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What is Biodiversity?

What is Biodiversity?

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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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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Ecological Disturbance

Ecological Disturbance

An ecological disturbance is a temporary disruption in the environment resulting from abiotic, biotic, or anthropogenic factors, causing a pronounced change in an ecosystem. The impact of an ecological disturbance, which can depend on its intensity, frequency, and spatial distribution, plays a significant role in shaping the species diversity within the ecosystem.

Habitat Fragmentation

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Related Experiment Video

Updated: May 10, 2026

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles

A Concoction Pipeline for Generating Molecular Operational Taxonomic Units (MOTUs) Among Riparian and Aquatic Beetles

Published on: July 11, 2025

Biodiversity data should be published, cited, and peer reviewed.

Mark J Costello¹, William K Michener, Mark Gahegan

¹Institute of Marine Science, University of Auckland, Auckland, 1142, New Zealand. m.costello@auckland.ac.nz

Trends in Ecology & Evolution

|June 13, 2013

Summary

This summary is machine-generated.

Improving public biodiversity databases through a structured publication process enhances data quality and usability. This system offers automated checks, peer review, and credit for data contributions, boosting scientific research and societal benefits.

Keywords:

Global Biodiversity Information Facility databases journals quality control species

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Published on: September 22, 2021

Area of Science:

Biodiversity science
Data science
Scholarly publishing

Background:

Public biodiversity databases are crucial for research and societal benefit.
Concerns about data quality hinder the effective use of these databases.
Current data quality issues necessitate improved data management and publication practices.

Purpose of the Study:

To propose a novel staged publication process for biodiversity data.
To enhance data accuracy, usability, and integration across datasets.
To establish a system for crediting data authors and editors through metrics.

Main Methods:

Implementing automated quality control checks for biodiversity data.
Introducing editorial oversight and decision-making in data publication.
Incorporating an optional peer-review stage for the highest standard of data publication.
Adopting standards for data citation, accessibility, metadata, and quality control.

Main Results:

The proposed process aims to improve data accuracy and reduce user data cleaning efforts.
It is expected to increase the overall use of biodiversity data.
The system facilitates data integration by promoting standardized practices.

Conclusions:

A staged publication process, including quality controls and optional peer review, can significantly improve public biodiversity databases.
This approach addresses data quality concerns, enhances data utility, and provides recognition for data creators.
Adopting standardized data practices is essential for advancing biodiversity science and its applications.