Keanekaragaman hayati: Perbedaan antara revisi

'''Keanekaragaman hayati''' atau '''biodiversitas''' adalah variasi dan [[Variabilitas genetik|variabilitas]] [[Kehidupan|kehidupan di Bumi]]. Keanekaragaman hayati biasanya merupakan ukuran variasi pada tingkat [[Genetika|genetik]], [[spesies]], dan [[ekosistem]].<ref name="UN">{{cite web |url=http://www.unesco.pl/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/BIODIVERSITY_FACTSHEET.pdf |title=What is biodiversity? |publisher=[[United Nations Environment Programme]], World Conservation Monitoring Centre |access-date=2020-05-23 |archive-date=2021-08-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829162131/https://www.unesco.pl/fileadmin/user_upload/pdf/BIODIVERSITY_FACTSHEET.pdf |dead-url=no }}</ref> Biodiversitas daratan (terestrial) biasanya lebih besar di sekitar khatulistiwa,<ref>{{cite journal |last=Gaston |first=Kevin J. |title=Global patterns in biodiversity|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_nature-uk_2000-05-11_405_6783/page/220 |journal=Nature|date=11 May 2000 |volume=405 |issue=6783 |pages=220–227 |doi=10.1038/35012228 |pmid=10821282}}</ref> akibat [[iklim]] yang hangat dan [[Produksi primer|produktivitas primer]] ([[aliran energi]]) yang tinggi.<ref>{{cite journal | last=Field | first=Richard | author2=Hawkins, Bradford A. |author3=Cornell, Howard V. |author4=Currie, David J. |author5=Diniz-Filho, J. |others=Alexandre F.; Guégan, Jean-François; Kaufman, Dawn M.; Kerr, Jeremy T.; Mittelbach, Gary G.; Oberdorff, Thierry; O’Brien, Eileen M.; Turner, John R. G.|title=Spatial species-richness gradients across scales: a meta-analysis|journal=Journal of Biogeography|date=1 January 2009|volume=36|issue=1|pages=132–147|doi=10.1111/j.1365-2699.2008.01963.x| url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/fc7ef261a9e652f23b9638f14cc1ecbcb8cba086 }}</ref> Keanekaragaman hayati tidak terdistribusi secara merata di Bumi, dan paling bervariasi di daerah [[Tropika|tropis]].<ref>{{Cite book|last=Gaston|first=Kevin J.|url=https://books.google.ca/books?hl=en&lr=&id=0Bjp2o5CVnQC&oi=fnd&pg=PT6&dq=biodiversity&ots=Y02cZSibGx&sig=05jb5PGTllW1YN721tNuh9lYuN4#v=onepage&q=biodiversity&f=false|title=Biodiversity: An Introduction|last2=Spicer|first2=John I.|date=2013-04-22|publisher=John Wiley & Sons|isbn=978-1-118-68491-7|language=en}}</ref> Meskipun ekosistem [[hutan tropis]] hanya mencakup 10 persen dari permukaan Bumi, tapitetapi ekosistem ini memiliki sekitar 90 persen spesies yang ada di dunia.<ref>Young, Anthony. "Global Environmental Outlook 3 (GEO-3): Past, Present and Future Perspectives."&nbsp;''The Geographical Journal'', vol. 169, 2003, p. 120.</ref> [[Biologi kelautan|Keanekaragaman hayati laut]] biasanya tertinggi di sepanjang pantai [[Samudra Pasifik]] bagian barat, tempat [[suhu permukaan laut]] paling tinggi, dan di pita [[lintang tengah]] di semua lautan. Keanekaragaman spesies juga dipengaruhi gradien lintang.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Tittensor|first=Derek P.|author2=Mora, Camilo |title=Global patterns and predictors of marine biodiversity across taxa|journal=Nature|date=28 July 2010 |volume=466 |issue=7310 |pages=1098–1101 |doi=10.1038/nature09329|bibcode = 2010Natur.466.1098T|pmid=20668450|last3=Jetz|first3=Walter|last4=Lotze|first4=Heike K.|last5=Ricard|first5=Daniel|last6=Berghe|first6=Edward Vanden|last7=Worm|first7=Boris}}</ref> Keanekaragaman hayati umumnya cenderung mengelompok di [[Titik panas keanekaragaman hayati|titik panas]],<ref>{{cite journal | last=Myers | first=Norman | author2=Mittermeier, Russell A. | title=Biodiversity hotspots for conservation priorities | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_nature-uk_2000-02-24_403_6772/page/853 | journal=Nature | date=24 February 2000|volume=403|issue=6772 | pages=853–858 | doi=10.1038/35002501|bibcode = 2000Natur.403..853M | pmid=10706275| last3=Mittermeier | first3=Cristina G. | last4=Da Fonseca | first4=Gustavo A. B. | last5=Kent | first5=Jennifer }}</ref> dan telah meningkat seiring waktu,<ref>{{cite journal|last=McPeek|first=Mark A.|author2=Brown, Jonathan M.|title=Clade Age and Not Diversification Rate Explains Species Richness among Animal Taxa|journal=The American Naturalist|date=1 April 2007|volume=169|issue=4|pages=E97–E106|doi=10.1086/512135|pmid=17427118|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/f07b7ba205fe09a47b1e6c39bcb9c821db0d9de3}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|last=Peters|first=Shanan|title=Sepkoski's Online Genus Database|url=http://strata.geology.wisc.edu/jack/|publisher=University of Wisconsin-Madison|accessdate=10 April 2013|archive-date=2021-03-08|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210308112701/http://strata.geology.wisc.edu/jack/|dead-url=no}}</ref> tetapi kemungkinan akan melambat di masa depan.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Rabosky|first=Daniel L.|title=Ecological limits and diversification rate: alternative paradigms to explain the variation in species richness among clades and regions|journal=Ecology Letters|date=1 August 2009|volume=12|issue=8|pages=735–743|doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2009.01333.x|pmid=19558515|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/26c10cf5bab4e3b9dcc167fe0ef83e25d8332b53}}</ref>

Perubahan lingkungan yang cepat biasanya menyebabkan [[kepunahan massal]].<ref name="CockellKoeberl2006">{{cite book |title=Biological Processes Associated with Impact Events |author1=Charles Cockell |author2=Christian Koeberl |author3=Iain Gilmour |last-author-amp=yes |url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=lWUPfhXPm4MC}} |date=18 May 2006 |publisher=Springer Science & Business Media|isbn=978-3-540-25736-3|pages=197–219|edition=1|bibcode=2006bpai.book.....C }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Algeo|first=T. J.|author2=Scheckler, S. E.|title=Terrestrial-marine teleconnections in the Devonian: links between the evolution of land plants, weathering processes, and marine anoxic events|journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|date=29 January 1998|volume=353|issue=1365|pages=113–130|doi=10.1098/rstb.1998.0195|pmc=1692181}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Bond|first=David P.G.|author2=Wignall, Paul B.|title=The role of sea-level change and marine anoxia in the Frasnian–Famennian (Late Devonian) mass extinction|journal=Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology|date=1 June 2008|volume=263|issue=3–4|pages=107–118|doi=10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.02.015|url=http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/3460/1/bondb2.pdf|access-date=2020-05-23|archive-date=2021-08-29|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210829162111/https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/3460/1/bondb2.pdf|dead-url=no}}</ref> Lebih dari 99,9 persen dari semua spesies yang pernah hidup di Bumi, yang berjumlah lebih dari lima miliar spesies,<ref name="Book-Biology">{{cite book |editor1=Kunin, W.E. |editor2=Gaston, Kevin |title=The Biology of Rarity: Causes and consequences of rare—common differences |url={{https://books.google .com/books |plainurl=y |?id=4LHnCAAAQBAJ|page&pg=110}}PA110 |date=31 December 1996 |isbn=978-0-412-63380-5 |accessdate=26 May 2015 |archive-date=2023-02-03 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230203051637/https://books.google.com/books?id=4LHnCAAAQBAJ&pg=PA110 |dead-url=no }}</ref> diperkirakan telah [[Kepunahan|punah]].<ref name="StearnsStearns2000">{{cite book |last=Stearns |first=Beverly Peterson |last2=Stearns |first2=S. C. |last3=Stearns |first3=Stephen C. |title=Watching, from the Edge of Extinction |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0BHeC-tXIB4C&q=99%20percent#v=onepage&q=99%20percent&f=false |year=2000 |publisher=[[Yale University Press]] |isbn=978-0-300-08469-6 |page=preface x |accessdate=30 May 2017 |archive-date=2021-01-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210118225151/https://books.google.com/books?id=0BHeC-tXIB4C&q=99#v=onepage&q=99%20percent&f=false |dead-url=no }}</ref><ref name="NYT-20141108-MJN">{{cite news |last=Novacek |first=Michael J. |title=Prehistory's Brilliant Future |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/opinion/sunday/prehistorys-brilliant-future.html |date=8 November 2014 |work=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=25 December 2014 |archive-date=2014-12-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20141229225657/http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/09/opinion/sunday/prehistorys-brilliant-future.html |dead-url=no }}</ref> Perkiraan jumlah spesies Bumi saat ini berkisar antara 10 juta hingga 14 juta;<ref name="MillerSpoolman2012">{{cite book |author1=G. Miller |author2=Scott Spoolman |title=Environmental Science – Biodiversity Is a Crucial Part of the Earth's Natural Capital |url={{https://books.google .com/books |plainurl=y |?id=NYEJAAAAQBAJ|page&pg=62}}PA62 |date=2012 |publisher=[[Cengage Learning]] |isbn=978-1-133-70787-5 |page=62 |accessdate=27 December 2014 |archive-date=2023-04-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230413194802/https://books.google.com/books?id=NYEJAAAAQBAJ&pg=PA62 |dead-url=no }}</ref> sekitar 1,2 juta spesies telah dicatat, tetapi lebih dari 86 persen di antaranya belum dideskripsikan.<ref name="PLoS-20110823">{{cite journal |last1=Mora |first1=C. |last2=Tittensor |first2=D.P. |last3=Adl |first3=S. |last4=Simpson |first4=A.G. |last5=Worm |first5=B. |title=How many species are there on Earth and in the ocean? |date=23 August 2011 |journal=[[PLOS Biology]] |doi=10.1371/journal.pbio.1001127 |pmid=21886479 |pmc=3160336 |volume=9 |issue=8 |pages=e1001127}}</ref> Pada Mei 2016, para ilmuwan melaporkan bahwa diperkirakan ada 1 triliun spesies yang berada di Bumi saat ini, dan hanya seperseribu dari satu persen yang telah dideskripsikan.<ref name="NSF-2016002">{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Researchers find that Earth may be home to 1 trillion species |url=https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=138446 |date=2 May 2016 |work=[[National Science Foundation]] |accessdate=6 May 2016 |archive-date=2016-05-04 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160504111108/https://www.nsf.gov/news/news_summ.jsp?cntn_id=138446 |dead-url=no }}</ref> Jumlah total [[pasangan basa]] [[Asam deoksiribonukleat|DNA]] di Bumi diperkirakan 5,0 x 10³⁷ dengan berat 50 miliar ton.<ref name="NYT-20150718-rn">{{cite news |last=Nuwer |first=Rachel |date=18 July 2015 |title=Counting All the DNA on Earth |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/science/counting-all-the-dna-on-earth.html |work=The New York Times |location=New York |publisher=The New York Times Company |issn=0362-4331 |accessdate=18 July 2015 |archive-date=2015-07-18 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150718153742/http://www.nytimes.com/2015/07/21/science/counting-all-the-dna-on-earth.html |dead-url=no }}</ref> Sebagai perbandingan, total [[Biomassa (ekologi)|massa]] [[biosfer]] diperkirakan sebanyak 4 TtC (triliun ton [[karbon]]).<ref name="AGCI-2015">{{cite web |url=http://www.agci.org/classroom/biosphere/index.php |title=The Biosphere: Diversity of Life |author=<!--Staff writer(s); no by-line.--> |work=Aspen Global Change Institute |location=Basalt, CO |accessdate=19 July 2015 |archive-date=2010-09-02 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100902111048/http://www.agci.org/classroom/biosphere/index.php |dead-url=yes }}</ref> Pada Juli 2016, para ilmuwan mengidentifikasi satu set yang terdiri atas 355 [[gen]] dari [[leluhur universal terakhir]] (LUCA) dari semua [[Makhluk hidup|organisme]] yang hidup di Bumi.<ref name="NYT-20160725">{{cite news |last=Wade |first=Nicholas |authorlink=Nicholas Wade |title=Meet Luca, the Ancestor of All Living Things |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/science/last-universal-ancestor.html |date=25 July 2016 |work=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=25 July 2016 |archive-date=2016-07-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160728053822/http://www.nytimes.com/2016/07/26/science/last-universal-ancestor.html |dead-url=no }}</ref>

