Biodiversity
Biodiversity refers to the diversity of living species within the planet’s biosphere.
The following paragraph has been extracted from the beginning of the Wikipedia entry for Biodiversity:
“Biodiversity is the variability of life on Earth. It can be measured on various levels, for example, genetic variability, species diversity, ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity.[1] Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth—it is greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator. Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than one-fifth of Earth’s terrestrial area and contain about 50% of the world’s species.[2] There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity for both marine and terrestrial taxa.[3]“
Biodiversity Loss
Biodiversity loss is a serious consequence of human activity on our planet, particularly in the last few hundred years, but critically since the development of modern 20th and 21st century technology and the extremely rapid growth (relative to comparatively very slow natural changes that may occur over thousands of years) in the human exploitation of the planet’s natural resources.
The following paragraph has been extracted from the beginning of the Wikipedia entry for Biodiversity Loss:
“Biodiversity loss happens when species disappear completely from Earth (extinction) or when there is a decrease or disappearance of species in a specific area. Biodiversity loss means that there is a reduction in biological diversity in a given area. The decrease can be temporary or permanent. It is temporary if the damage that led to the loss is reversible in time, for example through ecological restoration. If this is not possible, then the decrease is permanent. The cause of most of the biodiversity loss is, generally speaking, human activities that push the planetary boundaries too far.[1][2][3] These activities include habitat destruction[4] (for example deforestation) and land use intensification (for example monoculture farming).[5][6] Further problem areas are air and water pollution (including nutrient pollution), over-exploitation, invasive species[7] and climate change.[4]“
The following graph illustrating the serious decline in species has been extracted from Wikipedia who sourced it from the World Wildlife Fund.
Further data is available from the Living Planet Index,
(Updated: 27/11/25).