BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity, a contraction of "biological diversity," generally refers to the variety and variability of life on
Earth. One of the most widely used definitions defines it in terms of the variability within species, between
species, and between ecosystems. It is a measure of the variety of organisms present in
different ecosystems. This can refer to genetic variation, ecosystem variation, or species variation
(number of species) within an area, biome, or planet. Terrestrial biodiversity tends to be greater near
the equator, which seems to be the result of the warm climate and high primary productivity. Biodiversity
is not distributed evenly on Earth. It is richest in the tropics. Marine biodiversity tends to be highest along
coasts in the Western Pacific, where sea surface temperature is highest and in the mid-latitudinal band in
all oceans. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity. Biodiversity generally tends to cluster in
hotspots, and has been increasing through time, but will be likely to slow in the future.]
The number and variety of plants, animals and other organisms that exist is known as biodiversity. It is an
essential component of nature and it ensures the survival of human species by providing food, fuel,
shelter, medicines and other resources to mankind. The richness of biodiversity depends on the climatic
conditions and area of the region. All species of plants taken together are known as flora and about
70,000 species of plants are known till date. All species of animals taken together are known as fauna
which includes birds, mammals, fish, reptiles, insects, crustaceans, molluscs, etc.
Rapid environmental changes typically cause mass extinctions. More than 99 percent of all species,
amounting to over five billion species, that ever lived on Earth are estimated to be extinct. Estimates on
the number of Earth's current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have
been documented and over 86 percent have not yet been described. The total amount of
related DNA base pairs on Earth is estimated at 5.0 x 1037, and weighs 50 billion tonnes. In comparison,
the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as 4 TtC (trillion tons of carbon).
The age of the Earth is about 4.54 billion years old. The earliest undisputed evidence of life on
Earth dates at least from 3.5 billion years ago, during the Eoarchean Era after a geological crust started to
solidify following the earlier molten Hadean Eon. There are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-yearold sandstone discovered in Western Australia. Other early physical evidence of a biogenic
substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old metasedimentary rocks discovered in Western
Greenland. More recently, in 2015, "remains of biotic life" were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in
Western Australia. According to one of the researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth ... then it
could be common in the universe.
Since life began on Earth, five major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and
sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic eon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in

biodiversity via the Cambrian explosiona period during which the majority of multicellular phyla first
appeared. The next 400 million years included repeated, massive biodiversity losses classified as mass
extinction events. In the Carboniferous, rainforest collapse led to a great loss
of plant and animal life. The PermianTriassic extinction event, 251 million years ago, was the worst;
vertebrate recovery took 30 million years. The most recent, the CretaceousPaleogene extinction event,
occurred 65 million years ago and has often attracted more attention than others because it resulted in
the extinction of the dinosaurs.
The period since the emergence of humans has displayed an ongoing biodiversity reduction and an
accompanying loss of genetic diversity. Named the Holocene extinction, the reduction is caused primarily
by human impacts, particularly habitat destruction. Conversely, biodiversity impacts human health in a
number of ways, both positively and negatively.
"Biodiversity" is most commonly used to replace the more clearly defined and long established
terms, species diversity and species richness. Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of
genes, species, and ecosystems of a region. An advantage of this definition is that it seems to describe
most circumstances and presents a unified view of the traditional types of biological variety previously
identified:

taxonomic diversity (usually measured at the species diversity level)

ecological diversity often viewed from the perspective of ecosystem diversity

morphological diversity which stems from genetic diversity

In 2003 Professor Anthony Campbell at Cardiff University, UK and the Darwin Centre, Pembrokeshire,
defined a fourth level: Molecular Diversity.
This multilevel construct is consistent with Dasmann and Lovejoy. An explicit definition consistent with this
interpretation was first given in a paper by Bruce A. Wilcox commissioned by the International Union for
the Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN) for the 1982 World National Parks
Conference. Wilcox's definition was "Biological diversity is the variety of life forms...at all levels of
biological systems (i.e., molecular, organismic, population, species and ecosystem)...". The 1992 United
Nations Earth Summit defined "biological diversity" as "the variability among living organisms from all
sources, including, 'inter alia', terrestrial, marine, and other aquatic ecosystems, and the ecological
complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within species, between species and of
ecosystems". This definition is used in the United NationsConvention on Biological Diversity.
One textbook's definition is "variation of life at all levels of biological organization".

Genetically biodiversity can be defined as the diversity of alleles, genes, and organisms. They study
processes such asmutation and gene transfer that drive evolution.
Measuring diversity at one level in a group of organisms may not precisely correspond to diversity at other
levels. However, tetrapod (terrestrial vertebrates) taxonomic and ecological diversity shows a very close
correlation.