[[Usia Bumi]] diperkirakan sekitar 4,54 miliar tahun.<ref name="USGS1997">{{cite web | date=1997 | title=Age of the Earth| url=http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html | publisher=U.S. Geological Survey | accessdate=10 January 2006| archiveurl= https://web.archive.org/web/20051223072700/http://pubs.usgs.gov/gip/geotime/age.html| archivedate= 23 December 2005 | url-status= live}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last=Dalrymple | first=G. Brent | title=The age of the Earth in the twentieth century: a problem (mostly) solved | journal=Special Publications, Geological Society of London | date=2001 | volume=190 | issue=1 | pages=205–221 | doi=10.1144/GSL.SP.2001.190.01.14 |bibcode = 2001GSLSP.190..205D }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | author= Manhesa, Gérard| author2= Allègre, Claude J.| author3= Dupréa, Bernard| author4= Hamelin, Bruno | last-author-amp= yes | title=Lead isotope study of basic-ultrabasic layered complexes: Speculations about the age of the earth and primitive mantle characteristics | url= https://archive.org/details/sim_earth-and-planetary-science-letters_1980-05_47_3/page/370| journal=[[Earth and Planetary Science Letters]]| date=1980 | volume=47 | issue= 3 | pages=370–382 | doi=10.1016/0012-821X(80)90024-2 | bibcode=1980E&PSL..47..370M}}</ref> Bukti yang tak terbantahkan tentang awal kehidupan di Bumi paling tidak berasal dari 3,5 miliar tahun yang lalu,<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schopf|first=J. William|last2=Kudryavtsev|first2=Anatoliy B.|last3=Czaja|first3=Andrew D.|last4=Tripathi|first4=Abhishek B.|date=5 October 2007|title=Evidence of Archean life: Stromatolites and microfossils|journal=Precambrian Research|series=Earliest Evidence of Life on Earth|volume=158 |issue=3–4|pages=141–155|doi=10.1016/j.precamres.2007.04.009|bibcode=2007PreR..158..141S}}</ref><ref>{{Cite journal|last=Schopf|first=J. William|date=29 June 2006 |title=Fossil evidence of Archaean life |journal=Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences|language=en|volume=361|issue=1470|pages=869–885|doi=10.1098/rstb.2006.1834|issn=0962-8436|pmc=1578735|pmid=16754604}}</ref><ref name="RavenJohnson2002">{{cite book | first=Peter | last=Hamilton Raven | first2= George | last2= Brooks Johnson | title=Biology | url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=GtlqPwAACAAJ}} | year=2002 | publisher=McGraw-Hill Education | isbn=978-0-07-112261-0 | page=68 | accessdate=7 July 2013 }}</ref> yaitu selama [[Era (geologi)|era]] [[Eoarkean]] setelah [[kerak geologis]] mulai mengeras, setelah sebelumnya meleleh pada [[eon]] [[Hadean]]. Ada [[fosil]] [[tikar mikrob]] yang ditemukan di [[batupasir]] berumur 3,48 miliar tahun di [[Australia Barat]].<ref name="AP-20131113">{{cite news |last=Borenstein |first=Seth |title=Oldest fossil found: Meet your microbial mom |url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20131113/DAA1VSC01.html |date=13 November 2013 |work=[[AP News]] |access-date=2020-05-23 |archive-date=2015-06-29 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150629230719/http://apnews.excite.com/article/20131113/DAA1VSC01.html |dead-url=no }}</ref><ref name="TG-20131113-JP">{{cite news |last=Pearlman |first=Jonathan |title='Oldest signs of life on Earth found' – Scientists discover potentially oldest signs of life on Earth – 3.5 billion-year-old microbe traces in rocks in Australia |url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/10445788/Oldest-signs-of-life-on-Earth-found.html |date=13 November 2013 |work=[[Telegraph Media Group|The Telegraph]] |accessdate=15 December 2014 |archive-date=2020-11-28 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128080014/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/science/science-news/10445788/Oldest-signs-of-life-on-Earth-found.html |dead-url=no }}</ref><ref name="AST-20131108">{{cite journal |last1=Noffke |first1=Nora |last2=Christian |first2=Daniel |last3=Wacey |first3=David |last4=Hazen | first4=Robert M. |title=Microbially Induced Sedimentary Structures Recording an Ancient Ecosystem in the ca. 3.48 Billion-Year-Old Dresser Formation, Pilbara, Western Australia |date=8 November 2013 |journal=[[Astrobiology (journal)|Astrobiology]] |doi=10.1089/ast.2013.1030 |bibcode=2013AsBio..13.1103N |pmid=24205812 |pmc=3870916 |volume=13 | issue=12 | pages=1103–1124}}</ref> Bukti fisik awal lain dari [[zat biogenik]] adalah grafit pada [[batuan metasedimentari]] berumur 3,7 miliar tahun yang ditemukan di [[Greenland Barat]].<ref name="NG-20131208">{{cite journal | first=Yoko | last=Ohtomo | first2=Takeshi | last2=Kakegawa | first3=Akizumi | last3=Ishida | first4=Toshiro | last4=Nagase | first5=Minik T. | last5=Rosing | title=Evidence for biogenic graphite in early Archaean Isua metasedimentary rocks | journal=[[Nature Geoscience]] | doi=10.1038/ngeo2025 | date=8 December 2013 | volume=7 | issue=1 | pages=25–28 | bibcode=2014NatGe...7...25O | url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/c293044eed458e8149a0d7c6dc8a34a9bbffc9d5 | access-date=2020-05-23 | archive-date=2021-07-23 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210723151143/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Evidence-for-biogenic-graphite-in-early-Archaean-Ohtomo-Kakegawa/c293044eed458e8149a0d7c6dc8a34a9bbffc9d5 | dead-url=no }}</ref> Pada tahun 2015, "sisa-sisa [[materi biotik|kehidupan biotik]]" ditemukan di batuan berumur 4,1 miliar tahun di Australia bagian barat.<ref name="AP-20151019">{{cite news |last=Borenstein |first=Seth |title=Hints of life on what was thought to be desolate early Earth |url=http://apnews.excite.com/article/20151019/us-sci--earliest_life-a400435d0d.html |date=19 October 2011 |access-date=2020-05-23 |archive-date=2015-10-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151023200248/http://apnews.excite.com/article/20151019/us-sci--earliest_life-a400435d0d.html |dead-url=no }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bell |first1=Elizabeth A. |last2=Boehnike |first2=Patrick |last3=Harrison |first3=T. Mark |last4=Mao |first4=Wendy L. |display-authors=3 |date=24 November 2015 |title=Potentially biogenic carbon preserved in a 4.1 billion-year-old zircon |url =http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/10/14/1517557112.full.pdf |journal=Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. |doi=10.1073/pnas.1517557112 |issn=1091-6490 |pmid=26483481 |pmc=4664351 |volume=112 |number =47 |pages=14518–14521 |bibcode=2015PNAS..11214518B |access-date=2020-05-23 |archive-date=2015-11-06 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151106021508/http://www.pnas.org/content/early/2015/10/14/1517557112.full.pdf |dead-url=yes }}</ref> Menurut salah satu peneliti, "Jika kehidupan muncul relatif cepat di Bumi .. maka ia bisa menjadi hal yang umum di [[alam semesta]]."<ref name="AP-20151019" />

Sejak kehidupan dimulai di Bumi, lima kepunahan massal besar dan beberapa peristiwa kecil telah menurunkan keanekaragaman hayati secara besar dan mendadak. Eon [[Fanerozoikum]] (540 juta tahun terakhir) ditandai dengan pertumbuhan keanekaragaman hayati yang cepat melalui [[letusan Kambrium]], sebuah periode ketika mayoritas [[filum]] [[organisme multiseluler]] pertama kali muncul.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/cambrian.php |title=The Cambrian Period |publisher=[[University of California Museum of Paleontology]] |accessdate=17 May 2012 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120515190500/http://www.ucmp.berkeley.edu/cambrian/cambrian.php |archive-date=15 May 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Selama 400 juta tahun berikutnya terjadi beberapa kali kepunahan massal, yaitu [[kehilangan keanekaragaman hayati|hilangnya keanekaragaman hayati]] secara besar-besaran. Pada [[Karbon (periode)|periode Karbon,]] [[Kehancuran hutan hujan|hancurnya hutan hujan]] menyebabkan hilangnya kehidupan tumbuhan dan hewan.<ref name="SahneyBentonFerry2010RainforestCollapse">{{cite journal | doi=10.1130/G31182.1 | author= Sahney, S. |author2=Benton, M.J. |author3=Falcon-Lang, H.J. |last-author-amp=yes| year=2010 | title= Rainforest collapse triggered Pennsylvanian tetrapod diversification in Euramerica | url=https://archive.org/details/sim_geology_2010-12_38_12/page/1079 | journal=Geology | volume = 38 | pages = 1079–1082 | issue=12|bibcode = 2010Geo....38.1079S }}</ref> [[Peristiwa kepunahan Perm–Trias]] yang berlangsung 251 juta tahun lalu merupakan kepunahan terburuk; organisme vertebrata memerlukan waktu 30 juta tahun untuk kembali pulih dari peristiwa ini.<ref name="SahneyBenton2008RecoveryFromProfoundExtinction">{{cite journal |author1=Sahney, S. |author2=Benton, M.J. |lastauthoramp=yes | year=2008 | title=Recovery from the most profound mass extinction of all time | journal=Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences | doi=10.1098/rspb.2007.1370 | volume = 275 | pages = 759–765| pmid=18198148 | issue=1636 | pmc=2596898}}</ref> Kepunahan terakhir, yaitu [[peristiwa kepunahan Kapur–Paleogen]] yang terjadi 65 juta tahun lalu, lebih menarik perhatian dibandingkan peristiwa kepunahan lainnya karena mengakibatkan kepunahan [[dinosaurus]] non-avian.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/extinction_events/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Tertiary_extinction_event|publisher=BBC Nature |title=Cretaceous-Tertiary mass extinction videos, news and facts|access-date=5 June 2017|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170609051408/http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/extinction_events/Cretaceous%E2%80%93Tertiary_extinction_event|archive-date=9 June 2017|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Sejak munculnya manusia, pengurangan keanekaragaman hayati dan hilangnya [[Keanekaragaman genetika|keanekaragaman genetik]] terus berlangsung. Peristiwa ini dinamakan [[kepunahan Holosen]], yaitu pengurangan yang terutama [[Dampak manusia terhadap lingkungan|diakibatkan oleh manusia]], terutama penghancuran [[habitat]].<ref>{{Cite journal| date = 25 July 2014 | title = Vanishing fauna (Special issue)| journal = [[Science (journal)|Science]]| volume = 345| issue = 6195| pages = 392–412 | url = http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/vanishing/index.xhtml?_ga=1.172413478.429831163.1471029002 | doi = 10.1126/science.345.6195.392| pmid = 25061199| last1 = Vignieri| first1 = S.| access-date = 2020-05-24| archive-date = 2016-12-20| archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20161220100440/http://www.sciencemag.org/site/special/vanishing/index.xhtml?_ga=1.172413478.429831163.1471029002| dead-url = no}}</ref> Sebaliknya, keanekaragaman hayati memberi pengaruh positif terhadap kesehatan manusia melalui berbagai cara, walaupun beberapa dampak negatifnya sedang dipelajari.<ref name="SalaMeyerson2009">{{cite book|last1=Sala|first1=Osvaldo E.|last2=Meyerson|first2=Laura A.|last3=Parmesan|first3=Camille|title=Biodiversity change and human health: from ecosystem services to spread of disease|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=x6WBmO8Muc4C|page=2}}|accessdate=28 June 2011|date=26 January 2009|publisher=Island Press|isbn=978-1-59726-497-6|pages=3–5}}</ref>

