Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Biodiversity

  • Reference work entry
Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility

Synonyms

Biological diversity

Definition

Biodiversity means variation of life on Earth, from variation of genes and other biomolecules to variation of species and ecosystems, variation in the biosphere, the relatively thin layer of life covering Earth. The concept of biodiversity becomes more accurate when we think of another major variation in nature, geological variation or geodiversity, that is, variation in rocks, minerals, soils, and landforms. Actually, geodiversity, as well as variations in climate, radiation, temperature, moisture, and local hydrosphere, influences ecosystems and their variation, biodiversity on ecosystem level. The concepts of biodiversity and geodiversity are partly overlapping because in ecosystems, there is by definition both each locality’s living and nonliving parts.

Introduction

United Nations has declared the years 2011–2020 as United Nations Decade on Biodiversity (UNDB) because of the seriousness of the increasing loss of biodiversity, extinction of...

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 1,600.00
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 1,599.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References and Readings

  • Allen-Wardell, G., Bernhardt, P., Bitner, R., Burquez, A., Buchmann, S., Cane, J., Cox, P. A., Dalton, V., Feinsinger, P., Ingram, M., Inouye, D., Jones, C. E., Kennedy, K., Kevan, P., Koopowitz, H., Medellin, R., Medellin-Morales, S., & Nabhan, G. P. (1998). The potential consequences of pollinator declines on the conservation of biodiversity and stability of food crop yields. Conservation Biology, 12(1), 8–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Benayas, J., et al. (2009). Enhancement of biodiversity and ecosystem services by ecological restoration: A Meta-analysis. Science, 325(5944), 1121–1124.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bianchi, F., et al. (2006). Sustainable pest regulation in agricultural landscapes: A review on landscape composition, biodiversity and natural pest control. Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 273, 1715–1727.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brander, L., et al. (2006). The empirics of wetland valuation: A comprehensive summary and a meta-analysis of the literature. Environmental and Resource Economics, 33(2), 223–250.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, M., & Paxton, R. (2009). The conservation of bees: A global perspective. Apidologie, 40(3), 410–416.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bruijnzeel, L. A. (2004). Hydrological functions of tropical forests: Not seeing the soil for the trees? Agriculture, Ecosystems and Environment, 104, 185–228.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cao, S., & Kingston, D. G. I. (2009). Biodiversity conservation and drug discovery: can they be combined? The Suriname and Madagascar experiences. Pharmaceutical Biology, 47, 809–823.

    Google Scholar 

  • CBD. (2001). Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2001). Assessment and management of alien species that threaten ecosystems, habitats and species. Abstracts of keynote addresses and posters presented at the sixth meeting of the Subsidiary Body on Scientific, Technical and Technological Advice, held in Montreal, Canada, from 12 to 16 March 2001. CBD Technical Paper no. 1.

    Google Scholar 

  • Chenje, M., & Katerere, J. (2006). Chapter 10: Invasive alien species. In: UNEP 2006. Africa environment outlook 2: Our environment, our wealth. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi. Available online at: http://www.unep.org/DEWA/Africa/docs/en/AEO2_Our_Environ_Our_Wealth.pdf. Accessed 7 June 2012.

  • Dehghani, M., et al. (2010). Recreation value of hara biosphere reserve using willingness-to-pay method. International Journal of Environmental Research, 4(2), 271–280.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dudley, N., & Stolton, S. (Eds.). (2003). Running pure: the importance of forest protected areas to drinking water. Gland, Switzerland: WWF/World Bank Alliance for Forest Conservation and Sustainable Use.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faith, D. P. (2008). Biodiversity. In E. N. Zalta (Ed.), The Stanford encyclopedia of philosophy (Fall 2008 edition). http://plato.stanford.edu/entries/biodiversity/. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • FAO. (2011). Biodiversity for the world without hunger. http://www.fao.org/biodiversity/en/. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • Farnsworth, N., et al. (1985). Medicinal plants in therapy. Bulletin World Health Organisation., 63(6), 965–981.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fischlin, A., et al. (2007). Ecosystems, their properties, goods and services in Climate Change 2007: Impacts, adaptation and vulnerability. Contribution of Working Group II to the Fourth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPPC). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 211–272.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gallai, N., et al. (2009). Economic valuation of the vulnerability of world agriculture confronted with pollinator decline. Ecological Economics, 68, 810–821.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gaston, K., & Blackburn, T. (2003). Macroecology and conservation biology. In T. M. Blackburn & K. J. Gaston (Eds.), Macroecology: Concepts and consequences (pp. 345–67). Oxford: Blackwell Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • ICIMOD. (2009). Climate change impacts and vulnerability in the eastern Himalayas. Kathmandu: ICIMOD.

