Biodiversity, also called biological diversity, is the variety of life found in a place on Earth or, often, the total variety of life on Earth. A common measure of this variety, called species richness, is the count of species in an area. Biodiversity also encompasses the genetic variety within each species and the variety of ecosystems that species create.
What is the definition of biodiversity?
What are the ways to measure biodiversity?
Examining counts of species is the most common method used to compare the biodiversity of various places. A second way to weigh species biodiversity is to recognize the unique biodiversity of those habitats that contain few but unusual species, such as volcanoes, thermal vents, and hot springs. In practice, biodiversity is weighted differently for different species.