[[Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa]] (PBB) menetapkan periode tahun 2011–2020 sebagai [[Dekade Keanekaragaman Hayati Perserikatan Bangsa-Bangsa|Dekade Keanekaragaman Hayati PBB]],<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/special-themes/biodiversity/international-day-for-biological-diversity/united-nations-decade-on-biodiversity/|title=United Nations Decade on Biodiversity {{!}} United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization|website=www.unesco.org|language=en|access-date=11 August 2017|archive-date=2021-10-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211009043931/http://www.unesco.org/new/en/natural-sciences/special-themes/biodiversity/international-day-for-biological-diversity/united-nations-decade-on-biodiversity/|dead-url=no}}</ref> dan periode 2021–2030 sebagai Dekade Restorasi Ekosistem PBB.<ref>{{Cite web | url = https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/new-un-decade-ecosystem-restoration-inspire-bold-un-environment-assembly |title = New UN Decade on Ecosystem Restoration to inspire bold UN Environment Assembly decisions|date = 6 March 2019|access-date = 2020-05-24|archive-date = 2020-12-07|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20201207073451/https://www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/new-un-decade-ecosystem-restoration-inspire-bold-un-environment-assembly|dead-url = no}}</ref> Menurut ''[[Laporan Penilaian Global tentang Keanekaragaman Hayati dan Layanan Ekosistem]]'' pada tahun 2019 oleh [[IPBES]], 25% spesies tumbuhan dan hewan terancam punah akibat aktivitas manusia.<ref name="IPBES-20190506">{{cite news |author=Staff |title=Media Release: Nature's Dangerous Decline 'Unprecedented'; Species Extinction Rates 'Accelerating' |url=https://www.ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment |date=6 May 2019 |work=[[Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services]] |accessdate=9 May 2019 |archive-date=2019-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614220133/https://www.ipbes.net/news/Media-Release-Global-Assessment |dead-url=no }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Watts|first=Jonathan|date=6 May 2019 |title=Human society under urgent threat from loss of Earth's natural life|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report|work=[[The Guardian]] |access-date=9 May 2019 |archive-date=2019-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614160705/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2019/may/06/human-society-under-urgent-threat-loss-earth-natural-life-un-report|dead-url=no}}</ref><ref name="NYT-20190506">{{cite news |last=Plumer |first=Brad |title=Humans Are Speeding Extinction and Altering the Natural World at an 'Unprecedented' Pace |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/climate/biodiversity-extinction-united-nations.html |date=6 May 2019 |work=[[The New York Times]] |accessdate=9 May 2019 |archive-date=2019-06-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190614201836/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/05/06/climate/biodiversity-extinction-united-nations.html |dead-url=no }}</ref>

* 1980 – [[Thomas Lovejoy]] memperkenalkan istilah keanekaragaman biologis (''biological diversity'') pada komunitas ilmiah melalui buku.<ref name=ConsBiol80>{{cite book |author1=Soulé, Michael E. |author2=Wilcox, Bruce A. |title=Conservation biology: an evolutionary-ecological perspective |url=https://archive.org/details/conservationbiol0000unse_r2d7 |publisher=Sinauer Associates |location=Sunder*land, Mass |year=1980 |isbn=978-0-87893-800-1 }}</ref> Istilah ini dengan cepat digunakan secara umum.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.nature.org/aboutus/index.htm |title=Robert E. Jenkins |publisher=Nature.org |date=18 August 2011 |accessdate=24 September 2011 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120919011749/http://www.nature.org/aboutus/index.htm |archive-date=19 September 2012 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

* 1985 – Berdasarkan [[Edward O. Wilson]], penyingkatan istilah menjadi biodiversitas (''biodiversity'') dilakukan oleh W. G. Rosen: Forum Nasional tentang Biodiversitas ... dibentuk oleh Walter G. Rosen ... Dr. Rosen mewakili NRC/NAS sepanjang tahap perencanaan proyek. Lebih jauh, ia memperkenalkan istilah "biodiversitas".{{efn|"The National Forum on BioDiversity ... was conceived by Walter G. Rosen ... Dr. Rosen represented the NRC/NAS throughout the planning stages of the project. Furthermore, he introduced the term ''biodiversity''".}}<ref>{{cite book |last1=Wilson |first1=E. O. |title=Biodiversity |date=1988 |publisher=National Academy Press |page=vi |url=https://www.nap.edu/read/989/chapter/1#v |doi=10.17226/989 |pmid=25032475 |isbn=978-0-309-03739-6 |access-date=2020-05-24 |archive-date=2022-03-24 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220324194159/https://www.nap.edu/read/989/chapter/1#v |dead-url=no }}</ref>

* 1985 – Istilah "biodiversitas" muncul dalam artikel, "Rencana Baru untuk Mengonservasi Biota Bumi" oleh Laura Tangley.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Tangley|first=Laura|date=1985|title=A New Plan to Conserve the Earth's Biota|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_bioscience_1985-06_35_6/page/334|journal=BioScience|volume=35|issue=6|pages=334–336+341|jstor=1309899|doi=10.1093/bioscience/35.6.334}}</ref>

* 1988 – Istilah biodiversitas pertama kali muncul dalam publikasi.<ref name="WilsonSciences1988">{{cite book|first1=E.O. |last1=Wilson|title=Biodiversity|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=DSGF1xQBYi8C}}|date=1 January 1988|publisher=National Academies Press|isbn=978-0-309-03739-6}} [http://darwin.nap.edu/books/0309037395/html/R2.html online edition] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060913154719/http://darwin.nap.edu/books/0309037395/html/R2.html |date=13 September 2006 }}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Global Biodiversity Assessment: Summary for Policy-makers|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=VKnimgEACAAJ}}|year=1995|publisher=Cambridge University Press|isbn=978-0-521-56481-6}} Annex 6, Glossary. Used as source by [http://www.biodiv.be/glossary_keywords/B "Biodiversity", Glossary of terms related to the CBD] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110910155535/http://www.biodiv.be/glossary_keywords/B |date=2011-09-10 }}, [[Belgium|Belgian]] Clearing-House Mechanism. Retrieved 26 April 2006.</ref>

Istilah "keanekaragaman hayati" paling banyak dipakai untuk menggantikan istilah yang sudah lebih dahulu didefinisikan dengan jelas, yaitu [[keanekaragaman spesies]] dan [[kekayaan spesies]].<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Walker|first=Brian H.|date=1992|title=Biodiversity and Ecological Redundancy|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_conservation-biology_1992-03_6_1/page/18|journal=Conservation Biology|language=en|volume=6|issue=1|pages=18–23|doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.1992.610018.x|issn=1523-1739}}</ref> Ahli biologi sering kali mendefinisikan keanekaragaman hayati sebagai "keseluruhan [[gen]], [[spesies]], dan [[ekosistem]] di suatu wilayah".<ref name="Larsson2001">{{cite book|author=Tor-Björn Larsson|title=Biodiversity evaluation tools for European forests|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=zeTU8QauENcC|page=178}}|accessdate=28 June 2011|year=2001|publisher=Wiley-Blackwell|isbn=978-87-16-16434-6|page=178}}</ref><ref name="Davis">{{cite book|author=Davis|title=Intro To Env Engg (Sie), 4E|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=n0FvYeoHtAIC|page=40}}|accessdate=28 June 2011|publisher=McGraw-Hill Education (India) Pvt Ltd|isbn=978-0-07-067117-1|pages=4}}</ref> Keuntungan dari definisi ini yaitu menggambarkan sebagian besar keadaan dan menyajikan pandangan terpadu tentang jenis keanekaragaman hayati tradisional yang telah diidentifikasi sebelumnya:

* keanekaragaman morfologi (yang berasal dari [[keanekaragaman genetik]] dan [[Biologi molekuler|keanekaragaman molekuler]]<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Campbell |first=AK |journal=Journal of Applied Ecology |year=2003 |volume=40 |issue=2 | doi = 10.1046/j.1365-2664.2003.00803.x |pages=193–203 |title=Save those molecules: molecular biodiversity and life|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_journal-of-applied-ecology_2003-04_40_2/page/193 }}</ref>)

* [[kelompok fungsional (ekologi)|keanekaragaman fungsional]] (yang merupakan ukuran jumlah spesies yang berbeda secara fungsional dalam suatu populasi, misalnya cara makan yang berbeda, pergerakan yang berbeda, predator vs mangsa, dll.<ref>{{Cite web|title = What is functional diversity, and why do we care?|url = http://jonlefcheck.net/2014/10/20/what-is-functional-diversity-and-why-do-we-care-2/|website = sample(ECOLOGY)|accessdate = 22 December 2015|first = Jon|last = Lefcheck|date = 20 October 2014|archive-date = 2022-10-20|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221020121331/https://jonlefcheck.net/2014/10/20/what-is-functional-diversity-and-why-do-we-care-2/|dead-url = no}}</ref>) Konstruksi bertingkat ini konsisten dengan Datman dan Lovejoy.

Wilcox, Bruce A. 1984. In situ conservation of genetic resources: determinants of minimum area requirements. ''In National Parks, Conservation and Development, Proceedings of the World Congress on National Parks, J.A. McNeely and K.R. Miller'', Smithsonian Institution Press, pp. 18–30.</ref> Pada tahun 1984, Wilcox kembali mendefisikan keanekaragaman hayati secara genetis sebagai keanekaragaman alel, gen, dan organisme, yang mempelajari proses seperti [[mutasi]] dan [[transfer gen horizontal|transfer gen]] yang mendorong terjadinya evolusi.<ref name=wilcox84/>

[[Berkas:Map latitudinal gradient of biodiversity mannion 2014.png|al=|jmpl|upright=1.5|Distribusi spesies vertebrata darat yang masih hidup. Keanekaragaman tertinggi ditunjukkan dengan warna merah di wilayah ekuator dan semakin menurun ke arah kutub (berwarna biru) (Mannion 2014).<ref>{{Cite journal|title=Patterns in Palaeontology: The latitudinal biodiversity gradient|journal=Palaeontology Online|url=https://www.palaeontologyonline.com/articles/2014/patterns-in-palaeontology-the-latitudinal-biodiversity-gradient/|last=Mannion|first=Philip D.|date=1 Maret 2014|issue=Article 3|volume=4|pages=1–8|access-date=2020-10-07|archive-date=2021-03-24|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210324143946/https://www.palaeontologyonline.com/articles/2014/patterns-in-palaeontology-the-latitudinal-biodiversity-gradient/|dead-url=yes}}</ref>]]

Tingkat keanekaragaman secara konsisten lebih tinggi di daerah [[tropis]] dan di beberapa wilayah lokal lainnya, seperti [[Wilayah Tanjung Floristik]], dan umumnya lebih rendah di wilayah kutub. [[Hutan hujan]] yang sejak lama memiliki iklim basah, seperti [[Taman Nasional Yasuní]] di Ekuador, memiliki keanekaragaman hayati yang sangat tinggi.<ref name=dotearth>{{cite news | url=http://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/a-durable-yet-vulnerable-eden-in-amazonia/ | title=A Durable Yet Vulnerable Eden in Amazonia | work=Dot Earth blog, New York Times | date=20 January 2010 | accessdate=2 February 2013 | archive-date=2022-01-03 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220103220651/https://dotearth.blogs.nytimes.com/2010/01/20/a-durable-yet-vulnerable-eden-in-amazonia/ | dead-url=no }}</ref><ref name="journal.pone.0008767">{{cite journal |title=Global Conservation Significance of Ecuador's Yasuní National Park |author1=Margot S. Bass |author2=Matt Finer |author3=Clinton N. Jenkins |author4=Holger Kreft |author5=Diego F. Cisneros-Heredia |author6=Shawn F. McCracken |author7=Nigel C. A. Pitman |author8=Peter H. English |author9=Kelly Swing |author10=Gorky Villa |author11=Anthony Di Fiore |author12=Christian C. Voigt |author13=Thomas H. Kunz |journal= PLOS ONE|year=2010 |volume=5 |issue=1 |doi=10.1371/journal.pone.0008767 |bibcode = 2010PLoSO...5.8767B |pages=e8767 |pmid=20098736 |pmc=2808245}}</ref>

