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Understanding Biodiversity Levels and Importance

Biodiversity refers to the variety of all living things and the systems that connect them, including plants, animals, microorganisms, their genetic information, and the ecosystems in which they exist. Biodiversity exists at three levels - genetic diversity within species, species diversity within regions, and ecosystem diversity of different living communities and environments. Maintaining biodiversity is important because diverse ecosystems and species provide more resilience and protection against environmental changes, and allow ecosystems to perform essential functions like oxygen production, soil formation, water filtration, pollination, and nutrient recycling that humans benefit from.

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68 views2 pages

Understanding Biodiversity Levels and Importance

Biodiversity refers to the variety of all living things and the systems that connect them, including plants, animals, microorganisms, their genetic information, and the ecosystems in which they exist. Biodiversity exists at three levels - genetic diversity within species, species diversity within regions, and ecosystem diversity of different living communities and environments. Maintaining biodiversity is important because diverse ecosystems and species provide more resilience and protection against environmental changes, and allow ecosystems to perform essential functions like oxygen production, soil formation, water filtration, pollination, and nutrient recycling that humans benefit from.

Uploaded by

Jody-Ann Mears
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© © All Rights Reserved
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Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the variety of all living things the systems which connect them.

This includes all the planets different plants, animals and

micro organisms, the genetic information they contain and the

ecosystems to which they belong.

Biodiversity on earth exists in three levels of organization


Genetic diversity
Species diversity
Ecosystem Diversity
Genetic diversity
It is related to the variations of genes within species.
The variations may be in different variants of same genes (alleles), in entire genes or in
chromosomal structures.

Greater the genetic diversity among organisms of a species, more sustenance it has
against environmental perturbations.

Genetically uniform populations are highly prone to diseases.

Species Diversity

It is related to the variety of species within a region.

Species richness refers to the number of species per unit area.

Species Evenness refers to the relative abundance with which each species is represented
in an area.

Ecosystem diversity

The different types of living communities and the environments, such as marshes,
lakes, streams and forests, in which they are found.
Why is biodiversity so important?

Everything in the natural world is connected. This means that everything we


do as humans affects biodiversity, and biodiversity affects us. In the world of
which we are a part, the more variety the better. This provides protection
against things going wrong. Diverse ecosystems, and therefore diverse
species and genes, make for a healthier, more resilient planet.
Biodiversity enhances an ecosystems ability to do these essential ecological
processes:
oxygen production
form and build healthy soils
filter water on its way to the sea
pollinate crops and plants generally
store and recycle nutrients
resist feral invasion

A lessening of biodiversity in an ecosystem weakens the ability of that system


to survive and perform the ecosystem services that we as humans benefit so
much from.

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