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Welcome to Biodiversity Guide
Climate Threat To Biodiversity Article
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How To Define Biodiversity
from:How to define biodiversity changes with who is doing the defining.
Environmentalists might define biodiversity as the total of all plant and animal life (excluding humans) of the planet, and the planet itself – the air, water and land that supports animal and plant life. A scientist might add humans to the animal life considered when trying to define biodiversity.
Governments and businesses often jump through varying hoops while trying to define biodiversity, depending on the audience they are addressing. When they to define it, they are very careful to tailor it to the specific groups of listeners they are addressing, who have varying opinions on the topic. To some groups, biodiversity and anything to do with preserving it is seen as a threat to their livelihood, while other groups regard conservation and anything related to preserving biodiversity as a panacea for all the ills humankind suffers.
In order to accurately define biodiversity, however, there are some specific factors that must be considered, notably:
Genetic diversity, which is the variation of genes within a single species. There are two kinds of genetic diversity: the variations within distinct populations of the same species, and the genetic variation within a population.
Species diversity is the consideration of the varieties of species within a region. While there are many ways to determine this, two of the most popular measures are species “richness”, or the number of species, both plant and animal, that inhabit an area, and the more precise “taxonomic diversity,” which considers the relationships between species as well as their numbers.
Ecosystem diversity is usually considered the most difficult type of diversity to measure since the boundaries between various biological communities are highly fluid.
One example of how to define biodiversity is the criteria that USAid uses as requirements for their programs:
• The program must have an explicit biodiversity objective. Just saying it's to conserve biodiversity is not enough. The objective must be achievable and measurable;
• All activities related to the project must be identified by analysis of threats to biodiversity;
• Monitoring of all indicators for biodiversity conservation is required; and
• On-site programs must have the goal of positively impacting the biodiversity of areas that are biologically significant or threatened.
While the study of all biodiversity's individual factors is fascinating in and of itself, in order to successfully define biodiversity, no one factor should be allowed to overwhelm the consideration of the others. And since there is no one simple, elegant, and workable way to define biodiversity, one of the best ways to comprehend it is to read the varying definitions used by scientists, governments, businesses and environmentalists, in order to get a good overview of the subject.
Climate Threat To Biodiversity Specific links
Climate Threat To Biodiversity News
Mass Extinctions in the Cards Absent Urgent Action - Inter Press Service
 GreaterKashmir.com | Mass Extinctions in the Cards Absent Urgent Action Inter Press Service The loss of biodiversity has not received the same amount of attention as other environmental problems such as climate change, in part because there is less scientific knowledge and consensus on the subject, but not because it is a less urgent threat ... IGNOU launches online course on biodiversity Message from Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO on the occasion of the ... Celebrating World Biodiversity Day |
Google Mapping Tool Shows Impacts of Deforestation on Indonesia's Sumatra Island - Albany Times Union
Google Mapping Tool Shows Impacts of Deforestation on Indonesia's Sumatra Island Albany Times Union The project will make publicly available a huge and ever growing database of the land cover, land use, land users and biodiversity compiled by many experts over decades of work on the ground in Sumatra. The maps highlight Sumatra's extraordinary ... |
Living Planet Report Details Threats To Earth's Biodiversity - RedOrbit
 msnbc.com | Living Planet Report Details Threats To Earth's Biodiversity RedOrbit The population drop of animals living in different parts of the world was found to be dependent on both climate and geo-economics. Tropical species saw a 60 percent drop, compared to a 29 percent increase in population for temperate species. 3Qs: Depletion of Earth's natural resources threatens biodiversity "We Are Living As If We Had One and a Half Planets" WWF report calls on Canada to ease demands on its resources, protect the planet |
Is There a Bigger Environmental Issue Than Climate Change? Scientists Say Yes. - KCET (blog)
Is There a Bigger Environmental Issue Than Climate Change? Scientists Say Yes. KCET (blog) In other words, according to NCEAS, loss in biodiversity poses just as big a threat to the planet as climate change or pollution. NCEAS isn't alone in this assessment. In January, biodiversity researchers from around the world convened in Copenhagen to ... |
Jamaica's Rich Biodiversity Faces Multiple Threats - Inter Press Service
 Business Mirror | Jamaica's Rich Biodiversity Faces Multiple Threats Inter Press Service By Zadie Neufville KINGSTON, May 11, 2012 (IPS) - Jamaican authorities are going all out to achieve environmental sustainability as one way of minimising the expected impacts of climate change on the local biodiversity. There is no up-to-date inventory ... Climate change and marine biodiversity: Saving the ocean's web of life under ... |