Secara umum, keanekaragaman hayati semakin meningkat dari daerah [[kutub geografis|kutub]] ke daerah [[tropis]]. Dengan demikian, lokasi yang [[garis lintang]]nya lebih rendah memiliki lebih banyak spesies dibandingkan daerah yang garis lintangnya lebih tinggi. Hal ini sering disebut sebagai gradien lintang dalam keanekaragaman spesies. Beberapa faktor ekologis mungkin berkontribusi pada gradien ini, tetapi faktor utamanya adalah suhu rata-rata yang di ekuator yang tinggi dibandingkan dengan kutub.<ref name=MoraRobertson2003>{{ cite journal | url=http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/mora/Publications/Mora%20013.pdf | vauthors=Mora C, Robertson DR | lastauthoramp=yes | year=2005 | title=Causes of latitudinal gradients in species richness: a test with fishes of the Tropical Eastern Pacific | journal=Ecology | volume = 86 | pages = 1771–1792 | doi=10.1890/04-0883 | issue=7 | access-date=2020-05-27 | archive-date=2016-03-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160304084019/http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/mora/Publications/Mora%20013.pdf | dead-url=no }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Currie | first1 = D. J. | last2 = Mittelbach | first2 = G. G. | last3 = Cornell | first3 = H. V. | last4 = Kaufman | first4 = D. M. | last5 = Kerr | first5 = J. T. | last6 = Oberdorff | first6 = T. | year = 2004 | title = A critical review of species-energy theory | url = https://semanticscholar.org/paper/0a1eea12aaa0c311fb9c6f62b93a35347fa6611f| journal = Ecology Letters | volume = 7 | issue = 12| pages = 1121–1134 | doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2004.00671.x}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |author1=Allen A. P. |author2=Gillooly J. F. |author3=Savage V. M. |author4=Brown J. H. | year = 2006 | title = Kinetic effects of temperature on rates of genetic divergence and speciation | journal = PNAS | volume = 103 | issue = 24| pages = 9130–9135 |bibcode = 2006PNAS..103.9130A |doi = 10.1073/pnas.0603587103 | pmid = 16754845 | pmc = 1474011 }}</ref>

Meskipun keanekaragaman hayati darat semakin menurun dari garis khatulistiwa ke kutub,<ref>{{cite journal | author = Hillebrand H | year = 2004 | title = On the generality of the latitudinal diversity gradient | url = http://oceanrep.geomar.de/4048/1/Hillebrand_2004_Amer_nat.pdf | journal = The American Naturalist | volume = 163 | issue = 2 | pages = 192–211 | doi = 10.1086/381004 | pmid = 14970922 | access-date = 2020-05-27 | archive-date = 2017-09-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20170922001037/http://oceanrep.geomar.de/4048/1/Hillebrand_2004_Amer_nat.pdf | dead-url = no }}</ref> beberapa penelitian menyimpulkan bahwa sifat ini tidak diverifikasi dalam [[ekosistem perairan]], terutama dalam [[ekosistem laut]].<ref>{{cite journal|title= How diverse is aquatic biodiversity research? | doi=10.1007/s10452-005-6041-y|volume=39|issue= 3 |journal=Aquatic Ecology|pages=367–375|date= September 2005 |last1= Karakassis |first1= Ioannis |last2= Moustakas |first2= Aristides }}</ref> Distribusi parasit secara latitudinal tampaknya tidak mengikuti aturan ini.<ref name="MorandKrasnov2010">{{cite book|first1=Serge |last1=Morand|first2=Boris R. |last2=Krasnov|title=The Biogeography of Host-Parasite Interactions|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=08keK5vc888C|page=93}}|accessdate=28 June 2011|date=1 September 2010|publisher=Oxford University Press|isbn=978-0-19-956135-3|pages=93–94}}</ref>

[[Titik panas keanekaragaman hayati]] adalah wilayah dengan spesies [[endemisme|endemik]] tingkat tinggi yang telah mengalami [[pengrusakan habitat]] yang luar biasa.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.biodiversitya-z.org/content/biodiversity-hotspots | author = Biodiversity A-Z | title = Biodiversity Hotspots |access-date= 2020-05-27 |archive-date= 2022-11-13 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221113215936/https://biodiversitya-z.org/content/biodiversity-hotspots |dead-url= no }}</ref> Istilah titik panas (''hotspot'') diperkenalkan pada tahun 1988 oleh [[Norman Myers]].<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1007/BF02240252 | author = Myers N | year = 1988 | title = Threatened biotas: 'hot spots' in tropical forests | journal = Environmentalist | volume = 8 | issue = 3| pages = 187–208 | pmid = 12322582 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1007/BF02239720 | author = Myers N | year = 1990 | title = The biodiversity challenge: expanded hot-spots analysis | url = http://planet.botany.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Gwen%27s%20Files/Biodiversity/Chapters/Info%20to%20use/Chapter%207/biodiversityhotspotMyers.pdf | journal = Environmentalist | volume = 10 | issue = 4 | pages = 243–256 | pmid = 12322583 | citeseerx = 10.1.1.468.8666 | access-date = 2020-05-27 | archive-date = 2022-09-09 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220909133447/https://planet.botany.uwc.ac.za/nisl/Gwen%27s%20Files/Biodiversity/Chapters/Info%20to%20use/Chapter%207/biodiversityhotspotMyers.pdf | dead-url = yes }}</ref><ref>{{ cite journal | url=http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/mora/Publications/Mora%20027.pdf | author=Tittensor D. | year=2011 | title= Global patterns and predictors of marine biodiversity across taxa | journal=Nature | volume = 466 | pages = 1098–1101 | doi=10.1038/nature09329 | pmid=20668450 | issue=7310 | display-authors=etal |bibcode bibcode= 2010Natur.466.1098T | access-date=2020-05-27 | archive-date=2021-08-31 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210831013803/http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/mora/Publications/Mora%20027.pdf | dead-url=no }}</ref><ref name="McKee2004">{{cite book|first=Jeffrey K. |last=McKee|title=Sparing Nature: The Conflict Between Human Population Growth and Earth's Biodiversity|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=omgIyInG8qEC|page=108}}|accessdate=28 June 2011|date=December 2004|publisher=Rutgers University Press|isbn=978-0-8135-3558-6|page=108}}</ref> Meskipun titik panas tersebar di seluruh dunia, kebanyakan di antaranya merupakan kawasan hutan dan sebagian besar terletak di daerah tropis.

[[Hutan Atlantik]] [[Brasil]] dianggap sebagai salah satu titik panas, yang berisi sekitar 20.000 spesies tumbuhan, 1.350 vertebrata, dan jutaan serangga, sekitar setengahnya tidak ditemukan di tempat lain.<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Atlantic Forest of South America: Biodiversity Status, Threats, and Outlook|last=Galindo-Leal|first=Carlos|publisher=Island Press|year=2003|isbn=978-1-55963-988-0|location=Washington|pages=35}}</ref>{{cn}} Pulau [[Madagaskar]] dan [[India]] juga sangat terkenal. [[Kolombia]] dicirikan oleh keanekaragaman hayati yang tinggi, dengan tingkat spesies tertinggi berdasarkan satuan luas di seluruh dunia dan memiliki jumlah endemik terbesar (spesies yang secara alami tidak ditemukan di tempat lain) di negara mana pun. Sekitar 10% dari spesies organisme di Bumi dapat ditemukan di Kolombia, termasuk lebih dari 1.900 spesies burung, lebih banyak daripada di Eropa dan Amerika Utara, Kolombia memiliki 10% spesies mamalia dunia, 14% spesies amfibi, dan 18% dari spesies burung di dunia.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.humboldt.org.co/iavh_en/index.php/component/k2/item/129-colombia-in-the-world.html |title=Colombia in the World |publisher=Alexander von Humboldt Institute for Research on Biological Resources |accessdate=30 December 2013 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20131029194602/http://www.humboldt.org.co/iavh_en/index.php/component/k2/item/129-colombia-in-the-world.html |archivedate=29 October 2013}}</ref> [[Hutan kering Madagaskar]] dan hutan hujan dataran rendah memiliki rasio endemisme yang tinggi.<ref>{{cite web|last1=godfrey|first1=laurie|title=isolation and biodiversity|url=http://www.pbs.org/edens/madagascar/eden.htm|website=pbs.org|accessdate=22 October 2017|archive-date=2022-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020121522/http://www.pbs.org/edens/madagascar/eden.htm|dead-url=no}}</ref>{{cn}} Karena pulau ini terpisah dari daratan Afrika 66 juta tahun yang lalu, banyak spesies dan ekosistemnya yang berevolusi secara mandiri.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.pbs.org/edens/madagascar/eden.htm|title=Madagascar – A World Apart: Eden Evolution|website=www.pbs.org|access-date=6 June 2019|archive-date=2022-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020121522/http://www.pbs.org/edens/madagascar/eden.htm|dead-url=no}}</ref> Dengan 17.000 pulau, [[Indonesia]] memiliki luas 1.354.555 mil persegi (1.904.560 km2) dan memiliki 10% dari [[tumbuhan berbunga]] di dunia, 12% dari [[mamalia, serta 17% dari reptil, amfibi, dan burung.<ref>{{cite journal |journal=Science |date=10 September 2010 |volume=329 |pmid=20829464 |issue=5997 |pages=1278–1280 |doi=10.1126/science.329.5997.1278 |url=http://www.sciencemag.org/content/329/5997/1278.summary?sid=3d8a15d7-279e-177-a5f0-46743a80212a |title=Saving Forests to Save Biodiversity |first=Dennis |last=Normile |accessdate=28 December 2010 |bibcode = 2010Sci...329.1278N |archive-date=2015-10-16 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20151016071601/http://www.sciencemag.org/content/329/5997/1278.summary?sid=3d8a15d7-279e-177-a5f0-46743a80212a |dead-url=no }}</ref><!--This source is only about Indonesia--> Banyak daerah dengan keanekaragaman hayati dan/atau endemisme yang tinggi muncul dari habitat khusus yang memerlukan adaptasi yang tidak biasa, misalnya, lingkungan [[pegunungan Alpen]] di pegunungan tinggi, atau rawa gambut [[Eropa Utara]].{{cn}} Sulit untuk mengukur perbedaan keanekaragaman hayati secara akurat. [[Bias seleksi]] di antara para peneliti dapat menimbulkan penelitian empiris yang bias untuk perkiraan modern mengenai keanekaragaman hayati.

Keberadaan ''daya dukung global'', yang membatasi jumlah kehidupan yang dapat hidup sekaligus pada satu waktu, masih diperdebatkan. Timbul pula pertanyaan seperti apakah batas tersebut juga akan membatasi jumlah spesies. Catatan kehidupan di laut menunjukkan pola pertumbuhan [[fungsi logistik|logistik]], sementara kehidupan di darat (serangga, tanaman, dan tetrapoda) menunjukkan peningkatan keanekaragaman yang [[pertumbuhan eksponensial|eksponensial]]. Seperti yang dinyatakan dalam sebuah penelitian bahwa, "Tetrapoda belum menginvasi 64 persen area yang berpotensi layak huni dan bisa jadi bahwa tanpa pengaruh manusia, keanekaragaman hayati dan taksonomi tetrapoda akan terus meningkat secara eksponensial sampai mengisi sebagian besar atau semua area ekologis yang ada."<ref name="Sahney, S. 2010"/> Selain itu, keanekaragaman juga terlihat terus meningkat dari waktu ke waktu, terutama setelah kepunahan massal.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://biox.stanford.edu/highlight/stanford-researchers-discover-animal-functional-diversity-started-out-poor-became-richer|title=Stanford researchers discover that animal functional diversity started poor, became richer over time |website=biox.stanford.edu|date=11 March 2015 |access-date=2020-05-29|archive-date=2018-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180711021307/https://biox.stanford.edu/highlight/stanford-researchers-discover-animal-functional-diversity-started-out-poor-became-richer|dead-url=no}}</ref>

