Biology › Section S · Ecosystems and conservation › Topic S.4
The biodiversity crisis and why it matters
Species have always appeared and disappeared, but the fossil record shows a handful of moments when life was cut back on a massive scale. Many biologists think we are living through the start of another, and this time one species is the cause. Here is how biodiversity is measured, how fast it is being lost, and what people lose with it.
In this topic
- How much life is there?
- Three levels of biodiversity
- Counting species: richness and evenness
- Worked example: comparing two meadows
- Where biodiversity is concentrated
- Speciation, extinction and mass extinctions
- The end-Cretaceous extinction
- Extinction in human times
- Worked example: how fast is too fast?
- Why biodiversity matters to people
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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