7 |chapter=How do rare species avoid extinction? A paleontological view |title=The Biology of Rarity |date=1997 |last1=McKinney |first1=Michael L. |pages=110–129 |isbn=978-94-010-6483-5 }} Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86% have not yet been described.{{cite book|author1=G. Miller|author2=Scott Spoolman |title=Environmental Science - Biodiversity Is a Crucial Part of the Earth's Natural Capital |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NYEJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA62 |date=2012 |publisher=Cengage Learning |isbn=978-1-133-70787-5 |page=62 |accessdate=27 December 2014 }} However, a May 2016 scientific report estimates that 1 trillion species are currently on Earth, with only one-thousandth of one percent described.{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Researchers find that Earth may be home to 1 trillion species |url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=138446 |date=2 May 2016 |work=National Science Foundation |accessdate=6 May 2016 }} The total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 10³⁷ and weighs 50 billion tonnes. In comparison, the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as four trillion tons of carbon.{{cite web |author=Staff |title=The Biosphere |url=http://www.agci.org/classroom/biosphere/index.php |date=2014 |work=Aspen Global Change Institute |access-date=10 November 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141110164609/http://www.agci.org/classroom/biosphere/index.php |archive-date=10 November 2014 |url-status=live }} In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all organisms living on Earth.{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |authorlink=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=New York Times |accessdate=25 July 2016 }}

The age of Earth is about 4.54 billion years.{{cite web |url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html |title=Age of the Earth |date=9 July 2007 |publisher=United States Geological Survey |accessdate=2006-01-10}}{{cite journal |last=Dalrymple |first=G. Brent | authorlink=Brent Dalrymple | 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 }}{{cite journal |last1=Manhes |first1=Gérard |last2=Allègre |first2=Claude J. |last3=Dupré |first3=Bernard |last4=Hamelin |first4=Bruno |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=May 1980 |volume=47 |issue=3 |pages=370–382 |doi=10.1016/0012-821X(80)90024-2 |bibcode=1980E&PSL..47..370M }} The earliest undisputed evidence of life dates at least from 3.7 billion years ago, during the Eoarchean era after a geological crust started to solidify following the earlier molten Hadean eon.{{cite journal |last1=Schopf |first1=J. William |authorlink1=J. William Schopf |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 |location=Amsterdam, the Netherlands |publisher=Elsevier |volume=158 |pages=141–155 |issue=3–4 |doi=10.1016/j.precamres.2007.04.009 |bibcode=2007PreR..158..141S }}{{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 |location=London |publisher=Royal Society |volume=361 |issue=1470 |pages=869–885 |doi=10.1098/rstb.2006.1834 |pmid=16754604 |pmc=1578735}}{{cite book |last1=Raven |first1=Peter H. |authorlink1=Peter H. Raven |last2=Johnson |first2=George B. |authorlink2=George B. Johnson |year=2002 |title=Biology |edition=6th |location=Boston, MA |publisher=McGraw-Hill |isbn=0-07-112261-3 |lccn=2001030052 |oclc=45806501 |page=68}} There are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia. Other early physical evidence of a biogenic substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old meta-sedimentary rocks discovered in Western Greenland..{{cite journal |last1=Ohtomo |first1=Yoko |last2=Kakegawa |first2=Takeshi |last3=Ishida |first3=Akizumi |last4=Nagase |first4=Toshiro |last5=Rosing |first5=Minik T. |title=Evidence for biogenic graphite in early Archaean Isua metasedimentary rocks |journal=Nature Geoscience |date=January 2014 |volume=7 |issue=1 |pages=25–28 |doi=10.1038/ngeo2025 |bibcode=2014NatGe...7...25O }}{{Cite journal |last1=Hassenkam |first1=T. |last2=Rosing |first2=M. T. |date=2017-11-02 |title=3.7 billion year old biogenic remains |journal=Communicative & Integrative Biology |language=en |volume=10 |issue=5–6 |pages=e1380759 |doi=10.1080/19420889.2017.1380759 |pmc=5731516 |pmid=29260796}} More recently, in 2015, "remains of biotic life" were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia. According to one of the researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth...then it could be common in the universe."{{cite news |last1=Borenstein |first1=Seth |title=Hints of life on what was thought to be desolate early Earth |url=https://apnews.com/hints-of-life-on-what-was-thought-to-be-desolate-early-earth-e6be2537b4cd46ffb9c0585bae2b2e51 |work=AP News |date=19 October 2015 }}

File:Field Hamois Belgium Luc Viatour.jpg (Hamois). The blue flowers are Centaurea cyanus and the red are Papaver rhoeas.]]

{{further|Ecosystem services|Ecological effects of biodiversity}}

There have been many claims about biodiversity's effect on the ecosystem services, especially provisioning and regulating services.{{cite journal |last1=Cardinale |first1=Bradley J. |last2=Duffy |first2=J. Emmett |last3=Gonzalez |first3=Andrew |last4=Hooper |first4=David U. |last5=Perrings |first5=Charles |last6=Venail |first6=Patrick |last7=Narwani |first7=Anita |last8=Mace |first8=Georgina M. |last9=Tilman |first9=David |last10=Wardle |first10=David A. |last11=Kinzig |first11=Ann P. |last12=Daily |first12=Gretchen C. |last13=Loreau |first13=Michel |last14=Grace |first14=James B. |last15=Larigauderie |first15=Anne |last16=Srivastava |first16=Diane S. |last17=Naeem |first17=Shahid |title=Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity |journal=Nature |date=7 June 2012 |volume=486 |issue=7401 |pages=59–67 |doi=10.1038/nature11148 |pmid=22678280 |bibcode=2012Natur.486...59C |url=https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/10240/7/wardle_d_etal_130415.pdf }} Some of those claims have been validated, some are incorrect and some lack enough evidence to draw definitive conclusions.