Di sisi lain, perubahan selama Eon [[Fanerozoikum]] berkorelasi jauh lebih baik dengan [[pertumbuhan hiperbolik|model hiperbolik]] (model yang banyak digunakan dalam [[biologi populasi]], [[demografi]] dan [[sosiologi makro]], serta keanekaragaman hayati fosil) dibandingkan dengan model eksponensial dan logistik. Model logistik menyiratkan bahwa perubahan dalam keanekaragaman dipandu oleh [[umpan balik positif]] tingkat pertama (lebih banyak leluhur, lebih banyak keturunan) dan/atau [[umpan balik negatif]] yang timbul dari keterbatasan sumber daya. Model hiperbolik menyiratkan umpan balik positif tingkat kedua. Perbedaan dalam kekuatan umpan balik tingkat kedua akibat intensitas persaingan antarspesies mungkin menjelaskan rediversifikasi [[Ammonoidea]] yang lebih cepat dibandingkan dengan [[Bivalvia]] setelah kepunahan Permian akhir.<ref name="Hautmann et al. 2015">{{cite journal |last1=Hautmann |first1=Michael |last2=Bagherpour |first2=Borhan |last3=Brosse |first3=Morgane |last4=Frisk |first4=Åsa |last5=Hofmann |first5=Richard |last6=Baud |first6=Aymon |last7=Nützel |first7=Alexander |last8=Goudemand |first8=Nicolas |last9=Bucher |first9=Hugo |last10=Brayard |first10=Arnaud |title=Competition in slow motion: the unusual case of benthic marine communities in the wake of the end-Permian mass extinction |journal=Palaeontology |date=2015 |volume=58 |issue=5 |pages=871–901 |doi=10.1111/pala.12186}}</ref> Model hiperbolik pertumbuhan populasi dunia muncul dari umpan balik positif tingkat kedua antara ukuran populasi dan laju pertumbuhan teknologi.<ref name="pmid18677962">{{cite journal | pmid = 18677962 | year = 2008 | last1 = Markov | first1 = AV | last2 = Korotaev | first2 = AV | title = Hyperbolic growth of marine and continental biodiversity through the phanerozoic and community evolution | volume = 69 | issue = 3 | pages = 175–194 | journal = Journal of General Biology | url = http://elementy.ru/genbio/abstracts?artid=177 | access-date = 2012-07-12 | archive-date = 2009-12-25 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20091225000305/http://elementy.ru/genbio/abstracts?artid=177 | dead-url = no }}</ref> Karakter hiperbolik dari pertumbuhan keanekaragaman hayati dapat juga dijelaskan dengan umpan balik antara keragaman dan kompleksitas struktur komunitas. Kesamaan antara kurva keanekaragaman hayati dan [[populasi manusia]] mungkin berasal dari fakta bahwa keduanya berasal dari campur tangan tren hiperbolik dengan dinamika siklus dan [[stokastik]].<ref name="pmid18677962"/><ref>

{{see also|ManfaatJasa ekosistem}}

"ManfaatJasa ekosistem adalah rangkaian manfaat yang disediakan ekosistem bagi umat manusia."<ref name="diversity-loss-and-its-impact">{{cite journal | doi=10.1038/nature11148 | title=Biodiversity loss and its impact on humanity | year=2012 | last1=Cardinale | first1=Bradley | journal=Nature | volume=486 | pages=59–67 |bibcode bibcode= 2012Natur.486...59C | pmid=22678280 | issue=7401 | display-authors=etal | url=https://pub.epsilon.slu.se/10240/7/wardle_d_etal_130415.pdf | access-date=2020-05-31 | archive-date=2017-09-21 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170921233215/http://pub.epsilon.slu.se/10240/7/wardle_d_etal_130415.pdf | dead-url=no }}</ref> Spesies alami, atau biota, merupakan penjaga semua ekosistem. Seolah-olah dunia alami adalah rekening bank yang besar dari aset modal yang mampu membayar dividen seumur hidup tanpa batas waktu, tetapi hanya jika modalnya dipertahankan.<ref>Wright, Richard T., and Bernard J. Nebel.&nbsp;''Environmental Science : toward a Sustainable Future''. Eighth ed., Upper Saddle River, N.J., Pearson Education, 2002.</ref>

Relevansi keanekaragaman hayati terhadap kesehatan manusia menjadi isu politik internasional, ketika bukti ilmiah menunjukkan implikasi kesehatan dunia akibat hilangnya keanekaragaman hayati.<ref>World Health Organization(WHO) and Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity (2015) [http://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/biodiversity-human-health/en/ Connecting Global Priorities: Biodiversity and Human Health, a State of Knowledge Review ] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150604163250/http://www.who.int/globalchange/publications/biodiversity-human-health/en/ |date=2015-06-04 }}. See also [http://www.cbd.int/health/ Website of the Secretariat of the Convention on Biological Diversity on biodiversity and health] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020121723/https://www.cbd.int/health/ |date=2022-10-20 }}. Other relevant resources include

[http://www.cohabnet.org/en_resources_reports.htm Reports of the 1st and 2nd International Conferences on Health and Biodiversity.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090107015716/http://www.cohabnet.org/en_resources_reports.htm |date=7 January 2009 }} See also: [http://www.cohabnet.org/ Website of the UN COHAB Initiative] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090204054347/http://www.cohabnet.org/ |date=4 February 2009 }}</ref><ref name="biodiversity1">{{cite book|editor-first=Eric |editor-last=Chivian|title=Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=n4ET74GCMG0C}}|date=15 May 2008|publisher=OUP US|isbn=978-0-19-517509-7}}</ref><ref name="CorvalánHales2005">{{cite book |first1=Carlos |last1=Corvalán |first2=Simon |last2=Hales |author3=Anthony J. McMichael|title=Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Health Synthesis|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=vKIXu2Z-9QsC|page=28}}|year=2005|publisher=World Health Organization|isbn=978-92-4-156309-3|pages=28}}</ref> Masalah ini terkait erat dengan isu [[perubahan iklim]],<ref>(2009) [http://www.cbd.int/climate/ "Climate Change and Biological Diversity"] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20211006092305/https://www.cbd.int/climate/ |date=2021-10-06 }} Convention on Biological Diversity Retrieved 5 November 2009</ref> karena banyak risiko kesehatan—yang mengantisipasi perubahan iklim—dikaitkan dengan perubahan keanekaragaman hayati (misalnya perubahan populasi dan distribusi vektor penyakit, kelangkaan air bersih, dampak terhadap keanekaragaman hayati pertanian dan sumber makanan, dan lain-lain). Spesies yang paling mungkin hilang adalah mereka menjadi penyangga melawan [[Penularan penyakit|penularan]] [[penyakit infeksi]], sementara spesies yang bertahan cenderung merupakan spesies yang meningkatkan penularan penyakit, seperti pada kasus infeksi [[virus West Nile]], [[penyakit Lyme]], dan infeksi [[Hantavirus]], menurut sebuah penelitian di [[Universitas Cornell]].<ref>{{cite news|last=Ramanujan|first=Krishna|title=Study: Loss of species is bad for your health|url=http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec10/BiodiversityHealth.html|accessdate=20 July 2011|newspaper=Cornell Chronicle|date=2 December 2010|archive-date=2013-03-03|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130303063027/http://www.news.cornell.edu/stories/Dec10/BiodiversityHealth.html|dead-url=no}}</ref>

Meningkatnya permintaan dan kurangnya ketersediaan air minum di planet ini merupakan tantangan tambahan bagi masa depan kesehatan manusia. Sebagian masalahnya terletak pada keberhasilan pemasok air untuk meningkatkan suplai, dan kegagalan kelompok penggerak pelestarian sumber daya air.<ref name="Bank2010">{{cite book|last=The World Bank|title=Water and Development: An Evaluation of World Bank Support, 1997–2007|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=AYN4wCVLkhQC|page=79}}|date=30 June 2010|publisher=World Bank Publications|isbn=978-0-8213-8394-0|page=79}}</ref> Meskipun distribusi air bersih meningkat, di beberapa bagian dunia tetap tidak setara. Menurut WHO pada 2008, hanya 71% populasi dunia yang dapat mengakses air bersih yang bisa diminum.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water|title=Drinking-water|website=World Health Organization|access-date=2020-05-31|archive-date=2020-05-31|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200531094151/https://www.who.int/en/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/drinking-water|dead-url=no}}</ref>

Sebagian masalah kesehatan dipengaruhi oleh keanekaragaman hayati, seperti [[Keamanan pangan|keamanan]] dan [[ketahanan pangan]], penyakit menular, ilmu dan sumber daya kedokteran, serta kesehatan sosial dan psikologis.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1098/rsbl.2007.0149 | title = Psychological benefits of greenspace increase with biodiversity | year = 2007 | last1 = Gaston | first1 = Kevin J. | last2 = Warren | first2 = Philip H. | last3 = Devine-Wright | first3 = Patrick | last4 = Irvine | first4 = Katherine N. | last5 = Fuller | first5 = Richard A. | journal = Biology Letters | volume = 3 | issue = 4 | pages = 390–394 | pmid = 17504734 | pmc = 2390667 }}</ref> Keanekaragaman hayati juga diketahui berperan penting dalam mengurangi risiko bencana dan dalam upaya pemulihan pascabencana.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cohabnet.org/en_issues.htm |title=COHAB Initiative: Biodiversity and Human Health – the issues |publisher=Cohabnet.org |accessdate=21 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080905190921/http://www.cohabnet.org/en_issues.htm |archive-date=5 September 2008 |url-status=dead }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/protected_areas/arguments_for_protection/publications/ |title=World Wildlife Fund (WWF): "Arguments for Protection" website |publisher=Wwf.panda.org |accessdate=24 September 2011 |archive-date=2018-01-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180109031616/http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/how_we_work/protected_areas/arguments_for_protection/publications/ |dead-url=no }}</ref>

(2006) "Molecular Pharming" GMO Compass Retrieved 5 November 2009, [http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/home/ GMOcompass.org] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080208171633/http://www.gmo-compass.org/eng/home/ |date=8 February 2008 }}</ref> Sebagianobat berasal dari sumber biologi (baik secara langsung atau tidak langsung): setidaknya 50% senyawa farmasi di pasar AS berasal dari tumbuhan, hewan, dan mikroorganisme, sementara sekitar 80% populasi dunia berrgantung pada obat-obatan dari alam (yang digunakan baik dalam praktik medis modern maupun tradisional) untuk kesehatan primer.<ref name="biodiversity1"/> Hanya sebagian kecil spesies liar yang telah diteliti untuk mengetahui potensi medisnya. Keanekaragaman hayati merupakan hal penting untuk kemajuan seluruh bidang [[bionik]]. Analisis pasar dan ilmu pengetahuan keanekaragaman hayati menunjukkan bahwa penurunan keluaran dari sektor farmasi sejak pertengahan 1980-an dapat dikaitkan dengan perpindahan dari eksplorasi produk alami ([[pencarian hayati]]) menjadi pendekatan genomik dan kimia sintetis, karena nilai dari produk farmasi yang belum ditemukan mungkin tidak memberikan insentif yang cukup tinggi bagi perusahaan di pasar bebas untuk mencarinya akibat tingginya biaya riset dan pengembangan;<ref>{{cite journal|last=Mendelsohn|first=Robert|author2=Balick, Michael J.|title=Notes on economic plants|journal=Economic Botany|date=1 July 1997|volume=51|issue=3|pages=328|doi=10.1007/BF02862103}}</ref> sementara itu, produk alami memiliki sejarah panjang dalam mendukung inovasi dalam bidang ekonomi dan kesehatan yang signifikan.<ref>{{Cite journal|last=Harvey|first=Alan L.|date=1 October 2008|title=Natural products in drug discovery|journal=Drug Discovery Today|volume=13|issue=19–20|pages=894–901|doi=10.1016/j.drudis.2008.07.004|pmid=18691670}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/clpt.1992.1 | author = Hawkins E.S., Reich | year = 1992 | last2 = Reich | first2 = MR | title = Japanese-originated pharmaceutical products in the United States from 1960 to 1989: an assessment of innovation | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_clinical-pharmacology-and-therapeutics_1992-01_51_1/page/1 | journal = Clin Pharmacol Ther | volume = 51 | issue = 1| pages = 1–11 | pmid = 1732073 }}</ref> Ekosistem laut sangat penting,<ref>{{cite journal | last1=Roopesh |first1=J. |title=Marine organisms: Potential Source for Drug Discovery |journal = [[Current Science]] |volume= 94 |issue= 3 | page=292 |date= 10 February 2008 | url=http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102008/292.pdf | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111011162234/http://www.ias.ac.in/currsci/feb102008/292.pdf | url-status=dead | archive-date=11 October 2011 | author2=<Please add first missing authors to populate metadata.> | display-authors=1 }}</ref> walaupun pencarian hayati yang tidak sesuai dapat meningkatkan hilangnya keanekaragaman hayati serta melanggar hukum masyarakat dan negara tempat sumber tersebut diambil.<ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 12436849 | year = 2002 | last1 = Dhillion | first1 = SS | last2 = Svarstad | first2 = H | last3 = Amundsen | first3 = C | last4 = Bugge | first4 = HC | title = Bioprospecting: Effects on environment and development | volume = 31 | issue = 6 | pages = 491–493 | journal = Ambio | jstor=4315292 | doi=10.1639/0044-7447(2002)031[0491:beoead]2.0.co;2}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi=10.1136/bmj.330.7504.1350-d | title=Looking for new compounds in sea is endangering ecosystem | last1=Cole | first1=A. | journal=[[BMJ]] | volume=330 | issue=7504 | page=1350 |date=16 July 2005 | pmid=15947392 | pmc=558324}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cohabnet.org/en_issue4.htm |title=COHAB Initiative – on Natural Products and Medicinal Resources |publisher=Cohabnet.org |accessdate=21 June 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20171025100247/http://cohabnet.org/en_issue4.htm |archive-date=25 October 2017 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

