Biodiversity is defined as the variability among living organisms in an ecosystem.
Alpha-diversity (α) refers to the number of species in an area. Beta-diversity (β) compares two different areas and it is the sum of species unique to each area. Gamma-diversity (γ) is the number of species in many areas combined into a region.
The richness of an ecosystem is the total number of distinct species within a local community. Evenness refers to the equality of the proportion of each species within an area or community.
Ecologists use sampling tools called quadrats. A quadrat is simply a frame with a known internal area. They may also systematically sample by using transect tapes. Transects are stretched across the field. Then, quadrats are placed along the transect at regular intervals. This method is semi-random and ensures ample coverage of sampling across the entire field to estimate its biodiversity.
If species are lost, the ecosystem may collapse. If the ecosystem collapses, the services that it provides to humans will be lost as well. A highly diverse community is less likely to collapse due to functional redundancy. Moreover, a significant number of medicines that we now synthesize were once isolated from animals, plants, fungi, and bacteria, underscoring the importance of maintaining diversity of organisms for development of novel therapies.