Ecosystem services have been grouped in three types:

1. Provisioning services which involve the production of renewable resources (e.g.: food, wood, fresh water)
2. Regulating services which are those that lessen environmental change (e.g.: climate regulation, pest/disease control)
3. Cultural services represent human value and enjoyment (e.g.: landscape aesthetics, cultural heritage, outdoor recreation and spiritual significance){{cite journal |last1=Daniel |first1=Terry C. |last2=Muhar |first2=Andreas |last3=Arnberger |first3=Arne |last4=Aznar |first4=Olivier |last5=Boyd |first5=James W. |last6=Chan |first6=Kai M. A. |last7=Costanza |first7=Robert |last8=Elmqvist |first8=Thomas |last9=Flint |first9=Courtney G. |last10=Gobster |first10=Paul H. |last11=Grêt-Regamey |first11=Adrienne |last12=Lave |first12=Rebecca |last13=Muhar |first13=Susanne |last14=Penker |first14=Marianne |last15=Ribe |first15=Robert G. |last16=Schauppenlehner |first16=Thomas |last17=Sikor |first17=Thomas |last18=Soloviy |first18=Ihor |last19=Spierenburg |first19=Marja |last20=Taczanowska |first20=Karolina |last21=Tam |first21=Jordan |last22=von der Dunk |first22=Andreas |title=Contributions of cultural services to the ecosystem services agenda |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |date=5 June 2012 |volume=109 |issue=23 |pages=8812–8819 |doi=10.1073/pnas.1114773109 |doi-access=free |pmid=22615401 |pmc=3384142 |bibcode=2012PNAS..109.8812D }}

Experiments with controlled environments have shown that humans cannot easily build ecosystems to support human needs;{{cite news |last=Broad |first=William |date=19 November 1996 |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}} for example insect pollination cannot be mimicked, though there have been attempts to create artificial pollinators using unmanned aerial vehicles.{{cite news |last1=Ponti |first1=Crystal |date=3 March 2017 |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}} The economic activity of pollination alone represented between $2.1–14.6 billion in 2003.{{cite journal |last=LOSEY |first=JOHN E. |author2=VAUGHAN, MACE |date=1 January 2006 |title=The Economic Value of Ecological Services Provided by Insects |journal=BioScience |volume=56 |issue=4 |pages=311 |doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2006)56[311:TEVOES]2.0.CO;2 |doi-access=free}} 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.{{cite journal |last1=Costanza |first1=Robert |last2=d'Arge |first2=Ralph |last3=de Groot |first3=Rudolf |last4=Farber |first4=Stephen |last5=Grasso |first5=Monica |last6=Hannon |first6=Bruce |last7=Limburg |first7=Karin |last8=Naeem |first8=Shahid |last9=O'Neill |first9=Robert V. |last10=Paruelo |first10=Jose |last11=Raskin |first11=Robert G. |last12=Sutton |first12=Paul |last13=van den Belt |first13=Marjan |title=The value of the world's ecosystem services and natural capital |journal=Nature |date=May 1997 |volume=387 |issue=6630 |pages=253–260 |doi=10.1038/387253a0 |bibcode=1997Natur.387..253C |url=https://discovery.ucl.ac.uk/id/eprint/10189378/ }}

With regards to provisioning services, greater species diversity has the following benefits:

• Greater species diversity of plants increases fodder yield (synthesis of 271 experimental studies).{{cite journal |last1=Cardinale |first1=Bradley J. |last2=Matulich |first2=Kristin L. |last3=Hooper |first3=David U. |last4=Byrnes |first4=Jarrett E. |last5=Duffy |first5=Emmett |last6=Gamfeldt |first6=Lars |last7=Balvanera |first7=Patricia |last8=O'Connor |first8=Mary I. |last9=Gonzalez |first9=Andrew |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 |pmid=21613148 |hdl=2027.42/141994 |hdl-access=free }}
• Greater species diversity of plants (i.e. diversity within a single species) increases overall crop yield (synthesis of 575 experimental studies).{{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|bibcode=2009FCrRe.114..361K }} Although another review of 100 experimental studies reported mixed evidence.{{cite journal|last=Letourneau|first=Deborah K. |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|bibcode=2011EcoAp..21....9L }}
• Greater species diversity of trees increases overall wood production (synthesis of 53 experimental studies).{{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|bibcode=2008ForEM.255..781P }} However, there is not enough data to draw a conclusion about the effect of tree trait diversity on wood production.

With regards to regulating services, greater species diversity has the following benefits:

