Biodiversity, or biological diversity, is the whole, interacting variety of life on Earth, the natural wealth of the world. Biodiversity refers to all the different plants, animals and micro-organisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystems of which they form a part. Biodiversity is a constantly changing, even frantic, dance of life. It is increased by new genetic variation as species evolve. It is reduced by habitat degradation and extinction.
Biodiversity is the product of and, in turn, the provider of life on Earth.
It supports human survival, providing us with food, fresh air, clean water and numerous services such as climate regulation, pollutant breakdown and absorption of carbon dioxide. As the world's largest island, Australia has a great marine biodiversity , that is, a wide variety of life in its fringing oceans and seas. Queensland's marine biodiversity is extremely valuable , for economic and social reasons. Yet we still know so little about the diversity of life on Earth. An estimated 90 percent of all living species are still unknown to science.