    Google Scholar 

  • IUCN. (2010). IUCN red list of threatened species. Summary statistics for globally threatened species. http://www.iucnredlist.org/documents/summarystatistics/2011_1_RL_Stats_Table_1.pdf. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • IUCN CEC. (2011). Easily identify species with new online service from CEC member in Finland http://www.iucn.org/about/union/commissions/cec/?2614/. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • Jaffe, R., et al. (2010). Estimating the density of honeybee colonies across their natural range to fill the gap in pollinator decline censuses. Conservation Biology, 24(2), 583–593.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kremen, C., & Chaplin-Kramer, R. (2007). Insects as providers of ecosystem services. Invited book chapter for “Insect Conservation Biology”, A. Stewart (Ed.). CABI Publishing. via: http://ecnr.berkeley.edu/persPage/dispPP.php?I=1436. Accessed 7 June 2012.

  • Lal, R. (2009). Ten tenets of sustainable soil management. Journal of Soil and Water Conservation, 64(1), doi:10.2489/jswc.64.1.20A.

    Google Scholar 

  • Le Maitre, D., et al. (2004). Alien plant invasions in South Africa: Driving forces and the human dimension. South African Journal of Science, 100(1), 103–112.

    Google Scholar 

  • Macdonald, I. A. W. (1994). Global change and alien invasions: Implications for biodiversity and protected area management. In O. T. Solbrig, H. M. Van Emden, & P. G. W. Van Oordt (Eds.), Biodiversity and global change (pp. 199–209). Paris: CAB International /IUBS.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mack, R., et al. (2000). Issues in ecology. Biotic invasions: Causes, epidemiology, global consequences, and control. Ecological Applications, 10(3), 689–710.

    Google Scholar 

  • Malcolm, J., et al. (2002). Estimated migration rates under scenarios of global climate change. Journal of Biogeography, 29, 835–849.

    Google Scholar 

  • Masood, E. (2006). Saving languages to save species. SciDevNet 3. 4. 2006. http://www.scidev.net/en/opinions/saving-languages-to-save-species.html. Accessed 10 June 2012.

  • Millenium Assessment. (2005). Ecosystems and human well-being: Biodiversity synthesis. Washington, DC: World Resources Institute.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mooney, H. et al. (1999). Ecosystem physiology responses to global change. In B. Walker et al. (Eds.), The terrestrial biosphere and global change. Implications for natural and managed ecosystems (pp. 141–149). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Mora, C., Tittensor D. P., Adl, S., Simpson, A. G. B., & Worm, B. (2011). How many species are there on earth and in the ocean? PLoS Biol 9(8), e1001127. doi:10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127.

    Google Scholar 

  • Naidoo, R., et al. (2008). Global mapping of ecosystem services and conservation priorities. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(28), 9495–9500.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nellemann, C., & Corcoran, E. (Eds.). (2010). Dead planet, living planet – Biodiversity and ecosystem restoration for sustainable development. A rapid response assessment. GRID-Arendal: United Nations Environment Programme. http://www.grida.no/publications/rr/dead-planet/. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • Pabon-Zamora, L. et al. (2008). Protected areas and human well-being: Experiences from Indonesia, Mexico, Peru and Venezuela. In SCBD – Secretariat of convention on biological diversity. Protected areas in today's world: Their values and benefits for the welfare of the planet. CBD Technical Series No. 36, Montreal.