Greater species diversity

• of fish increases the stability of fisheries yield (synthesis of 8 observational studies)
• of plants increases carbon sequestration, but note that this finding only relates to actual uptake of carbon dioxide and not long-term storage; synthesis of 479 experimental studies)
• of plants increases soil nutrient remineralization (synthesis of 103 experimental studies), increases soil organic matter (synthesis of 85 experimental studies) and decreases disease prevalence on plants (synthesis of 107 experimental studies){{cite journal |last1=Quijas |first1=Sandra |last2=Schmid |first2=Bernhard |last3=Balvanera |first3=Patricia |title=Plant diversity enhances provision of ecosystem services: A new synthesis |journal=Basic and Applied Ecology |date=November 2010 |volume=11 |issue=7 |pages=582–593 |doi=10.1016/j.baae.2010.06.009 |bibcode=2010BApEc..11..582Q |url=https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/39775/11/Quijas_etal_BAE10.pdf }}
• of natural pest enemies decreases herbivorous pest populations (data from two separate reviews; synthesis of 266 experimental and observational studies;{{cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=2zifbwAACAAJ|page=573}} |title=Annual Review of Ecology, Evolution and Systematics: Vol 40 2009 |date=1 January 2009 |publisher=Annual Reviews |isbn=978-0-8243-1440-8 |editor-last1=Futuyma |editor-first1=Douglas J. |location=Palo Alto, Calif. |pages=573–592 |editor-last2=Shaffer |editor-first2=H. Bradley |editor-last3=Simberloff |editor-first3=Daniel}} Synthesis of 18 observational studies.{{cite journal |last=Philpott |first=Stacy M. |author-link=Stacy Philpott |author2=Soong, Oliver |author3=Lowenstein, Jacob H. |author4=Pulido, Astrid Luz |author5=Lopez, Diego Tobar |date=1 October 2009 |others=Flynn, Dan F. B.; DeClerck, Fabrice |title=Functional richness and ecosystem services: bird predation on arthropods in tropical agroecosystems |journal=Ecological Applications |volume=19 |issue=7 |pages=1858–1867 |bibcode=2009EcoAp..19.1858P |doi=10.1890/08-1928.1 |pmid=19831075 }}{{cite journal |last1=Bael |first1=Sunshine A. Van |last2=Philpott |first2=Stacy M. |last3=Greenberg |first3=Russell |last4=Bichier |first4=Peter |last5=Barber |first5=Nicholas A. |last6=Mooney |first6=Kailen A. |last7=Gruner |first7=Daniel S. |title=Birds as Predators in Tropical Agroforestry Systems |journal=Ecology |date=April 2008 |volume=89 |issue=4 |pages=928–934 |doi=10.1890/06-1976.1 |pmid=18481517 |bibcode=2008Ecol...89..928V |hdl=1903/7873 |hdl-access=free }} 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{{cite journal |last1=Vance-Chalcraft |first1=Heather D. |last2=Rosenheim |first2=Jay A. |last3=Vonesh |first3=James R. |last4=Osenberg |first4=Craig W. |last5=Sih |first5=Andrew |title=The Influence of Intraguild Predation on Prey Suppression and Prey Release: A Meta-Analysis |journal=Ecology |date=November 2007 |volume=88 |issue=11 |pages=2689–2696 |doi=10.1890/06-1869.1 |pmid=18051635 |bibcode=2007Ecol...88.2689V }}

{{Main|Agricultural biodiversity}}

File:Ueberladewagen (jha).jpg production, pictured is a tractor and a chaser bin]]Agricultural diversity can be divided into two categories: 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). The other category of agricultural diversity is called interspecific diversity and refers to the number and types of different species.

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).{{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}}

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{{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}} 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.{{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 |bibcode=2013TEcoE..28..230B }}

Although about 80 percent of humans' food supply comes from just 20 kinds of plants,{{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}} humans use at least 40,000 species.{{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}} 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.

File:Forest fruits from Barro Colorado.png, Panama, yielded this display of different fruit]]

Biodiversity's relevance to human health is becoming an international political issue, as scientific evidence builds on the global health implications of biodiversity loss.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

[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 }}{{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}}{{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}} This issue is closely linked with the issue of climate change,(2009) [http://www.cbd.int/climate/ "Climate Change and Biological Diversity"] Convention on Biological Diversity Retrieved 5 November 2009 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.{{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}}

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.{{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 }} Biodiversity is also known to have an important role in reducing disaster risk and in post-disaster relief and recovery efforts.{{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 }}{{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}}

Biodiversity provides critical support for drug discovery and the availability of medicinal resources.{{cite journal |last1=Mendelsohn |first1=Robert |last2=Balick |first2=Michael J. |title=The value of undiscovered pharmaceuticals in tropical forests |journal=Economic Botany |date=April 1995 |volume=49 |issue=2 |pages=223–228 |doi=10.1007/BF02862929 |bibcode=1995EcBot..49..223M }}

(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 }} 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 microorganisms, while about 80% of the world population depends on medicines from nature (used in either modern or traditional medical practice) for primary healthcare. Only a tiny fraction of wild species has been investigated for medical potential.

Marine ecosystems are particularly important,{{cite journal |last1=Jain |first1=Roopesh |last2=Sonawane |first2=Shailendra |last3=Mandrekar |first3=Noopur |title=Marine organisms: Potential source for drug discovery |journal=Current Science |date=2008 |volume=94 |issue=3 |pages=292 |jstor=24100323 }} although inappropriate bioprospecting can increase biodiversity loss, as well as violating the laws of the communities and states from which the resources are taken.{{cite journal |last1=Dhillion |first1=Shivcharn S. |last2=Svarstad |first2=Hanne |last3=Amundsen |first3=Cathrine |last4=Bugge |first4=Hans Chr. |title=Bioprospecting: Effects on Environment and Development |journal=Ambio: A Journal of the Human Environment |date=2002 |volume=31 |issue=6 |pages=491–493 |doi=10.1639/0044-7447(2002)031[0491:beoead]2.0.co;2 |pmid=12436849 }}{{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}}{{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 }}

According to the Boston Consulting Group, the economic value that biodiversity has on society comes down to four definable terms: regulation, culture, habitat, and provisioning. To sum these up in a relatively short manner, biodiversity helps maintain habitat and animal functions that provide considerable amounts of resources that benefit the economy.{{Cite web |date=2021-02-23 |title=The Biodiversity Crisis Is a Business Crisis |url=https://www.bcg.com/publications/2021/biodiversity-loss-business-implications-responses |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=BCG Global |language=en}}

Biodiversity’s economic resources are worth at around $150 trillion annually which is roughly twice the world’s GDP. The loss of biodiversity is actually harming the GDP of the world by costing an estimated $5 trillion annually.

