Life on Earth - The Importance of Biodiversity

Millions of different living things inhabit the Earth. This wide variety of life is called biodiversity. Biodiversity is important and so we must use the Earth in a sustainable way to ensure we maintain a good level of biodivesity in living things and species.

Classification at Different Levels

Organisms are classified into different groups. This classification is done according to similarities and differences in characteristics including: physical features and DNA. Organisms are classified at different levels. These levels can be arranged in an order, progressing from: a large group containing many organisms with a small number of characteristics in common, such as kingdom. Or a small group containing fewer organisms with more characteristics in common, such as species. This classification of both living and fossil organisms helps scientists to make sense of the diversity of organisms on Earth, as well as to suggest evolutionary relationships between them.

Biodiversity

Biodiversity means having as wide a range of different species as possible. Maintaining biodiversity is an important part of using the environment in a sustainable way. Indiscriminate use of the environment, for example cutting down large…