Biodiversity

Biological Diversity or Biodiversity is the variety of the earths living organisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystems they compose. This includes the different species of plants, animals and microorganisms that make up an ecosystem. Biodiversity is a key element in the earth’s biosphere- the capability of earth and its atmosphere to support life- due to the earth’s dependency on the maintenance of biodiversity and other non-living objects. This is why the preservation and knowing the threats to biodiversity is highly recommended, as we ourselves depend so heavily on biodiversity and can help maintain it for future generations. Although, before knowing the threats we must first identify the different aspects of biodiversity.
Generally there are three levels of Biodiversity
Although some researchers argue there are more levels most generally believe that the 3 levels given are an appropriate amount to work with.
Genetic Diversity is the variations of genetic composition within a living species. For example all organisms that re

It is crucial for everyone to have some knowledge of biodiversity as this makes us aware of the seriousness of the situation. Simply by cleaning the bottoms of your shoes before returning from an overseas trip can help prevent any seeds or insects travelling into the country and can also prevent you from receiving a fine for negligence. Also, by being conscious of where you through your litter could possibly prevent your rubbish from entangling a small marine animal, and this will help in the struggle to decrease the level of environmental pollution. Just by being aware of the implications of everything we do can contribute in this countries endeavour to try preserve biodiversity, and therefore preserving our quality of life.

This level of diversity refers to both the species richness, the number of species there are currently interacting together and their relative abundance, the ratio of common species to rare ones, with in a community. A community is classified as “an assemblage of species living close enough together for potential interaction” (Campbell, Reece, Mitchell-1999- Biology 5th edition, pg 1107). Species diversity is of particular importance because each species of plants, animals or microorganisms plays a very distinct role in the functioning of the ecosystem. So the addition of a completely new variety of plant or animal or the rapid decline in the population, which often leads to extinction, of another species affects the entire balance of the ecosystem. For example a deciduous forest in West Virginia has 10 tree species all growing successfully there, although the general population of trees is made up 84% yellow poplar and sassafras, while four out of the ten species are only represented by singular trees. Thus, this particular forest would be an example of low species diversity.

The level of Genet