Banyak bahan baku industri diambil langsung dari sumber biologis, termasuk bahan bangunan, serat, pewarna, karet, dan minyak. Keanekaragaman hayati juga penting untuk keamanan sumber daya seperti air, kayu, kertas, serat, dan makanan.<ref>IUCN, WRI, [[World Business Council for Sustainable Development]], Earthwatch Inst. 2007 ''Business and Ecosystems: Ecosystem Challenges and Business Implications''</ref><ref>Millennium Ecosystem Assessment 2005 [http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.353.aspx.pdf ''Ecosystems and Human Well-being: Opportunities and Challenges for Business and Industry''] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221006022031/https://millenniumassessment.org//documents/document.353.aspx.pdf |date=2022-10-06 }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cbd.int/business |title=Business and Biodiversity webpage of the U.N. Convention on Biological Diversity |publisher=Cbd.int |accessdate=21 June 2009 |archive-date=2022-10-01 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221001063230/https://www.cbd.int/business/ |dead-url=no }}</ref> Akibatnya, hilangnya keanekaragaman hayati merupakan faktor risiko yang signifikan dalam pengembangan bisnis dan ancaman bagi keberlanjutan ekonomi jangka panjang.<ref>[http://www.wri.org/publication/corporate-ecosystem-services-review WRI Corporate Ecosystem Services Review.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210413103919/https://www.wri.org/publication/corporate-ecosystem-services-review |date=2021-04-13 }} See also: [http://www.wri.org/project/ecosystem-services-review Examples of Ecosystem-Service Based Risks, Opportunities and Strategies] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090401203436/http://www.wri.org/project/ecosystem-services-review |date=1 April 2009 }}</ref><ref>[http://ecometrica.com/assets//ecometrica-corporate-biodiversity-accounting.pdf Corporate Biodiversity Accounting.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020121924/https://ecometrica.com/assets//ecometrica-corporate-biodiversity-accounting.pdf |date=2022-10-20 }} See also: [http://ecometrica.com/blog/making-the-natural-capital-declaration-accountable Making the Natural Capital Declaration Accountable.] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150112163325/http://ecometrica.com/blog/making-the-natural-capital-declaration-accountable/ |date=2015-01-12 }}</ref>

Secara filosofis dapat dikatakan bahwa keanekaragaman hayati memiliki nilai estetika dan spiritual yang intrinsik untuk [[Manusia|umat manusia]] itu sendiri. Gagasan ini dapat digunakan sebagai penyeimbang terhadap anggapan bahwa hutan tropis dan ekologi alam lain hanya layak dikonservasi karena manfaat yang mereka berikan.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Tribot | first1 = A. | last2 = Mouquet | first2 = N. | last3 = Villeger | first3 = S. | last4 = Raymond | first4 = M. | last5 = Hoff | first5 = F. | last6 = Boissery | first6 = P. | last7 = Holon | first7 = F. | last8 = Deter | first8 = J. | year = 2016 | title = Taxonomic and functional diversity increase the aesthetic value of coralligenous reefs | url = http://nicolasmouquet.free.fr/publications/Tribot_el_al_2016_Scientific_Reports.pdf | journal = Scientific Reports | volume = 6 | pages = 34229 | doi = 10.1038/srep34229 | pmid = 27677850 | pmc = 5039688 | bibcode = 2016NatSR...634229T | access-date = 2020-05-31 | archive-date = 2022-08-01 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220801104154/http://nicolasmouquet.free.fr/publications/Tribot_el_al_2016_Scientific_Reports.pdf | dead-url = no }}</ref>

Keanekaragaman hayati berperan dalam mengatur kimiawi [[atmosfer]] dan [[penyediaan air|persediaan air]] kita, serta terlibat secara langsung dalam [[air bersih|pemurnian air]], daur ulang [[nutren]], dan penyediaan tanah yang subur. Eksperimen dengan lingkungan terkendali menunjukkan bahwa manusia tidak dapat membangun ekosistem untuk mendukung kebutuhan manusia dengan mudah;<ref>{{cite news|last=Broad|first=William | title=Paradise Lost: Biosphere Retooled as Atmospheric Nightmare | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/19/science/paradise-lost-biosphere-retooled-as-atmospheric-nightmare.html | accessdate=10 April 2013|newspaper=The New York Times|date=19 November 1996|archive-date=2022-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020124410/https://www.nytimes.com/1996/11/19/science/paradise-lost-biosphere-retooled-as-atmospheric-nightmare.html|dead-url=no}}</ref> misalnya [[penyerbukan serangga]] tidak dapat ditiru, meskipun telah ada upaya untuk menciptakan penyerbuk buatan menggunakan [[pesawat tanpa awak]].<ref>{{cite news|last1=Ponti|first1=Crystal|title=Rise of the Robot Bees: Tiny Drones Turned into Artificial Pollinators|url=https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/03/517785082/rise-of-the-robot-bees-tiny-drones-turned-into-artificial-pollinators|accessdate=18 January 2018|agency=NPR|date=3 March 2017|archive-date=2022-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020122012/https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2017/03/03/517785082/rise-of-the-robot-bees-tiny-drones-turned-into-artificial-pollinators|dead-url=no}}</ref> Kegiatan ekonomi penyerbukan saja mewakili antara $ 2,1–14,6 miliar pada tahun 2003.<ref>{{cite journal|last=LOSEY|first=JOHN E.|author2=VAUGHAN, MACE|title=The Economic Value of Ecological Services Provided by Insects|journal=BioScience|date=1 January 2006|volume=56|issue=4|pages=311|doi=10.1641/0006-3568(2006)56[311:TEVOES]2.0.CO;2}}</ref>

* 10–30 juta serangga;<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/buginfo/bugnos.htm |title=Numbers of Insects (Species and Individuals) |website = Smithsonian Institution |access-date=2012-07-12 |archive-date=2009-02-11 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090211151740/http://si.edu/Encyclopedia_SI/nmnh/buginfo/bugnos.htm |dead-url=no }}</ref> (dari sekitar 0,9 juta yang kita kenal sekarang)<ref name="Le Monde newspaper article">{{cite news |url = http://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2006/06/27/protection-de-la-biodiversite-un-inventaire-difficile_788741_3244.html |work = Le Monde |language = French |title = Protection de la biodiversité : un inventaire difficile |first = Christine |last = Galus |date = 5 March 2007 |access-date = 2012-07-12 |archive-date = 2022-10-20 |archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221020122021/https://www.lemonde.fr/planete/article/2006/06/27/protection-de-la-biodiversite-un-inventaire-difficile_788741_3244.html |dead-url = no }}</ref>

[http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5232928.stm News.BBC.co.uk] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104113158/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/5232928.stm |date=2022-11-04 }}</ref>

* 1 juta [[tungau]].<ref>{{cite web |url=http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/ACARI/index.html |title=Acari at University of Michigan Museum of Zoology Web Page |publisher=Insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu |date=10 November 2003 |accessdate=21 June 2009 |archive-date=2009-09-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090917082825/http://insects.ummz.lsa.umich.edu/ACARI/index.html |dead-url=no }}</ref>

* Jumlah spesies mikroorganisme tidak diketahui secara pasti, tetapi [[Ekspedisi Pengambilan Sampel Lautan Global]] secara dramatis meningkatkan perkiraan keanekaragaman genetik dengan mengidentifikasi sejumlah besar gen baru dari sampel plankton yang hidup di dekat permukaan di berbagai lokasi laut, yang diawali pada periode 2004–2006..<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.jcvi.org/cms/fileadmin/site/research/projects/gos/Expedition_Overview.pdf |publisher=[[J. Craig Venter Institute]] |title=Fact Sheet – Expedition Overview |accessdate=29 August 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100629133109/http://www.jcvi.org/cms/fileadmin/site/research/projects/gos/Expedition_Overview.pdf |archive-date=29 June 2010 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Temuan ini pada akhirnya dapat menyebabkan perubahan signifikan dalam cara sains mendefinisikan spesies dan kategori taksonomi lainnya.<ref>{{cite web |last=Mirsky |first=Steve |work=Scientific American |title=Naturally Speaking: Finding Nature's Treasure Trove with the Global Ocean Sampling Expedition |date=21 March 2007 |accessdate=4 May 2011 |url=http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=74F46951-E7F2-99DF-37873C5B678DC19D |archive-date=2013-12-31 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131231063947/http://www.scientificamerican.com/podcast/episode.cfm?id=74F46951-E7F2-99DF-37873C5B678DC19D |dead-url=no }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal |url=http://www.ploscollections.org/article/browseIssue.action?issue=info:doi/10.1371/issue.pcol.v06.i02 |title=Article collections published by the Public Library of Science |publisher=PLoS Collections |accessdate=24 September 2011 |doi=10.1371/issue.pcol.v06.i02 |doi-broken-date=2020-05-25 |archive-date=2012-09-12 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120912172234/http://www.ploscollections.org/article/browseIssue.action?issue=info:doi/10.1371/issue.pcol.v06.i02 |dead-url=no }}</ref>

Karena tingkat kepunahan meningkat, banyak spesies yang masih ada dapat punah sebelum dideskripsikan.<ref>{{cite news | url=https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/sep/25/taxonomy.conservationandendangeredspecies |title=Discovery of new species and extermination at high rate |newspaper=The Guardian | location=London |first=Robin |last=McKie |date=25 September 2005 |access-date=2020-05-31 |archive-date=2022-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020122115/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2005/sep/25/taxonomy.conservationandendangeredspecies |dead-url=no }}</ref> Tidak mengherankan, pada filum hewan, kelompok yang paling banyak dipelajari adalah burung dan mamalia, sedangkan ikan dan artropoda adalah kelompok hewan yang paling sedikit dipelajari.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Bautista |first1=L.M. |last2=Pantoja |first2=J.C. |title=What species should we study next? |journal=Bull. Br. Ecol. Soc. |date=2005 |volume=36 |issue=4 |pages=27–28 |url=http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/43928/1/Bautista%20BullBES36%20p27%202005.pdf |access-date=2020-05-31 |archive-date=2016-12-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161220085351/http://digital.csic.es/bitstream/10261/43928/1/Bautista%20BullBES36%20p27%202005.pdf |dead-url=yes }}</ref>

Pada abad ke-21, penurunan keanekaragaman hayati semakin banyak diamati. Pada tahun 2007, Menteri Lingkungan Federal Jerman [[Sigmar Gabriel]] mengutip perkiraan bahwa hingga 30% dari semua spesies akan punah pada tahun 2050.<ref>{{cite news | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6432217.stm | title= 30% of all species lost by 2050 | work=[[BBC News]] | first=Sigmar | last=Gabriel | date=9 March 2007 | access-date=2012-07-12 | archive-date=2022-11-04 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221104073357/http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/science/nature/6432217.stm | dead-url=no }}</ref> Dari jumlah tersebut, sekitar seperdelapan spesies tumbuhan yang diketahui saat ini terancam punah.<ref name="Reid Reversing loss of Biodiversity">{{cite web|url = http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln37/reid.html |last = Reid|first = Walter V.|title = Reversing the loss of biodiversity: An overview of international measures|publisher = Ag.arizona.edu |work = Arid Lands Newsletter|number = 37|date = 1995|access-date = 2012-07-12|archive-date = 2009-06-27|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090627083452/http://ag.arizona.edu/OALS/ALN/aln37/reid.html|dead-url = no}}</ref> Perkiraan kepunahan mencapai 140.000 spesies per tahun (berdasarkan [[Kurva spesies-area|teori spesies-area]]).<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1126/science.269.5222.347 | title = The Future of Biodiversity | year = 1995 | last1 = Pimm | first1 = S. L. | last2 = Russell | first2 = G. J. | last3 = Gittleman | first3 = J. L. | last4 = Brooks | first4 = T. M. | journal = Science | volume = 269 | issue = 5222 | pages = 347–350 | pmid = 17841251 | url = http://cmbc.ucsd.edu/content/1/docs/Pimm_et_al_1995.pdf | bibcode = 1995Sci...269..347P | access-date = 2012-07-12 | archive-date = 2011-07-15 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20110715114557/http://cmbc.ucsd.edu/content/1/docs/Pimm_et_al_1995.pdf | dead-url = yes }}</ref> Angka ini menunjukkan praktik ekologi yang tidak [[keberlanjutan|berkelanjutan]] karena hanya sedikit spesies yang muncul setiap tahun.{{cn}} Hampir semua ilmuwan mengakui bahwa laju kehilangan spesies pada saat ini lebih besar dibandingkan dengan seluruh periode sejarah manusia, dengan laju kepunahan terjadi ratusan kali lebih tinggi dibandingkan [[laju kepunahan normal]].<ref name="Reid Reversing loss of Biodiversity"/> Pada 2012, beberapa penelitian menunjukkan bahwa 25% dari semua spesies mamalia dapat punah dalam 20 tahun.<ref>{{cite news|title=Researches find threat from biodiversity loss equals climate change threat|url=http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/sci_tech/researches-find-threat-from-biodiversity-loss-equals-climate-change-threat-157847545.html|date=7 June 2012|newspaper=[[Winnipeg Free Press]]|access-date=2012-07-12|archive-date=2012-06-14|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120614165642/http://www.winnipegfreepress.com/arts-and-life/life/sci_tech/researches-find-threat-from-biodiversity-loss-equals-climate-change-threat-157847545.html|dead-url=no}}</ref>

