A
It seems biodiversity has become a buzzword beloved of politicians, conservationists, protesters and scientists alike.
But what exactly is it?
The Convention on Biological Diversity, an international agreement to conserve and share the planet’s biological riches, provides a good working definition: biodiversity comprises every form of life, from the smallest microbe to the largest animal or plant, the genes that give them their specific characteristics and the ecosystems of which they are apart.
=definition
B
In October, the World Conservation Union (also known as the IUCN) published its updated Red List of Threatened Species, a roll call of 11,167 creatures facing extinction – 121 more than when the list was last published in 2000.
But the new figures almost certainly underestimate the crisis.
Some 1.2 million species of animal and 270,000 species of plant have been classified, but the wellbeing of only a fraction has been assessed.
The resources are simply not available.
The IUCN reports that 5714 plants are threatened, for example, but admits that only 4 per cent of known plants has been assessed.
And, of course, there are thousands of species that we have yet to discover.
Many of these could also be facing extinction.
C
It is important to develop a picture of the diversity of life on Earth now so that comparisons can be made in the future and trends identified.
But it isn’t necessary to observe every single type of organism in an area to get a snapshot of the health of the ecosystem.
In many habitats, there are species that are particularly susceptible to shifting conditions, and these can be used as indicator species.
In boxes 1-3 on your answer sheet, write
TRUE
if the statement is true
FALSE
if the statement is false
NOT GIVEN
if the information is not given in the passage
TRUE 1
The term “biodiversity” consists of living creatures and the environment that they live in.
=comprises every form of life, from the smallest microbe to the largest animal or plant, the genes that give them their specific characteristics and the ecosystems of which they are apart.
FALSE 2
There are species that have not been researched because it’s unnecessary to study all creatures.
=The resources are simply not available.
TRUE 3
It is not necessary to investigate all creatures in a certain place.
=But it isn’t necessary to observe every single type of organism