Business supply chains rely heavily on ecosystems remaining relatively maintained and nurtured. A disruption to these supply chains would negatively impact many businesses that would end up costing them more than what they are gaining.{{Cite web |last=Singh |first=Geetika |date=2023-09-11 |title=Why Are Biodiversity and Business Related? |url=https://earth.org/biodiversitys-bottom-line-a-new-imperative-for-businesses/#:~:text=Business%20Risks%20and%20Opportunities,chains%20become%20a%20major%20concern. |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=Earth.Org |language=en}}

File:Eaglecreek-28July2006.jpg, Oregon hiking]]Philosophically it could be argued that biodiversity has intrinsic aesthetic and spiritual value to mankind in and of itself. This idea can be used as a counterweight to the notion that tropical forests and other ecological realms are only worthy of conservation because of the services they provide.{{cite journal |last1=Tribot |first1=Anne-Sophie |last2=Mouquet |first2=Nicolas |last3=Villéger |first3=Sébastien |last4=Raymond |first4=Michel |last5=Hoff |first5=Fabrice |last6=Boissery |first6=Pierre |last7=Holon |first7=Florian |last8=Deter |first8=Julie |title=Taxonomic and functional diversity increase the aesthetic value of coralligenous reefs |journal=Scientific Reports |date=28 September 2016 |volume=6 |issue=1 |page=34229 |doi=10.1038/srep34229 |pmid=27677850 |pmc=5039688 |bibcode=2016NatSR...634229T }}

Biodiversity also affords many non-material benefits including spiritual and aesthetic values, knowledge systems and education.

{{excerpt|Measurement of biodiversity|paragraphs=1}}

Less than 1% of all species that have been described have been studied beyond noting their existence.{{cite journal |author=Wilson Edward O |year=2000 |title=On the Future of Conservation Biology |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=1–3 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.00000-e1.x |bibcode=2000ConBi..14....1W |doi-access=free }} The vast majority of Earth's species are microbial. Contemporary biodiversity physics is "firmly fixated on the visible [macroscopic] world".{{cite journal |author=Nee S |year=2004 |title=More than meets the eye |journal=Nature |volume=429 |issue=6994 |pages=804–805 |bibcode=2004Natur.429..804N |doi=10.1038/429804a |pmid=15215837 }} 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".{{cite journal |last1=Stork |first1=Nigel E. |year=2007 |title=Biodiversity: World of insects |journal=Nature |volume=448 |issue=7154 |pages=657–658 |bibcode=2007Natur.448..657S |doi=10.1038/448657a |pmid=17687315 |doi-access=free }} Insect extinction rates are high—supporting the Holocene extinction hypothesis.{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=J. A. |last2=Telfer |first2=M. G. |last3=Roy |first3=D. B. |last4=Preston |first4=C. D. |last5=Greenwood |first5=J. J. D. |last6=Asher |first6=J. |last7=Fox |first7=R. |last8=Clarke |first8=R. T. |last9=Lawton |first9=J. H. |title=Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction Crisis |journal=Science |date=19 March 2004 |volume=303 |issue=5665 |pages=1879–1881 |doi=10.1126/science.1095046 |pmid=15031508 |bibcode=2004Sci...303.1879T }}

Biodiversity naturally varies due to seasonal shifts. Spring's arrival enhances biodiversity as numerous species breed and feed, while winter's onset temporarily reduces it as some insects perish and migrating animals leave. Additionally, the seasonal fluctuation in plant and invertebrate populations influences biodiversity.{{Cite web |title=Biodiversity loss {{!}} Causes, Effects, & Facts {{!}} Britannica |url=https://www.britannica.com/science/biodiversity-loss |access-date=2024-04-23 |website=www.britannica.com |language=en}}

{{Main|Introduced species|Invasive species}}

File:Male Silver Pheasant.jpg), a native of East Asia that has been introduced into parts of Europe for ornamental reasons]]

Barriers such as large rivers, seas, 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.

Species are increasingly being moved by humans (on purpose and accidentally). Some studies say that diverse ecosystems are more resilient and resist invasive plants and animals.{{cite journal|last=Levine|first=J. M. |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}} Many studies cite effects of invasive species on natives,{{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}} but not extinctions.

Invasive species seem to increase local (alpha diversity) diversity, which decreases turnover of diversity (beta diversity). Overall gamma diversity may be lowered because species are going extinct because of other causes,{{cite journal|last=Sax|first=Dov F.|author2=Gaines, Steven D. |author3=Brown, James H. |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|bibcode=2002ANat..160..766S }} 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. Extirpation, population decline and homogenization of regional biodiversity are much more common. Human activities have frequently been the cause of invasive species circumventing their barriers,{{cite book|last=Jude|first=David|editor1-first=M.|editor1-last=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}} 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.

