### difference | dissimilarity | heterogeneity | diversity:

Biodiversity
* Most biodiversity affects climates
  - products
  - has values
* Most biodiversity refers to differences
* Some biodiversity enhances food security.
* Some biodiversity has direct economic benefits
* also helps in the preservation of wild animals of all kinds
  - increases the beauty of the planet
  - refers to the diversity within species
  - supplies indirect services to humans which are often taken for granted
* arises through evolution.
* can be a rich sourcesof food and priceless medicines to mankind
  - provide value directly to humans
* comes to fruition in restoration ecology.
* comprises all forms of life, plants and animals and microorganisms.
* consists of every living thing on earth.
* constantly changing, even frantic, dance of life.
* constitutes a patrimony of great economic, aesthetic, and cultural value for Mexico.
* contributes to ecosystem complexity
  - the stability of ecosystems
* depends on preserving habitats containing the broadest range of species or varieties
  - the rate of speciation
  - upon ecosystem diversity
* encourages a healthier ecosystem.
* enriches our lives - intellectually, aesthetically, economically, and culturally.
* ensures resources.
* exists even around an active or dormant volcano.
* fundamental necessity of nature to maintain the ecological balance on the planet
  - principle of life on our planet
* good indicator of ecosystem health.
* hallmark of sustainable fa rming ecologies.
* happens to be greatest in the world's primary tropical rainforests.
* has NO aesthetic value
  - ecological, economic, social, cultural and intrinsic values
  - many meanings
* has several different forms, in functional, ecological, genetic, and species diversity
  - levels of meaning in a landscape
  - social values, including aesthetic, scientific, recreational and cultural values
  - success
* helps keep ecosystems healthy.
* holds the promise of sustainable development for the world.
* includes components
  - domesticated as well as wild species of plants and animals
  - dynamic ecological processes
  - genes, species and ecosystems
  - genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity
  - lizards, bats, woodpeckers, and snakes
  - other components
  - plant s, animal s, fungi, and other living things
  - two other components as well- genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity
* increases stability
  - the ability of an ecosystem to withstand environmental change
* indicates ecosystem health but faces threats today.
* influences productivity and sustainability in experimental grassland ecosystems.
* is about economic markets, and biodiversity is about global environmental change
  - ecosystems, species and genes
  - local uniqueness
  - ordinary people
  - affected by extensive as well as intensive livestock production
  - all the different kinds of species in an area
* is also fragile, with few but highly specialized and adapted species
  - important in that it offers a source of food and medication to human beings
* is an ecological term that has now come into common usage
  - essential consideration for sustainable fisheries and aquaculture
  - established marquee term in the popular media
  - extremely important concept because on a global level it is rapidly decreasing
* is an important element of sustainable development
  - natural resource
  - part of urban forestry
  - incredibly powerful force that keeps species evolving
  - indicator of a healthy environment
  - insurance policy against unknown environmental fluctuations and disturbances
  - internationally recognized political and societal issue
  - intrinsic value of the forest system
  - basically genetic diversity
  - concerned with our living planet
  - considered the same as nature and wilderness is considered to be the same as nature
  - decreased when non-native species are introduced for several reasons
  - defined in different ways
  - equated with the number of different organisms present in a habitat
  - especially important to the medical and pharmaceutical industries
* is essential for a healthy and functional ecosystem
  - supporting human life on Earth
  - to agriculture
  - greater in silvopasture than the other systems
  - greatest where distinct habitat types come into contact
  - higher in the tropics than in the temperate areas
  - important because it contributes to resiliency
* is important for a number of reasons
  - human beings in a number of ways
  - many reasons
  - the survival of all life on Earth
  - to people in many ways
  - increased in agroecosystems by attracting insects with weed border plants
  - indeed the spice of life
  - just a modern term used to describe all the plants and animals that exist in nature
  - life, and it is the basis for our lives and livelihoods
  - lost when humans take over what is grown, such as crops
  - mainly concerned with species richness and frequency in an ecosystem
  - measured in particular units
  - more than just the number of different plant and animal species
* is of considerable direct economic value, and provides key support to the biosphere
  - great economic value for plant breeding and new industrial uses
* is one metric for health, functioning at particular spatial scales and thematic levels
  - of Earth s most ecologically important natural resources
  - particularly critical in Hawai'i
  - rich of flora and fauna including rare species and very rare species
  - shorthand for biological diversity, the variety of life on Earth
* is the assortment, or variety, of living things in an ecosystem
  - biological subject they focus on
* is the diversity of life within a ecosystem or biome
  - life-forms
  - plant and animal life found in a particular area
  - key to a healthy ecosystem
  - number of species in a given ecosystem
* is the product of and, in turn, the provider of life on Earth
  - species repeatedly chiselling out niches in complex systems
  - shortened term for biological diversity
  - term used to describe the great variety of life forms found upon earth
  - total of all the species living in a given area
  - variation and variety of genes, organisms and species found in an ecosystem
* is the variety and spice of life
  - of all life on earth
* is the variety of life at all levels of biology
  - forms on earth
* is the variety of life on Earth
  - life-forms that exist or existed in the past
* is the variety of living organisms in an area
  - things that populate the Earth
  - variety, richness, and complexity of life that exists within nature
  - very fabric of our existence
* is vital in supporting human life on Earth
  - to any healthy ecosystem
  - what makes the world go round
  - when organisms vary in a specific ecosystem
* is, simply put, all life on earth, even that which has yet to be discovered.
* key factor in making a local area distinctive and recognisable.
* lessens the risk of cascading extinction in model food webs.
* lot more than just the number of different plant and animal species.
* makes ecosystems better.
* means biological diversity
  - the variety and variability of plant and animal species
* measure of the health of ecosystems.
* measure of the variety of different species living in a habitat
  - organisms present in different ecosystems
* new study among the scientific community.
* offers more protection for an ecosystem.
* often conjures thoughts of mammals, plants, birds, insects, spiders and molluscs.
* plays a powerful role in ecosystems by indicating the condition of the environment
  - vital role in maintaining stability in a natural ecosystem
  - an important part in all aspects of life
  - vital roles in our everyday lives
* promotes stability.
* property of a particular geographic area.
* provides a matrix of life that makes the most basic of natural processes possible
  - sense of place
  - actual and potential material and economic benefits to people
  - medical models for research into solving human health problems
* refers to all living organisms and their genes
  - the different kinds of living organisms within a given area
  - genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity
* refers to the diversity of plants and animals and the place they live
  - genetic variation of all life on Earth
  - immense variety of plant and animal species that inhabit the planet
  - incredible variety of plant and animal species on the planet
  - many different forms of life
  - multitude of different forms of life
  - number and variety of species and the range of their genetic makeup
  - total number of species, genes, and ecosystems found on our planet
  - variety of plant and animal life that live on the natural areas
* result of the interaction of species with their environment.
* scientific name that is short for biological diversity
  - term that is now commonly used
* shorthand term for biological diversity, or the rich variety of life on Earth.
* simply refers to the variety of life on Earth.
* source of strength in the ecosystem.
* stabilizes ecosystems and strengthens their ability to recover from damage
* therefore embraces the whole of the incredible variety of life found on earth.
* underpins our way of life
  - the health of the planet and has a direct impact on all our lives
* word that describes the variety of living things.