POPULATION
A population is a summation of all the organisms of the same group or species, which live in a
particular geographical area, and have the capability of interbreeding.
In ecology, the population of a certain species in a certain area is estimated using the Lincoln Index. The area that is
used to define a sexual population is defined as the area where inter-breeding is potentially possible between any
pair within the area. The probability of interbreeding is greater than the probability of cross-breeding with individuals
from other areas. Under normal conditions, breeding is substantially more common within the area than across the
border.
In sociology, population refers to a collection of humans. Demography is a social science which entails the statistical
study of human populations. This article refers mainly to human population.
Population genetics (ecology)

In population genetics a sexual population is a set of organisms in which any pair of members can breed together.
This means that they can regularly exchange gametes to produce normally-fertile offspring, and such a breeding
group is also known therefore as a gamodeme. This also implies that all members belong to the same of species,
such as humans. If the gamodeme is very large (theoretically, approaching infinity), and all gene alleles are uniformly
distributed by the gametes within it, the gamodeme is said to be panmictic. Under this state, allele (gamete)
frequencies can be converted to genotype (zygote) frequencies by expanding an appropriate quadratic equation, as
shown by Sir Ronald Fisher in his establishment of quantitative genetics.
This seldom occurs in nature: localisation of gamete exchange through dispersal limitations, or preferential mating,
or cataclysm, or other cause may lead to small actual gamodemes which exchange gametes reasonably uniformly
within themselves, but are virtually separated from their neighbouring gamodemes. However, there may be low
frequencies of exchange with these neighbours. This may be viewed as the breaking up of a large sexual population
(panmictic) into smaller overlapping sexual populations. This failure of panmixia leads to two important changes in
overall population structure: (1) the component gamodemes vary (through gamete sampling) in their allele
frequencies when compared with each other and with the theoretical panmictic original (this is known as dispersion,

and its details can be estimated using expansion of an appropriate binomial equation); and (2) the level of
homozygosity rises in the entire collection of gamodemes. The overall rise in homozygosity is quantified by
the inbreeding coefficient (f or ). Note that all homozygotes are increased in frequency both the deleterious and
the desirable. The mean phenotype of the gamodemes collection is lower than that of the panmictic "original" which
is known as inbreeding depression. It is most important to note, however, that some dispersion lines will be superior
to the panmictic original, while some will be about the same, and some will be inferior. The probabilities of each can
be estimated from those binomial equations. In plant and animal breeding, procedures have been developed which
deliberately utilise the effects of dispersion (such as line breeding, pure-line breeding, back-crossing). It can be
shown that dispersion-assisted selection leads to the greatest genetic advance (G = change in the phenotypic
mean), and is much more powerful than selection acting without attendant dispersion. This is so for both allogamous
(random fertilization) and autogamous (self-fertilization) gamodemes.

ECOSYSTEM
An ecosystem is a community of living organisms in conjunction with the nonliving components of
their environment (things like air, water and mineral soil), interacting as a system. These biotic
and abiotic components are regarded as linked together through nutrient cycles and energy
flows. The relationship between the abiotic components and the biotic components of the ecosystem
is termed 'holocoenosis'. As ecosystems are defined by the network of interactions among
organisms, and between organisms and their environment, they can be of any size but usually
encompass specific, limited spaces (although some scientists say that the entire planet is an
ecosystem).
Energy, water, nitrogen and soil minerals are other essential abiotic components of an ecosystem.
The energy that flows through ecosystems is obtained primarily from the sun. It generally enters the
system through photosynthesis, a process that also captures carbon from the atmosphere. By
feeding on plants and on one another, animals play an important role in the movement of matter and
energy through the system. They also influence the quantity of plant and microbial biomass present.
By breaking down dead organic matter, decomposers release carbon back to the atmosphere and
facilitate nutrient cycling by converting nutrients stored in dead biomass back to a form that can be
readily used by plants and other microbes.
Ecosystems are controlled both by external and internal factors. External factors such as climate,
the parent material that forms the soil, and topography control the overall structure of an ecosystem
and the way things work within it, but are not themselves influenced by the ecosystem. Other
external factors include time and potential biota. Ecosystems are dynamic entitiesinvariably, they
are subject to periodic disturbances and are in the process of recovering from some past
disturbance. Ecosystems in similar environments that are located in different parts of the world can
have very different characteristics simply because they contain different species. The introduction of

non-native species can cause substantial shifts in ecosystem function. Internal factors not only
control ecosystem processes but are also controlled by them and are often subject to feedback
loops. While the resource inputs are generally controlled by external processes like climate and
parent material, the availability of these resources within the ecosystem is controlled by internal
factors like decomposition, root competition or shading. Other internal factors include disturbance,
succession and the types of species present. Although humans exist and operate within ecosystems,
their cumulative effects are large enough to influence external factors like climate.
Biodiversity affects ecosystem function, as do the processes of disturbance and succession.
Ecosystems provide a variety of goods and services upon which people depend; the principles
of ecosystem management suggest that rather than managing individual species, natural
resources should be managed at the level of the ecosystem itself. Classifying ecosystems into
ecologically homogeneous units is an important step towards effective ecosystem management, but
there is no single, agreed-upon way to do this.

