Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.
- noun The number and variety of species found within a specified geographic region.
- noun The variability among living organisms on the earth, including the variability within and between species and within and between ecosystems.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.
- noun biology the
diversity (number andvariety ofspecies ) ofplant andanimal life within aregion
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- noun the diversity of plant and animal life in a particular habitat (or in the world as a whole)
Etymologies
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
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Examples
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Perhaps inevitably, such an all-encompassing definition, together with the strong emotive power of the concept, has led to somewhat cavalier use of the term biodiversity, in extreme cases to refer to life or biology itself.
Biodiversity 2009
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Biologists use the term biodiversity to describe the earth's stunning variety.
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Colin: As a graduate student, I suspect the scientific community is trying to tighten its use of the term biodiversity because it encompasses many ...
The Sietch Blog 2009
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Colin: As a graduate student, I suspect the scientific community is trying to tighten its use of the term biodiversity because it encompasses many ...
The Sietch Blog 2009
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Meanwhile, the aspect of Darwinian evolution of most importance for biogeography, the aspect critical for what we call biodiversity, is the idea that given a variety of individuals in a species, natural forces (environment, physiology, and so on) will make some individuals more likely to reproduce, and their genes, over the long term, more likely to predominate and shape the traits of the species.
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"It is the little things, microscopic animals like nematodes, that truly run our world," said Wilson, who coined the term biodiversity decades ago.
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"It is the little things, microscopic animals like nematodes, that truly run our world," said Wilson, who coined the term biodiversity decades ago.
IPS Inter Press Service Stephen Leahy <editors@ipsnews.net> 2010
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Genetically engineered crops should be planted widely, the better to feed everyone effectively - 'biodiversity' is nothing more than a gaia-worshipping scam in such cases.
Greenpeace In Mexico 2005
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Genetically engineered crops should be planted widely, the better to feed everyone effectively - 'biodiversity' is nothing more than a gaia-worshipping scam in such cases.
Greenpeace In Mexico 2005
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Genetically engineered crops should be planted widely, the better to feed everyone effectively - 'biodiversity' is nothing more than a gaia-worshipping scam in such cases.
Greenpeace In Mexico 2005
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