Biodiversity

Biodiversity

Species Diversity

• Biodiversity is the general term used to describe variety in the living world.
• It refers to the number and variety of living organisms in a particular area and has three components:
• Species diversity refers to the number of different species and number of individuals of each species within any one community.
• Genetic diversity refers to the variety of genes possessed by the individuals that make up any one species.
• Ecosystem diversity refers to the range of different habitats within a particular area.
• One measure of biodiversity is species diversity. It has two components:
• the number of different species in a given area.
• the proportion of the community that is made up of an individual species.

Species Diversity and Human Activites

• Mankind has had a considerable impact on the natural world and has led to a reduction in biodiversity.
• Agriculture and deforestation are the two main activites which have reduced species diversity.

Impact of agriculture

• Natural ecosystems have complex communities with many individuals of a large number of different species, and so have high species index.
• Agricultural ecosystems are controlled by humans and are different to natural ecosystems.
• Species…