Biodiversity

Biodiversity is the term applied to the variety of organisms that occupy a given region. This
includes all organisms that live in the region, from microscopic protists to large mammals. The
region can be a political unit such as a country, a geographic feature such as a mountain range, or
the entire world.
The term "biodiversity" is a combination of two words, "biology" and "diversity." The union of
these two words is fairly recent, being inspired by the growing realization that the number of
species in the world is seriously declining. Used in this context, it has taken on a greater meaning
than just the variety of species, having grown to include three closely related levels: genetic
diversity, taxonomic diversity, and ecosystem diversity. Biodiversity is created by complex
physical and biological environments (ecosystem diversity) that allow organisms to evolve
specializations, and genetic barriers (genetic diversity) that allow them to speciate (taxonomic
diversity).
The importance of biodiversity has been recognized by people of many cultures and backgrounds
who understand the multitude of functions it serves for humans, from providing food to filtering
waste. Threats to biodiversity include direct killing of species by hunting, contaminating the
environment with toxins, and habitat loss . The loss of biodiversity through extinction must
ultimately be overcome by drastic changes of human behavior. Otherwise, humans will destroy
the very environment that supports them.