ABIOTIC COMPONENT
In biology and ecology, abiotic components include physical conditions and non-living resources that
affect living organisms in terms of growth, maintenance, and reproduction. Resources are
distinguished as substances or objects in the environment required by one organism and consumed
or otherwise made unavailable for use by other organisms.
Component degradation of a substance by chemical or physical processes, e.g. hydrolysis. All nonliving components of an ecosystem is called abiotic components. To make it more easy you could
just say that abiotic is non-living factors such as the atmosphere or water is a non-living substance.

Examples
In biology, abiotic factors can include water, light, radiation, temperature, humidity, atmosphere, and
soil. The macroscopic climate often influences each of the above. Pressure and sound waves may
also be considered in the context of marine or sub-terrestrial environments.
All of these factors affect different organisms to different extents. If there is little or no sunlight then
plants may wither and die from not being able to get enough sunlight to complete the cycle of
photosynthesis. Many Archea require very high temperatures, or pressures, or unusual
concentrations of chemical substances, such as sulfur, because of their specialization into extreme
conditions. Certain fungi have evolved to survive mostly at the temperature, the humidity, and
stability of their environment.

For example, there is a significant difference in access to water as well as humidity

between temperate rain forests and deserts. This difference in water access causes a diversity in the
types of plants and animals that grow in these areas.

BIOTIC COMPONENT
Biotic describes a living or once living component of a community; for example organisms, such as
plants and animals.
Biotic may refer to:

Life, the condition of living orgasams

Biology, the study of life

Biotic material, which is derived from living organisms

Biotic components in ecology

Biotic potential, an organism's reproductive capacity

Biotic community, all the interacting organisms living together in a specific habitat

Biotic energy, a vital force theorized by biochemist Benjamin Moore

BIOGEOCHEMICAL CYCLE
In Earth science, a biogeochemical cycle or substance turnover or cycling of substances is a pathway by which
a chemical substance moves through both biotic (biosphere) and abiotic (lithosphere,atmosphere, and hydrosphere)
compartments of Earth. A cycle is a series of change which comes back to the starting point and which can be
repeated. Water, for example, is always recycled through the water cycle, as shown in the diagram. The water
undergoes evaporation, condensation, and precipitation, falling back to Earth. Elements, chemical compounds, and
other forms of matter are passed from one organism to another and from one part of the biosphere to another
through biogeochemical cycles.
The term "biogeochemical" tells us that biological, geological and chemical factors are all involved. The circulation of
chemical nutrients like carbon, oxygen, nitrogen, phosphorus, calcium, and water etc. through the biological and
physical world are known as biogeochemical cycles. In effect, the element is recycled, although in some cycles there
may be places (called reservoirs) where the element is accumulated or held for a long period of time (such as an
ocean or lake for water).

Important cycles
The most well-known and important biogeochemical cycles, for example, include

the carbon cycle,

the nitrogen cycle,

the oxygen cycle,

the phosphorus cycle,

the sulfur cycle,

the water cycle,

and the rock cycle.

There are many biogeochemical cycles that are currently being studied for the first time as climate change and
human impacts are drastically changing the speed, intensity, and balance of these relatively unknown cycles. These
newly studied biogeochemical cycles include

the mercury cycle, and

the human-caused cycle of atrazine, which may affect certain species.

Biogeochemical cycles always involve hot equilibrium states: a balance in the cycling of the element between
compartments. However, overall balance may involve compartments distributed on a global scale.
As biogeochemical cycles describe the movements of substances on the entire globe, the study of these is inherently
multidiciplinary. The carbon cycle may be related to research in ecology and atmospheric sciences. Biochemical
dynamics would also be related to the fields of geology and pedology (soil study).