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.{{cite press release |title=Are invasive plants a threat to native biodiversity? It depends on the spatial scale |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110408163917.htm |work=ScienceDaily |publisher=American Journal of Botany |date=11 April 2011 }} Another example are pines, which have invaded forests, shrublands and grasslands in the southern hemisphere.{{Cite journal |last1=Higgins |first1=Steven I. |last2=Richardson |first2=David M. |year=1998 |title=Pine invasions in the southern hemisphere: Modelling interactions between organism, environment and disturbance |journal=Plant Ecology |volume=135 |issue=1 |pages=79–93 |doi=10.1023/a:1009760512895 |bibcode=1998PlEco.135...79H }}

File:Wheat selection k10183-1.jpg (right) cultivar is sensitive to salinity, plants resulting from a hybrid cross with cultivar W4910 (left) show greater tolerance to high salinity]]Endemic species can be threatened with extinction{{cite journal |last1=Mooney |first1=H. A. |last2=Cleland |first2=EE |year=2001 |title=The evolutionary impact of invasive species |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences |volume=98 |issue=10 |pages=5446–5451 |bibcode=2001PNAS...98.5446M |doi=10.1073/pnas.091093398 |pmc=33232 |pmid=11344292 |doi-access=free}} through the process of genetic pollution, i.e. uncontrolled 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 advantage of an introduced species.{{cite report |last1=Aubry |first1=Carol |last2=Shoal |first2=Robin |last3=Erickson |first3=Vicky |date=January 2005 |title=Grass cultivars: Their origins, development, and use on national forests and grasslands in the Pacific Northwest |publisher=USDA Forest Service |url=https://www.fs.usda.gov/Internet/FSE_DOCUMENTS/fsbdev7_015644.pdf }}

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 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.{{cite journal |last1=Rhymer |first1=Judith M. |last2=Simberloff |first2=Daniel |year=1996 |title=Extinction by Hybridization and Introgression |journal=Annual Review of Ecology and Systematics |volume=27 |issue=1 |pages=83–109 |doi=10.1146/annurev.ecolsys.27.1.83 |jstor=2097230|bibcode=1996AnRES..27...83R }}{{cite book |last1=Potts |first1=Bradley Michael |last2=Barbour |first2=Robert C. |last3=Hingston |first3=Andrew B. |title=Genetic Pollution from Farm Forestry Using Eucalypt Species and Hydrids: A Report for the RIRDC/L & WA/FWPRDC Joint Venture Agroforestry Program |date=2001 |publisher=RIRDC |isbn=978-0-642-58336-9 }}{{pn|date=October 2024}}

{{Main|Conservation biology}}

[[File:MEAConservationStrategies.jpg|thumb|A schematic image illustrating the relationship between biodiversity, ecosystem services, human well-being and poverty.

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] The illustration shows where conservation action, strategies, and plans can influence the drivers of the current biodiversity crisis at local, regional, to global scales.]]

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.{{cite journal |last1=Soulé |first1=Michael E. |title=What Is Conservation Biology? |journal=BioScience |date=1985 |volume=35 |issue=11 |pages=727–734 |doi=10.2307/1310054 |jstor=1310054 }}{{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}}{{pn|date=November 2024}}{{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}}

The conservation ethic advocates management of natural resources for the purpose of sustaining biodiversity in species, ecosystems, the evolutionary process and human culture and society.{{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 | issue = Suppl 1 | pages = 11466–11473 | pmid = 18695221 | pmc = 2556420 | bibcode = 2008PNAS..10511466W | df = dmy-all | doi-access = free }}{{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}}{{cite journal | last1 = Bowen | first1 = B. W. | 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 | bibcode = 1999MolEc...8.....B }}

Conservation biology is reforming around strategic plans to protect biodiversity.{{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}}{{cite journal |last1=Margules |first1=C. R. |last2=Pressey |first2=R. L. |title=Systematic conservation planning |journal=Nature |date=May 2000 |volume=405 |issue=6783 |pages=243–253 |doi=10.1038/35012251 |pmid=10821285 |url=https://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/42078/1/42078%20Margules%20and%20Sarkar%202007.pdf }}{{Cite journal |last1=Knozowski |first1=Paweł |last2=Nowakowski |first2=Jacek J. |last3=Stawicka |first3=Anna Maria |last4=Górski |first4=Andrzej |last5=Dulisz |first5=Beata |date=2023-11-10 |title=Effect of nature protection and management of grassland on biodiversity – Case from big flooded river valley (NE Poland) |journal=Science of the Total Environment |volume=898 |pages=165280 |doi=10.1016/j.scitotenv.2023.165280 |pmid=37419354 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2023ScTEn.89865280K }} 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.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 }} Action plans identify ways of sustaining human well-being, employing natural capital, macroeconomic policies including economic incentives, and ecosystem services.{{cite journal |last1=Luck |first1=Gary W. |last2=Daily |first2=Gretchen C. |last3=Ehrlich |first3=Paul R. |title=Population diversity and ecosystem services |journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution |date=July 2003 |volume=18 |issue=7 |pages=331–336 |doi=10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00100-9 }}{{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}}

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 programs.{{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 }}

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 barcode of life).{{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 |archive-date=22 November 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122175013/https://barcoding.si.edu/ |url-status=dead }}{{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}} Removal is practical only given large groups of individuals due to the economic cost.

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 and the Global Biodiversity Information Facility.

• Biodiversity banking places a monetary value on biodiversity. One example is the Australian Native Vegetation Management Framework.{{Cite web |title=Australia's Native Vegetation Framework |url=https://www.agriculture.gov.au/sites/default/files/documents/native-vegetation-framework.pdf}}
• Gene banks are collections of specimens and genetic material. Some banks intend to reintroduce banked species to the ecosystem (e.g., via tree nurseries).{{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}}
• Reduction and better targeting of pesticides allows more species to survive in agricultural and urbanized areas.
• Location-specific approaches may be less useful for protecting migratory species. One approach is to create wildlife corridors that correspond to the animals' movements. National and other boundaries can complicate corridor creation.{{cite journal |last1=Kaiser |first1=Jocelyn |title=Bold Corridor Project Confronts Political Reality |journal=Science |date=21 September 2001 |volume=293 |issue=5538 |pages=2196–2199 |doi=10.1126/science.293.5538.2196 |pmid=11567122 }}

{{Further|Protected areas}}

File:Orang Utan @ Sepilok.jpg

Protected areas, including forest reserves and biosphere reserves, serve many functions including for affording protection to wild animals and their habitat.{{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}} 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.{{cite journal |last1= Baillie|first1=Jonathan|last2=Ya-Ping|first2=Zhang|date=14 September 2018 |title=Space for nature|journal=Science|volume=361 |issue=6407 |pages=1051 |doi=10.1126/science.aau1397|pmid=30213888|bibcode=2018Sci...361.1051B|doi-access=free}}{{cite journal |last1=Allan |first1=James R. |last2=Possingham |first2=Hugh P. |last3=Atkinson |first3=Scott C. |last4=Waldron |first4=Anthony |last5=Di Marco |first5=Moreno |last6=Butchart |first6=Stuart H. M. |last7=Adams |first7=Vanessa M. |last8=Kissling |first8=W. Daniel |last9=Worsdell |first9=Thomas |last10=Sandbrook |first10=Chris |last11=Gibbon |first11=Gwili |last12=Kumar |first12=Kundan |last13=Mehta |first13=Piyush |last14=Maron |first14=Martine |last15=Williams |first15=Brooke A. |last16=Jones |first16=Kendall R. |last17=Wintle |first17=Brendan A. |last18=Reside |first18=April E. |last19=Watson |first19=James E. M. |title=The minimum land area requiring conservation attention to safeguard biodiversity |journal=Science |date=3 June 2022 |volume=376 |issue=6597 |pages=1094–1101 |doi=10.1126/science.abl9127 |pmid=35653463 |bibcode=2022Sci...376.1094A |hdl=11573/1640006 |hdl-access=free }} The target of protecting 30% of the area of the planet by the year 2030 (30 by 30) was adopted by almost 200 countries in the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference. At the moment of adoption (December 2022) 17% of land territory and 10% of ocean territory were protected. In a study published 4 September 2020 in Science Advances researchers mapped out regions that can help meet critical conservation and climate goals.{{cite news |last1=Lambert |first1=Jonathan |title=Protecting half of Earth may help solve climate change, save species |url=https://www.sciencenews.org/article/protecting-half-planet-climate-change-save-species |work=ScienceNews |date=4 September 2020 }}

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).{{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}}

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.{{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}}

{{Main|National park|Wildlife sanctuaries}}A national park is a large natural or near natural area 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.{{Cite web|url=https://portals.iucn.org/library/sites/library/files/documents/PAG-021.pdf|title=Guidelines for Applying Protected Area Management Categories}}

Wildlife sanctuaries are areas of either shelter for animals who are unable to live in the wild on their own, or they are temporary rehabilitation centers for wildlife to improve in their overall health and wellbeing.{{Cite web |title=Wildlife Sanctuaries & Properties |url=https://www.massaudubon.org/places-to-explore/wildlife-sanctuaries |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Mass Audubon |language=en-US}}

Both of these serve as places in which biodiversity can be preserved rather than harmed. According to an article published in the National Park Service website, national parks aim their resources at maintaining animal and habitat integrity through conservation and preservation of their ecosystems. This along with educating the general public on wildlife functions, the aim for an increase in biodiversity is one of many goals trying to be focused on through national parks.{{Cite web |title=Biodiversity and national parks: What's relevance got to do with it? (U.S. National Park Service) |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/biodiversitynp.htm |access-date=2025-03-03 |website=www.nps.gov |language=en}}

File:Percentage of forest in legally protected areas, 2020.svgForest protected areas are a subset of all protected areas in which a significant portion of the area is forest. This may be the whole or only a part of the protected area. 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.

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.{{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}}{{pn|date=November 2024}} Text was added from this source which has a Wikipedia-specific licence statement The forests 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 endemic.{{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}} In addition, there are 60,065 different tree species in the world.{{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 |bibcode=2017JSusF..36..454B }} Plant and animal species confined to a specific geographical area are called endemic species.{{Cite web |title=Endemic species and their value to biodiversity |url=https://www.iberdrola.com/sustainability/endemic-species#:~:text=In%20consequence%2C%20endemic%20species%20are,living%20beings%20influence%20this%20condition.}}

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.

Approximately 50 million hectares (or 24%) of European forest land is protected for biodiversity and landscape protection. Forests allocated for soil, water, and other ecosystem services encompass around 72 million hectares (32% of European forest area).{{Cite book |last=European Investment Bank |url=https://www.eib.org/en/publications/20220173-forests-at-the-heart-of-sustainable-development |title=Forests at the heart of sustainable development: Investing in forests to meet biodiversity and climate goals |date=2022-12-08 |publisher=European Investment Bank |isbn=978-92-861-5403-4 |language=EN}}{{Cite web |title=Forests - Environment - European Commission |url=https://ec.europa.eu/environment/forests/policy_en.htm |access-date=2023-01-30 |website=ec.europa.eu}}

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). It stated that "the state of nature has deteriorated at an unprecedented and accelerating rate". To fix the problem, humanity will need a transformative change, including sustainable agriculture, reductions in consumption and waste, fishing quotas and collaborative water management.{{cite book |url=https://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/spm_unedited_advance_for_posting_htn.pdf |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 |access-date=10 May 2019}}{{cite news |last1=Deutsche Welle |first1=Deutsche |date=6 May 2019 |title=Why Biodiversity Loss Hurts Humans as Much as Climate Change Does |agency=Ecowatch |url=https://www.ecowatch.com/biodiversity-loss-human-health-2636410357.html |access-date=10 May 2019}}