Sebuah studi tahun 2017 yang diterbitkan dalam ''[[PLOS One]]'' menemukan bahwa biomassa kehidupan serangga di Jerman telah menurun tiga perempat dalam 25 tahun terakhir. Dave Goulson dari [[Universitas Sussex]] menyatakan bahwa penelitian mereka menunjukkan bahwa manusia "tampaknya membuat bidang tanah luas yang tidak ramah untuk sebagian besar bentuk kehidupan, dan saat ini sedang dalam perjalanan menuju kehancuran total (''"Armageddon"'') ekologis. Jika kita kehilangan serangga maka semuanya akan runtuh."<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers|title=Warning of 'ecological Armageddon' after dramatic plunge in insect numbers|newspaper=The Guardian|date=18 October 2017|last1=Editor|first1=Damian Carrington Environment|access-date=2020-06-01|archive-date=2022-07-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220711061707/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2017/oct/18/warning-of-ecological-armageddon-after-dramatic-plunge-in-insect-numbers|dead-url=no}}</ref>

[[Jared Diamond]] menggambarkan "Kuartet Jahat", yaitu [[pengrusakan habitat]], pemburuan berlebihan, [[spesies pendatang]], dan kepunahan sekunder.<ref name="MoultonSanderson1998">{{cite book|first1=Michael P. |last1=Moulton|first2=James|last2= Sanderson|title=Wildlife Issues in a Changing World|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=or6sngEACAAJ}}|date=1 September 1998|publisher=CRC-Press|isbn=978-1-56670-351-2}}</ref> [[Edward O. Wilson]] lebih memilih akronim HIPPO, yang merujuk pada pengrusakan habitat ('''''h'''abitat destruction''), [[spesies invasif]] ('''''i'''nvasive species''), '''p'''olusi, over'''p'''opulasi manusia, dan panen berlebih ('''''o'''ver-harvesting'').<ref name="Chen2003">{{cite book|first=Jim |last=Chen|title=The Jurisdynamics of Environmental Protection: Change and the Pragmatic Voice in Environmental Law|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=8vCkSM1auwIC|page=197}}|isbn=978-1-58576-071-8|chapter=Across the Apocalypse on Horseback: Imperfect Legal Responses to Biodiversity Loss|page=197|year=2003|publisher=Environmental Law Institute}}</ref><ref>{{cite book|title=Windows on the Wild|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=1rzqxEVsMO8C}}|year=2005|publisher=New Africa Books|isbn=978-1-86928-380-3|chapter=Hippo dilemma}}</ref> Klasifikasi yang paling otoritatif yang digunakan saat ini adalah Klasifikasi Ancaman langsung IUCN <ref>{{cite web |url=http://cmp-openstandards.org/tools/threats-and-actions-taxonomies/ |title=IUCN's Classification of Direct Threats (v2.0) |publisher=CMP-OpenStandards.org |accessdate=22 February 2019 |archive-date=2019-02-23 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190223021920/http://cmp-openstandards.org/tools/threats-and-actions-taxonomies/ |dead-url=yes }}</ref> <small>(''versi 2.0 dirilis pada 2016'')</small> yang telah diadopsi oleh organisasi konservasi internasional utama seperti [[The Nature Conservancy]] AS, [[World Wildlife Fund]], [[Conservation International]], dan [[BirdLife International]].

Sebuah studi pada 2007 yang dilakukan oleh [[Yayasan Sains Nasional]] menemukan bahwa keanekaragaman hayati dan [[keanekaragaman genetik]] bersifat kodependen, artinya keanekaragaman di antara spesies membutuhkan keanekaragaman dalam satu spesies, dan sebaliknya. "Jika salah satu tipe dihapus dari sistem, siklusnya dapat rusak dan komunitas menjadi didominasi oleh satu spesies."<ref name="enn">{{cite web |url=http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/23391 |title=Study: Loss Of Genetic Diversity Threatens Species Diversity |publisher=Enn.com |date=2007-09-26 |accessdate=2009-06-21 |archive-date=2018-01-21 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180121005506/http://www.enn.com/wildlife/article/23391 |dead-url=no }}</ref> Saat ini, ekosistem yang paling terancam merupakan ekosistem air tawar, menurut [[Penilaian Ekosistem Milenium]] pada 2005, yang dikonfirmasi oleh "Penilaian Keragaman Hewan Air Tawar", yang diselenggarakan oleh platform keanekaragaman hayati, dan Institut Prancis, ''[[Institut de recherche pour le développement]]''.<ref>[http://www.scienceconnection.be/ Ilmu Koneksi 22] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190402091252/http://www.scienceconnection.be/ |date=2019-04-02 }} (Juli 2008)</ref>

Sebuah laporan pada 2019 mengungkapkan bahwa lebah dan serangga penyerbuk lainnya telah dihilangkan dari hampir seperempat habitat mereka di Britania Raya. Kecelakaan populasi telah terjadi sejak 1980-an dan memengaruhi keanekaragaman hayati. Peningkatan pertanian industri dan penggunaan pestisida, yang dikombinasikan dengan penyakit, spesies invasif, dan perubahan iklim, mengancam masa depan serangga ini dan pertanian yang mereka dukung.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/insects-pollination-bees-flies-uk-farming-agriculture-pesticides-climate-change-a8839306.html|title=Bees and other pollinating insects have disappeared from quarter of UK habitats, scientists say|last=|first=|date=2019-03-26|website=The Independent|language=|access-date=2020-06-01|archive-date=2020-11-28|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201128061509/https://www.independent.co.uk/environment/insects-pollination-bees-flies-uk-farming-agriculture-pesticides-climate-change-a8839306.html|dead-url=no}}</ref>

Jumlah spesies invasif telah meningkat setidaknya sejak awal 1900-an. Berbagai spesies semakin banyak dipindahkan oleh manusia (sengaja dan tidak sengaja). Dalam beberapa kasus, spesies yang berpindah mengakibatkan perubahan drastis dan kerusakan pada habitat baru mereka (misalnya kerang zebra dan kumbang ''[[Agrilus planipennis]]'' di wilayah [[Danau-Danau Besar (Amerika)|Danau-Danau Besar]] dan ikan singa atau [[lepu]] di sepanjang [[Pantai Timur Amerika Serikat|pantai Atlantik Amerika Utara]]). Beberapa bukti menunjukkan bahwa spesies invasif lebih kompetitif di habitat barunya mereka karena mereka lebih sedikit mengalami gangguan oleh patogen.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Torchin|first=Mark E.|author2=Lafferty, Kevin D. |author3-link=Dobson, Andrew P|author3=Dobson, Andrew P. |author4=McKenzie, Valerie J. |author5=Kuris, Armand M.|title=Introduced species and their missing parasites|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_nature-uk_2003-02-06_421_6923/page/628|journal=Nature|date=6 February 2003|volume=421|issue=6923|pages=628–630|doi=10.1038/nature01346|pmid=12571595|bibcode = 2003Natur.421..628T }}</ref> Studi lainnya melaporkan bukti yang membingungkan yang kadang-kadang menunjukkan bahwa komunitas yang kaya spesies memiliki banyak spesies asli dan eksotik secara bersamaan,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Levine|first=Jonathan M.|author2=D'Antonio, Carla M.|title=Elton Revisited: A Review of Evidence Linking Diversity and Invasibility|journal=Oikos|date=1 October 1999|volume=87|issue=1|pages=15|doi=10.2307/3546992|jstor=3546992|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/0014eee282e4232a3c1bbeb92a7df43f1aa2b0ac}}</ref> sementara beberapa studi mengatakan bahwa ekosistem yang beragam lebih tangguh dan tahan terhadap tumbuhan dan hewan invasif.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Levine|first=J. M.|title=Species Diversity and Biological Invasions: Relating Local Process to Community Pattern|journal=Science|date=5 May 2000|volume=288|issue=5467|pages=852–854|doi=10.1126/science.288.5467.852|bibcode = 2000Sci...288..852L|pmid=10797006|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/cc3a2995f5056aed13cc142ccb105c0ab96482dc|access-date=2020-06-01|archive-date=2022-06-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611120714/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Species-diversity-and-biological-invasions%3A-local-Levine/cc3a2995f5056aed13cc142ccb105c0ab96482dc|dead-url=no}}</ref> Pertanyaan pentingnya adalah, "Apakah spesies invasif menyebabkan kepunahan?" Banyak penelitian mengutip dampak spesies invasif pada spesies asli,<ref>{{cite journal|last=GUREVITCH|first=J|author2=PADILLA, D|title=Are invasive species a major cause of extinctions?|journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution|date=1 September 2004|volume=19|issue=9|pages=470–474|doi=10.1016/j.tree.2004.07.005|pmid=16701309}}</ref> tetapi tidak mengakibatkan kepunahan. Spesies invasif tampaknya meningkatkan keanekaragaman lokal (yaitu [[keanekaragaman alfa]]), yang mengurangi pergantian keanekaragaman (yaitu [[keanekaragaman beta]]). [[Keanekaragaman gama]] secara keseluruhan dapat diturunkan karena spesies akan punah akibat sebab lainnya.<ref>{{cite journal|last=Sax|first=Dov F.|author2=Gaines, Steven D. |author3=Brown, James H.|title=Species Invasions Exceed Extinctions on Islands Worldwide: A Comparative Study of Plants and Birds|journal=The American Naturalist|date=1 December 2002|volume=160|issue=6|pages=766–783|doi=10.1086/343877|pmid=18707464|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/0a15d078580a859ba91239302fe88b19fd8989b1|access-date=2020-06-01|archive-date=2022-06-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220611120715/https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Species-Invasions-Exceed-Extinctions-on-Islands-A-Sax-Gaines/0a15d078580a859ba91239302fe88b19fd8989b1|dead-url=no}}</ref> Meskipun demikian, bahkan beberapa pendatang yang paling berbahaya (misalnya penyakit elm Belanda, kumbang penggerek abu zamrud, kumbang penggerek kastanye di Amerika Utara) tidak menyebabkan spesies inangnya punah. [[Kepunahan lokal]], penurunan populasi, dan [[Homogenitas spesies|homogenisasi]] keanekaragaman hayati regional jauh lebih umum ditemukan. Aktivitas manusia sering kali menjadi penyebab spesies invasif melintasi penghalang mereka,<ref>{{cite book|last=Jude, David auth.|first=ed. by M. Munawar|title=The lake Huron ecosystem: ecology, fisheries and management|year=1995|publisher=S.P.B. Academic Publishing|location=Amsterdam|isbn=978-90-5103-117-1}}</ref> yang memindahkan mereka untuk dimakan atau untuk keperluan lainnya. Oleh karena itu, aktivitas manusia memungkinkan spesies untuk bermigrasi ke daerah baru (dan dengan demikian menjadi invasif) terjadi pada skala waktu yang jauh lebih pendek dibandingkan waktu alami yang diperlukan bagi suatu spesies untuk memperluas jangkauannya.