GLOBAL WARMING
Global warming and climate change are terms for the observed century-scale rise in the average
temperature of the Earth's climate system and its related effects.
Multiple lines of scientific evidence show that the climate system is warming. Although the increase of
near-surface atmospheric temperature is the measure of global warming often reported in the popular
press, most of the additional energy stored in the climate system since 1970 has gone into ocean

warming. The remainder has melted ice and warmed the continents and atmosphere. Many of the
observed changes since the 1950s are unprecedented over decades to millennia.
Scientific understanding of global warming is increasing. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate
Change(IPCC) reported in 2014 that scientists were more than 95% certain that global warming is mostly
being caused by increasing concentrations of greenhouse gases (GHG) and other human
(anthropogenic) activities. Climate model projections summarized in the report indicated that during the
21st century the global surface temperature is likely to rise a further 0.3 to 1.7 C (0.5 to 3.1 F) for their
lowest emissions scenario using stringent mitigation and 2.6 to 4.8 C (4.7 to 8.6 F) for their
highest. These findings have been recognized by the national science academies of the major
industrialized nations and are not disputed by any scientific body of national or international standing.
Future climate change and associated impacts will differ from region to region around the globe.
Anticipated effects include warming global temperature, rising sea levels, changing precipitation, and
expansion of deserts in the subtropics. Warming is expected to be greater over land than over the oceans
and greatest in the Arctic, with the continuing retreat of glaciers, permafrost and sea ice. Other likely
changes include more frequent extreme weather events including heat waves, droughts,
heavy rainfall withfloods and heavy snowfall; ocean acidification; and species extinctions due to shifting
temperature regimes. Effects significant to humans include the threat to food security from decreasing
crop yields and theabandonment of populated areas due to rising sea levels.
Possible societal responses to global warming include mitigation by emissions reduction, adaptation to its
effects, building systems resilient to its effects, and possible future climate engineering. Most countries
are parties to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), whose ultimate
objective is to prevent dangerous anthropogenic climate change. The UNFCCC have adopted a range of
policies designed to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and to assist in adaptation to global
warming. Parties to the UNFCCC have agreed that deep cuts in emissions are required, and that future
global warming should be limited to below 2.0 C (3.6 F) relative to the pre-industrial level.
On 12 November 2015, NASA scientists reported that human-made carbon dioxide (CO2) continues to
increase above levels not seen in hundreds of thousands of years: currently, about half of the carbon
dioxide released from the burning of fossil fuels is not absorbed by vegetation and the oceans and
remains in the atmosphere.

CLIMATE CHANGE
Climate change is a change in the statistical distribution of weather patterns when that change lasts for an extended
period of time (i.e., decades to millions of years). Climate change may refer to a change in average weather
conditions, or in the time variation of weather around longer-term average conditions (i.e., more or fewer extreme

weather events). Climate change is caused by factors such as biotic processes, variations in solar radiation received
by Earth, plate tectonics, and volcanic eruptions. Certain human activities have also been identified as significant
causes of recent climate change, often referred to as "global warming".
Scientists actively work to understand past and future climate by using observations and theoretical models.
A climatere cordextending deep into the Earth's pasthas been assembled, and continues to be built up, based on
geological evidence from borehole temperature profiles, cores removed from deep accumulations of
ice, floral and faunal records, glacial and periglacial processes, stable-isotope and other analyses of sediment layers,
and records of past sea levels. More recent data are provided by the instrumental record. General circulation models,
based on the physical sciences, are often used in theoretical approaches to match past climate data, make future
projections, and link causes and effects in climate change.

Causes
On the broadest scale, the rate at which energy is received from the Sun and the rate at which it is lost to space
determine the equilibrium temperature and climate of Earth. This energy is distributed around the globe by winds,
ocean currents, and other mechanisms to affect the climates of different regions.
Factors that can shape climate are called climate forcings or "forcing mechanisms". These include processes such as
variations in solar radiation, variations in the Earth's orbit, variations in the albedo or reflectivity of the continents and
oceans, mountain-building and continental drift and changes in greenhouse gas concentrations. There are a variety
of climate change feedbacks that can either amplify or diminish the initial forcing. Some parts of the climate system,
such as the oceans and ice caps, respond more slowly in reaction to climate forcings, while others respond more
quickly. There are also key threshold factors which when exceeded can produce rapid change.
Forcing mechanisms can be either "internal" or "external". Internal forcing mechanisms are natural processes within
the climate system itself (e.g., the thermohaline circulation). External forcing mechanisms can be either natural (e.g.,
changes in solar output) or anthropogenic (e.g., increased emissions of greenhouse gases).
Whether the initial forcing mechanism is internal or external, the response of the climate system might be fast (e.g., a
sudden cooling due to airborne volcanic ash reflecting sunlight), slow (e.g. thermal expansion of warming ocean
water), or a combination (e.g., sudden loss of albedo in the arctic ocean as sea ice melts, followed by more gradual
thermal expansion of the water). Therefore, the climate system can respond abruptly, but the full response to forcing
mechanisms might not be fully developed for centuries or even longer.