How To Define Biodiversity? Jacques Baudry 1 , Françoise Burel 2 , and Agnès Ricroch 3 1 INRA of Rennes, 2 University of Rennes / CNRS, 3 University of Orsay / CNRS, France Biodiversity, agriculture and environmental justice: a meeting to discuss and debate issues in interdisciplinary research. University of the Western Cape, November 5, 2007
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How To Define Biodiversity? Jacques Baudry 1, Françoise Burel 2, and Agnès Ricroch 3 1 INRA of Rennes, 2 University of Rennes / CNRS, 3 University of Orsay.
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How To Define Biodiversity?
Jacques Baudry1, Françoise Burel2, and Agnès Ricroch3
1INRA of Rennes, 2University of Rennes / CNRS,
3University of Orsay / CNRS, France
Biodiversity, agriculture and environmental justice: a meeting to discuss and debate issues in interdisciplinary research.
University of the Western Cape, November 5, 2007
Edward O.Wilson, editor, Frances M.Peter, associate editor, Biodiversity, National Academy Press, March 1988
The word biodiversity first appeared in a publication in 1988 when
entomologist E. O. Wilson used it as the title of the proceedings of
National Forum on Biological Diversity.
Definitions
As defined in the proposed US Congressional Biodiversity Act, HR1268
(1990), « biological diversity means the full range of variety and
variability within and among living organisms and the ecological
complexes in which they occur, and encompasses ecosystem or
community diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity. »
This covers distinct populations of the same species such as
the thousands of traditional corn varieties in America
or genetic variation within a population or a metapopulation
high among Indian rhinos, and very low among cheetahs.
1- Genetic diversity refers to the variation of genes within species.
South Africa is a global hotspot of tortoise diversity.
A juvenile anglulated tortoise (Geochelone pardalis) in Cape fynbos.
Ecosystem components, structures, and functions are all interdependent.
Local patterns and dynamics of species and communities are different at larger spatial scales.
Function involves ecological and evolutionary processes,
including gene flow, disturbances, and nutrient cycling
Composition has to do with the identity and variety of elements in a
collection, and includes species lists and measures of species diversity and genetic diversity.
Structure is the physical organization or pattern of a system, from habitat complexity as measured within communities to the pattern of patches and other elements at a landscape scale.
Biodiversity can be considered either as a biological heritage of wildlife to be conserved or a unit of management
(including domesticated forms of organisms).
The United Nations (UN) Earth Summit in Rio de Janeiro has recognized the close and
traditional dependence of many indigenous and local communities on biological
resources, notably in the preamble to the Convention on Biological Diversity.
There is also a broad recognition of the contribution that traditional knowledge can
make to both the conservation and the sustainable use of biological diversity, two
fundamental objectives of the Convention.
in 1992
in 2000
The Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (MA) was called for by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan in a report to the General Assembly entitled We the Peoples: The Role of the United Nations in the 21st Century.
Initiated in 2001, the objective of the MA was to assess the consequences of ecosystem change for human well-being and the scientific basis for actions needed to enhance the conservation and sustainable use of those systems and their contribution to human well-being.