The concept of nature-positive is playing a role in mainstreaming the goals of the Global Biodiversity Framework (GBF) for biodiversity.{{cite journal |last1=Booth |first1=Hollie |last2=Milner-Gulland |first2=E.J. |last3=McCormick |first3=Nadine |last4=Starkey |first4=Malcolm |title=Operationalizing transformative change for business in the context of Nature Positive |journal=One Earth |date=July 2024 |volume=7 |issue=7 |pages=1235–1249 |doi=10.1016/j.oneear.2024.06.003 }} The aim of mainstreaming is to embed biodiversity considerations into public and private practice to conserve and sustainably use biodiversity on global and local levels.{{cite journal |last1=Milner-Gulland |first1=E.J. |last2=Addison |first2=Prue |last3=Arlidge |first3=William N.S. |last4=Baker |first4=Julia |last5=Booth |first5=Hollie |last6=Brooks |first6=Thomas |last7=Bull |first7=Joseph W. |last8=Burgass |first8=Michael J. |last9=Ekstrom |first9=Jon |last10=zu Ermgassen |first10=Sophus O.S.E. |last11=Fleming |first11=L. Vincent |last12=Grub |first12=Henry M.J. |last13=von Hase |first13=Amrei |last14=Hoffmann |first14=Michael |last15=Hutton |first15=Jonathan |last16=Juffe-Bignoli |first16=Diego |last17=ten Kate |first17=Kerry |last18=Kiesecker |first18=Joseph |last19=Kümpel |first19=Noëlle F. |last20=Maron |first20=Martine |last21=Newing |first21=Helen S. |last22=Ole-Moiyoi |first22=Katrina |last23=Sinclair |first23=Cheli |last24=Sinclair |first24=Sam |last25=Starkey |first25=Malcolm |last26=Stuart |first26=Simon N. |last27=Tayleur |first27=Cath |last28=Watson |first28=James E.M. |title=Four steps for the Earth: mainstreaming the post-2020 global biodiversity framework |journal=One Earth |date=January 2021 |volume=4 |issue=1 |pages=75–87 |doi=10.1016/j.oneear.2020.12.011 |bibcode=2021OEart...4...75M }} The concept of nature-positive refers to the societal goal to halt and reverse biodiversity loss, measured from a baseline of 2020 levels, and to achieve full so-called "nature recovery" by 2050.{{Cite web |title=What is Nature Positive? |url=https://www.naturepositive.org/what-is-nature-positive/ |access-date=2024-07-17 |website=Nature Positive Initiative |language=en-GB}}

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.{{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 |bibcode=2021PeoNa...3..294P |doi-access=free }}

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{{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 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2017BCons.213..280C }} registers the massive contributions that citizen scientists already make to data mediated by the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF). Despite some limitations of the dataset-level analysis, it is 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.{{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 }}{{page needed|date=September 2021}}{{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 |pmid=35873351 |pmc=7613115 |doi-access=free |bibcode=2021Diver..13..318A }}

File:Hopetoun falls.jpg, Australia while continuing to allow visitor access.]]

• United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity (1992) and Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety;
• UN BBNJ (High Seas Treaty) 2023 Intergovernmental conference on an international legally binding instrument under the UNCLOS on the conservation and sustainable use of marine biological diversity of areas beyond national jurisdiction (GA resolution 72/249)
• Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES);
• Ramsar Convention (Wetlands);
• Bonn Convention on Migratory Species;
• UNESCO Convention concerning the Protection of the World's Cultural and Natural Heritage (indirectly by protecting biodiversity habitats)
• UNESCO Global Geoparks
• Regional Conventions such as the Apia Convention
• Bilateral agreements such as the Japan-Australia Migratory Bird Agreement.

Global agreements such as the Convention on Biological Diversity, give "sovereign national rights over biological resources" (not property).{{Cite web |title=Home |url=https://www.cbd.int |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=Convention on Biological Diversity |language=en}} 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.{{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 }}

Sovereignty principles can rely upon what is better known as Access and Benefit Sharing Agreements (ABAs).{{Cite web |last=Unit |first=Biosafety |date=2025-03-28 |title=The Nagoya Protocol on Access and Benefit-sharing |url=https://www.cbd.int/abs/default.shtml |access-date=2025-04-13 |website=www.cbd.int |language=en}} 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 fair agreement on benefit sharing.

On the 19 of December 2022, during the 2022 United Nations Biodiversity Conference every country on earth, with the exception of the United States and the Holy See, signed onto the agreement which includes protecting 30% of land and oceans by 2030 (30 by 30) and 22 other targets intended to reduce biodiversity loss.{{cite news |last=Paddison|first=Laura |date=December 19, 2022 |title=More than 190 countries sign landmark agreement to halt the biodiversity crisis|url=https://www.cnn.com/2022/12/19/world/cop15-biodiversity-agreement-montreal-climate-scn-intl/index.html|work=CNN |location= |access-date=December 20, 2022}}{{cite news |last=Einhorn |first=Catrin |date=December 19, 2022|title= Nearly Every Country Signs On to a Sweeping Deal to Protect Nature|url=https://www.nytimes.com/2022/12/19/climate/biodiversity-cop15-montreal-30x30.html |work=The New York Times|location= |access-date=December 27, 2022|quote=The United States is just one of two countries in the world that are not party to the Convention on Biological Diversity, largely because Republicans, who are typically opposed to joining treaties, have blocked United States membership. That means the American delegation was required to participate from the sidelines. (The only other country that has not joined the treaty is the Holy See.)}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2022-12-20 |title=COP15: Key outcomes agreed at the UN biodiversity conference in Montreal |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop15-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-biodiversity-conference-in-montreal/ |access-date=2023-01-05 |website=Carbon Brief |language=en}} The agreement includes also recovering 30% of earth degraded ecosystems and increasing funding for biodiversity issues.{{cite news |last1=Greenfield |first1=Patrick |last2=Weston |first2=Phoebe |title=Cop15: historic deal struck to halt biodiversity loss by 2030 |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2022/dec/19/cop15-historic-deal-signed-to-halt-biodiversity-loss-by-2030-aoe |access-date=9 January 2023 |agency=The Guardian |date=19 December 2022}}

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.

The EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 include the next targets:

• Protect 30% of the sea territory and 30% of the land territory especially Old-growth forests.
• Plant 3 billion trees by 2030.
• Restore at least 25,000 kilometers of rivers, so they will become free flowing.
• Reduce the use of Pesticides by 50% by 2030.
• 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.{{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}}
• Increase biodiversity in agriculture.
• Give €20 billion per year to the issue and make it part of the business practice.

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.{{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}}

Biodiversity is taken into account in some political and judicial decisions:

• 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}}
• 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.
• Laws regarding gene pools are only about a century old.{{cite book |title=Modern Concepts of Security |last=Ohwofasa Akpeninor |first=James |year=2012 |publisher=AuthorHouse |isbn=9781467881623 |page=234}} 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 patents and process patents.{{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}} Governments struggle to decide whether to focus on for example, genes, genomes, or organisms and species.{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}

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.{{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/ }}

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.

• 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."{{Cite journal |last1=Harris |first1=J. Arthur |year=1916 |title=The Variable Desert |journal=The Scientific Monthly |volume=3 |issue=1 |pages=41–50 |jstor=6182}}
• 1967 – Raymond F. Dasmann used the term biological diversity in reference to the richness of living nature that conservationists should protect in his book A Different Kind of Country.{{Cite web |last=Dasmann |first=Raymond F. |date=1967 |title=A Different Kind of Country |url=https://www.kirkusreviews.com/book-reviews/a/raymond-f-dasmann/a-different-kind-of-country/ |access-date=7 August 2022 |website=Kirkus Reviews}}{{Cite web |last=Brown |first=William Y. Brown |date=9 August 2011 |title=Conserving Biological Diversity |url=https://www.brookings.edu/research/conserving-biological-diversity/ |access-date=7 August 2022 |website=Brookings Institution}}
• 1974 – The term natural diversity was introduced by John Terborgh.{{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}}
• 1980 – Thomas Lovejoy introduced the term biological diversity to the scientific community in a book.{{cite book |author1=Soulé, Michael E. |title=Conservation biology: an evolutionary-ecological perspective |author2=Wilcox, Bruce A. |publisher=Sinauer Associates |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-87893-800-1 |location=Sunder*land, Mass}} It rapidly became commonly used.{{cite web |date=18 August 2011 |title=Robert E. Jenkins |url=http://www.nature.org/aboutus/index.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919011749/http://www.nature.org/aboutus/index.htm |archive-date=19 September 2012 |access-date=24 September 2011 |publisher=Nature.org}}
• 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".{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=E. O. |url=https://www.nap.edu/read/989/chapter/1#v |title=Biodiversity |date=1988 |publisher=National Academy Press |isbn=978-0-309-03739-6 |page=vi |doi=10.17226/989 |pmid=25032475}}
• 1985 – The term "biodiversity" appears in the article, "A New Plan to Conserve the Earth's Biota" by Laura Tangley.{{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 |doi=10.1093/bioscience/35.6.334 |jstor=1309899}}
• 1988 – The term biodiversity first appeared in publication.{{cite book |doi=10.17226/989 |title=Biodiversity |date=1988 |pmid=25032475 |isbn=978-0-309-03739-6 |last1=Wilson |first1=E. O. |last2=Peter |first2=F. M. |oclc=42854996 }}{{pn|date=October 2024}}{{cite book |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=VKnimgEACAAJ}} |title=Global Biodiversity Assessment: Summary for Policy-makers |publisher=Cambridge University Press |year=1995 |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}}, Belgian Clearing-House Mechanism. Retrieved 26 April 2006.
• 1988 to Present – The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Ad Hoc Working Group of Experts on Biological Diversity in began working in November 1988, leading to the publication of the draft Convention on Biological Diversity in May 1992. Since this time, there have been 16 Conferences of the Parties (COPs) to discuss potential global political responses to biodiversity loss. Most recently COP 16 in Cali, Colombia in 2024.{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=2024-11-02 |title=COP16: Key outcomes agreed at the UN biodiversity conference in Cali, Colombia |url=https://www.carbonbrief.org/cop16-key-outcomes-agreed-at-the-un-biodiversity-conference-in-cali-colombia/ |access-date=2024-11-03 |website=Carbon Brief |language=en}}

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• Biodiversity Informatics
• Ecological indicator
• Genetic diversity
• Global biodiversity
• Index of biodiversity articles
• International Day for Biological Diversity
• Megadiverse countries
• Soil biodiversity
• Species diversity
• 30 by 30
• Artificialization

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{{Reflist}}

{{Wiktionary|biodiversity}}

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• [https://www.unep.org/resources/report/assessment-report-diverse-values-and-valuation-nature Assessment Report on Diverse Values and Valuation of Nature] by the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES), 2022.
• [https://www.natureserve.org/ NatureServe: This site serves as a portal for accessing several types of publicly available biodiversity data]
• [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/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 historical taxonomic literature
• [https://sibils.text-analytics.ch/search/ Biodiversity PMC] – Open access digital library of biodiversity and ecological 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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