    Google Scholar 

  • Pimentel, D., et al. (2004). Water resources: Agricultural and environmental issues. BioScience, 54(10), 909–918.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sala, O., et al. (2000). Global biodiversity scenarios for the year 2100. Science, 287(5459), 1770–1774.

    Google Scholar 

  • SER. (2010). Ecological restoration and sustainable development - establishing links across frontiers 7th European Conference on Ecological Restoration Avignon, France. http://www.seravignon2010.org/. Accessed 7 June 2012.

  • Sodhi, N., et al. (2010). Local people value environmental services provided by forested parks. Biodiversity and Conservation, 19(4), 1175–1188.

    Google Scholar 

  • Song, H., et al. (2008). Many species in one: DNA barcoding overestimates the number of species when nuclear mitochondrial pseudogenes are coamplified. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 105(36). www.pnas.org/cgi/doi/10.1073/pnas.0803076105. Accessed 7 June 2012.

  • TEEB. (2009). TEEB – The economics of ecosystems and biodiversity for national and international policy makers – Summary: Responding to the value of nature 2009. http://www.iucn.org/what/tpas/greeneconomy/resources/publications/?uPubsID=4289. Accessed 7 June 2012.

  • The encyclopedia of life. http://www.eol.org/. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • The tree of life web project (ToL). (2011). http://tolweb.org/tree/. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • The United Nations decade on biodiversity. (2011 – 2020) (2011). http://www.cbd.int/2011-2020/. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • Tscharntke, T. (2007). Conservation biological control and enemy diversity on a landscape scale. Biological Control, 43(3), 294–309.

    Google Scholar 

  • UNEP. (2011). Biodiversity. http://www.unep.org/Themes/Biodiversity/index.asp. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • UNEP. (2012). The Economics of Ecosystems and Biodiversity (TEEB). http://www.teebweb.org/. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • UNEP. (2012). The fifth Global Environment Outlook (GEO-5) assessment Report: Environment for the future we want (GEO-5). Nairobi: UNEP.

    Google Scholar 

  • Van Wilgen, B., et al. (2008). A biome-scale assessment of the impact of invasive alien plants on ecosystem services in South Africa. Journal of Environmental Management, 89(4), 336–349.

    Google Scholar 

  • Vila, M., et al. (2006). Local and regional assessments of the impacts of plant invaders on vegetation structure and soil properties of Mediterranean islands. Journal of Biogeography, 33, 853–861.

    Google Scholar 

  • WHO. (2011). Biodiversity. http://www.who.int/globalchange/ecosystems/biodiversity/en/index.html. Accessed 6 June 2012.

  • Wilson, E. O., & Peter, F. (Eds.). (1988). Bio diversity. Washington, DC: National Academy.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, Q., et al. (2007). Ubiquity and dominance of oxygenated species in organic aerosols in anthropogenically-influenced Northern Hemisphere midlatitudes. Geophysical Research Letters, 34, L13801. doi:10.1029/2007GL029979.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Teacher Education, University of Helsinki, P.O. Box 9, 00014, Helsinki, Finland

    Prof. Dr. Mauri Kalervo Ahlberg Ph.D., FLS

  2. NatureGate R&D Group, University of Helsinki, Helsinki, Finland

    Prof. Dr. Mauri Kalervo Ahlberg Ph.D., FLS

Authors
  1. Prof. Dr. Mauri Kalervo Ahlberg Ph.D., FLS
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Mauri Kalervo Ahlberg Ph.D., FLS .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. London Metropolitan Business School, London Metropolitan University, Moorgate, London, UK

    Samuel O. Idowu

  2. Loyala University New Orleans, New Orleans, LA, USA

    Nicholas Capaldi

  3. International Labor Organization, International Training Center, Viale Maestri del Lavoro, Turin, Italy

    Liangrong Zu

  4. Indian Institute of Plantation Management, Bangalore, India

    Ananda Das Gupta

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2013 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

About this entry

Cite this entry

Ahlberg, M.K. (2013). Biodiversity. In: Idowu, S.O., Capaldi, N., Zu, L., Gupta, A.D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Corporate Social Responsibility. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_374

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-28036-8_374

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-28035-1

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-28036-8

  • eBook Packages: Business and Economics

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation