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Related Concept Videos

What is Biodiversity?01:19

What is Biodiversity?

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Biodiversity describes the variety of living things at multiple organizational levels: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity includes all branches of the evolutionary tree from single-celled prokaryotic organisms, bacteria, and archaea, to the eukaryotic kingdoms: plants; animals; fungi; and protists. To date, there have been about 1.75 million species identified, and new species are discovered every week.
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Threats to Biodiversity01:50

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There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...
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Human civilization relies on biodiversity in many ways. Sudden changes in species biodiversity result in environmental changes that can modify weather patterns and therefore human civilizations.
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Habitat Fragmentation02:31

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Genetic variations accumulating within populations over generations give rise to biological evolution. Evolutionary changes can result in the formation of novel varieties and entire new species. These changes are responsible for the diverse forms of life inhabiting the planet. The evidence for evolution suggests that all living organisms descended from common ancestors.
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Molecular taxonomy has revolutionized the understanding and classification of bacteria, providing precise insights into their diversity, evolutionary relationships, and ecological roles. By utilizing molecular techniques such as DNA sequencing and fingerprinting, researchers have made significant strides in various fields related to bacterial studies.Resolving Taxonomic AmbiguitiesMolecular taxonomy has been instrumental in distinguishing closely related bacterial species initially thought to...
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Microbiota of Attine Ants' Gardens: Visualizing a Microbial Landscape by Scanning Electron Microscopy
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Global patterns in biodiversity.

K J Gaston1

  • 1Department of Animal and Plant Sciences, University of Sheffield, UK. k.j.gaston@sheffield.ac.uk

Nature
|May 23, 2000
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Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

Understanding Earth's biodiversity patterns is a major ecological challenge. Recent theoretical advancements are improving consistency and empirical testing for these spatial patterns.

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Area of Science:

  • Ecology
  • Biogeography
  • Spatial Ecology

Background:

  • Biodiversity distribution across Earth exhibits broad-scale spatial patterns.
  • These patterns are well-documented but their underlying causes remain a significant scientific challenge.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To explore the intellectual challenges in understanding the causes of biodiversity spatial patterns.
  • To highlight the rapid development of ecological and biogeographical theory in addressing these challenges.

Main Methods:

  • Review of current ecological and biogeographical theories.
  • Analysis of the empirical testability of theoretical frameworks.

Main Results:

  • Biodiversity distribution can be simplified into a few large-scale spatial patterns.
  • Theoretical frameworks are becoming more internally consistent.
  • Theories are increasingly amenable to empirical validation.

Conclusions:

  • Explaining the origins of biodiversity patterns is a key frontier in ecology and biogeography.
  • Advancing theory is crucial for understanding and predicting biodiversity distribution.
  • Interdisciplinary approaches are vital for tackling complex ecological questions.