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Biological diversity, often shortened
to biodiversity, is the variety of life on earth. Biodiversity
includes the differences in structure, function and genetic make-up
between living organisms and the ecosystems in which they occur.
Biodiversity reflects variability at the genetic, species and
ecosystem level.
Biodiversity is important for people,
especially poor people, who depend heavily on biodiversity to
provide many basic needs, such as food and medicine. Biodiversity is
the source of breeding and seed stocks for crops, and livestock and
wildlife production, and allows the environment to provide services
such as flood control and pollutant absorption.
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| Habitat loss and
conservation |
Habitats are places in the environment
where plants, animals and other organisms can live, feed and breed.
Biodiversity relies on there being sufficient habitats for different
organisms to survive. Habitats can be changed, fragmented or even
lost through human activities such as agriculture, urban sprawl and
industrialisation. Other threats include climate change and
desertification and the spread of alien species. The indicators that
reflect
this issue are:
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| Protecting species |
One way of measuring biodiversity is to
consider the species that occur in an area. Although biodiversity is
equally important at the level of genes and landscapes, looking at
species is a relatively simple way of expressing biodiversity. The
indicator addressing
species protection is:
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