Saat ini, beberapa negara telah mengimpor begitu banyak spesies eksotik, terutama tanaman pertanian dan tanaman hias, sehingga fauna atau flora asli mereka mungkin kalah jumlah. Misalnya, pengenalan [[kudzu]] dari Asia Tenggara ke Kanada dan Amerika Serikat telah mengancam keanekaragaman hayati di wilayah tertentu.<ref>{{cite journal |journal= ScienceDaily |url=https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110408163917.htm |title=Are invasive plants a threat to native biodiversity? It depends on the spatial scale |date=11 April 2011 |access-date=2020-06-01 |archive-date=2022-10-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020124608/https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2011/04/110408163917.htm |dead-url=no }}</ref>

[[Organisme termodifikasi secara genetika]] memiliki materi genetik yang diubah oleh [[Rekayasa genetika|rekayasa genetik]]. Tanaman rekayasa genetik telah menjadi sumber umum bagi pencemaran genetik, tidak hanya pada varietas liar tetapi juga pada varietas domestik yang berasal dari persilangan klasik.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Pollan |first=Michael |url=https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E6DE143CF93AA35751C1A9679C8B63 |title=The year in ideas: A TO Z.; Genetic Pollution; By Michael Pollan, The New York Times, December 9, 2001 |work=The New York Times |date=9 December 2001 |accessdate=21 June 2009 |archive-date=2008-06-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080617142733/http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C01E6DE143CF93AA35751C1A9679C8B63 |dead-url=no }}</ref><ref>{{Cite book |url=http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v22/n1/full/nbt0104-29.html |title=Dangerous Liaisons? When Cultivated Plants Mate with Their Wild Relatives |journal=Nature Biotechnology |volume=22 |issue=1 |pages=29–30 |first=Norman C. |last=Ellstrand |publisher=The Johns Hopkins University Press |year=2003 |isbn=978-0-8018-7405-5 |doi=10.1038/nbt0104-29 |access-date=2012-07-12 |archive-date=2009-02-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090220204520/http://www.nature.com/nbt/journal/v22/n1/full/nbt0104-29.html |dead-url=no }} Reviewed in {{Cite journal|title=Hybrids abounding |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_nature-biotechnology_2004-01_22_1/page/29 |journal=Nature Biotechnology |volume=22 |pages=29–30 |doi=10.1038/nbt0104-29 |first1=Steven H |last1=Strauss |first2=Stephen P |last2=DiFazio |date=2004|issue=1}}</ref><ref name="Zaid1999">{{cite book|first=A. |last=Zaid|title=Glossary of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering|chapter-url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=UVzfAAAAMAAJ}}|year=1999|publisher=Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations|isbn=978-92-5-104369-1|chapter=Genetic pollution: Uncontrolled spread of genetic information|issue=7 |accessdate=21 June 2009}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://plpa.cfans.umn.edu/~neviny/agri1501/definitions.html|title=Genetic pollution: Uncontrolled escape of genetic information (frequently referring to products of genetic engineering) into the genomes of organisms in the environment where those genes never existed before |work=Searchable Biotechnology Dictionary |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080210074033/http://plpa.cfans.umn.edu/~neviny/agri1501/definitions.html |archive-date=10 February 2008 |publisher=[[University of Minnesota]] <!--http://iufro-archive.boku.ac.at/silvavoc/glossary/6_0en.html Boku.ac.at-->}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.scienzagiovane.unibo.it/English/pollution/2-facets.html |title=The many facets of pollution |publisher=Bologna University |accessdate=18 May 2012 |archive-date=2009-04-09 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090409021415/http://www.scienzagiovane.unibo.it/English/pollution/2-facets.html |dead-url=no }}</ref>

[[Pemanasan global]] merupakan ancaman besar bagi keanekaragaman hayati global.<ref>{{cite web|year=2005|url=http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/technical-papers/climate-changes-biodiversity-en.pdf|title=Climate change and biodiversity|publisher=Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change|access-date=12 June 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180205010427/http://www.ipcc.ch/pdf/technical-papers/climate-changes-biodiversity-en.pdf|archive-date=5 February 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref><ref name = "Kannan2009">{{cite journal | last1 = Kannan | first1 = R. | last2 = James | first2 = D. A. | title = Effects of climate change on global biodiversity: a review of key literature | journal = Tropical Ecology | volume = 50 | issue = 1 | pages = 31–39 | date = 2009 | issn = 0564-3295 | url = http://www.tropecol.com/pdf/open/PDF_50_1/05Kannan.pdf | accessdate = 21 May 2014 | archive-date = 2021-04-15 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20210415065220/http://www.tropecol.com/pdf/open/PDF_50_1/05Kannan.pdf | dead-url = yes }}</ref> Misalnya, [[terumbu karang]]—yang menjadi titik panas keanekaragaman hayati—akan hilang pada abad ini jika pemanasan global terus berlanjut dengan laju saat ini.<ref>{{Cite web|title = Climate change, reefs and the Coral Triangle|url = http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/coraltriangle/problems/climatechangecoraltriangle/|website = wwf.panda.org|accessdate = 9 November 2015|archive-date = 2018-05-02|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20180502200544/http://wwf.panda.org/what_we_do/where_we_work/coraltriangle/problems/climatechangecoraltriangle/|dead-url = no}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|title = Caribbean coral reefs 'will be lost within 20 years' without protection|url = https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/02/caribbean-coral-reef-lost-fishing-pollution-report|newspaper = the Guardian|accessdate = 9 November 2015|first = Jessica|last = Aldred|date = 2 July 2014|archive-date = 2022-10-20|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20221020130421/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/jul/02/caribbean-coral-reef-lost-fishing-pollution-report|dead-url = no}}</ref>

[[Perubahan iklim]] terbukti memengaruhi keanekaragaman hayati. Peningkatan karbon dioksida di atmosfer pasti memengaruhi morfologi tumbuhan<ref>{{cite journal|last=Ainsworth|first=Elizabeth A.|author2=Long, Stephen P.|title=What have we learned from 15 years of free-air CO2 enrichment (FACE)? A meta-analytic review of the responses of photosynthesis, canopy properties and plant production to rising CO2|journal=New Phytologist|date=18 November 2004|volume=165|issue=2|pages=351–372|doi=10.1111/j.1469-8137.2004.01224.x|pmid=15720649|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/78b507b4b467b35c435bc454f2580d0c70f1ef2c}}</ref> dan mengasamkan samudra,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Doney|first=Scott C.|author2=Fabry, Victoria J. |author3=Feely, Richard A. |author4=Kleypas, Joan A.|title=Ocean Acidification: The Other CO Problem|journal=Annual Review of Marine Science|date=1 January 2009|volume=1|issue=1|pages=169–192|doi=10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163834|pmid=21141034|bibcode = 2009ARMS....1..169D |url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/d0aec88ea8e03a803cf6291ba91052ba1766eb4b}}</ref> sementara perubahan suhu memengaruhi jangkauan hidup spesies,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Loarie|first=Scott R.|author2=Duffy, Philip B. |author3=Hamilton, Healy |author4=Asner, Gregory P. |author5=Field, Christopher B. |author6=Ackerly, David D.|title=The velocity of climate change|journal=Nature|date=24 December 2009|volume=462|issue=7276|pages=1052–1055|doi=10.1038/nature08649|bibcode = 2009Natur.462.1052L|pmid=20033047}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|last=Walther|first=Gian-Reto|author2=Roques, Alain |author3=Hulme, Philip E. |author4=Sykes, Martin T. |author5=Pyšek, Petr |others=Kühn, Ingolf; Zobel, Martin; Bacher, Sven; Botta-Dukát, Zoltán; Bugmann, Harald|title=Alien species in a warmer world: risks and opportunities|journal=Trends in Ecology & Evolution|date=1 December 2009|volume=24|issue=12|pages=686–693|doi=10.1016/j.tree.2009.06.008|pmid=19712994|url=http://doc.rero.ch/record/12935/files/bacher_asw.pdf|access-date=2020-06-02|archive-date=2022-10-20|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221020122722/https://doc.rero.ch/record/12935/files/bacher_asw.pdf|dead-url=no}}</ref><ref name="LovejoyHannah2005">{{cite book|first1=Thomas E. |last1=Lovejoy|first2=Lee Jay|last2= Hannah|title=Climate Change and Biodiversity|journal=Revue Scientifique et Technique (International Office of Epizootics)|volume=27|issue=2|url={{google books |plainurl=y |id=44j-dn2c1UEC|page=41}}|year=2005|publisher=Yale University Press|isbn=978-0-300-10425-7 |location=New Haven|pages=41–55|pmid=18819663}}</ref> [[fenologi]],<ref>{{cite journal|last=Hegland|first=Stein Joar|author2=Nielsen, Anders |author3=Lázaro, Amparo |author4=Bjerknes, Anne-Line |author5=Totland, Ørjan|title=How does climate warming affect plant-pollinator interactions?|journal=Ecology Letters|date=1 February 2009|volume=12 |issue=2|pages=184–195 |doi=10.1111/j.1461-0248.2008.01269.x|pmid=19049509|url=https://semanticscholar.org/paper/0243464bebdd1b09da4a4d3d668b4cb396f14a23}}</ref> dan cuaca,<ref>{{cite journal|last=Min|first=Seung-Ki|author2=Xuebin Zhang |author3=Francis W. Zwiers |author4=Gabriele C. Hegerl|title=Human contribution to more-intense precipitation extremes|url=https://archive.org/details/sim_nature-uk_2011-02-17_470_7334/page/378|journal=Nature|date=17 February 2011|volume=470|issue=7334 |pages=378–381|doi=10.1038/nature09763 |bibcode = 2011Natur.470..378M |pmid=21331039}}</ref> tetapi, untungnya, dampak utama yang diprediksi masih merupakan potensi yang akan muncul di masa depan. Kepunahan besar belum diprediksi, bahkan ketika perubahan iklim secara drastis mengubah biologi banyak spesies.

Pada tahun 2004, sebuah studi kolaboratif internasional di empat benua memperkirakan bahwa 10 persen spesies akan punah pada tahun 2050 karena pemanasan global. "Kita perlu membatasi perubahan iklim atau kita akan berada dalam kesulitan bersama banyak spesies lain, mungkin punah," kata Dr. Lee Hannah, salah satu penulis makalah dan kepala ahli biologi perubahan iklim di Pusat Ilmu Pengetahuan Keanekaragaman Hayati Terapan di Konservasi Internasional.<ref>{{Cite news|url= https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/jan/08/biodiversity.sciencenews|title= An unnatural disaster|date= 8 January 2004|accessdate= 21 June 2009 | location=London London| first=Paul Paul|last=Brown Brown| work= The Guardian|archive-date= 2022-10-20|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20221020122715/https://www.theguardian.com/science/2004/jan/08/biodiversity.sciencenews|dead-url= no}}</ref>

Perubahan iklim telah mengubah waktu ketika kelelawar ekor bebas Brasil (''[[Tadarida brasiliensis]]'') muncul untuk mencari makan menjadi senja hari. Perubahan ini diyakini terkait dengan pengeringan daerah akibat kenaikan suhu. Kemunculan yang lebih awal ini membuat kelelawar menjadi pemangsa yang lebih besar dan meningkatkan persaingan dengan serangga lain yang mencari makan pada waktu senja atau siang hari.<ref>Frick, W. F.|Stepanian, P. M., Kelly |J. F., Howard |K. W., Kuster |C. M. |Kunz T. H. |& Chilson |P. B. (2 August 2012) |Climate and Weather Impact Timing of Emergence of Bats |Retrieved from https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0042737 {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200611045407/https://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0042737 |date=2020-06-11 }}</ref>

[[Populasi dunia]] berjumlah hampir 7,6 miliar pada pertengahan 2017 (kira-kira satu miliar lebih banyak dibandingkan tahun 2005) dan diperkirakan akan mencapai 11,1 miliar pada tahun 2100.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_Methodology.pdf|title=World Population Prospects 2017|website=|access-date=|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180612142606/https://esa.un.org/unpd/wpp/Publications/Files/WPP2017_Methodology.pdf|archive-date=12 June 2018|url-status=dead}}</ref> Sir [[David King (ahli kimia)|David King]], mantan kepala penasihat ilmiah untuk pemerintah Inggris, mengatakan pada parlemen: "Sudah jelas bahwa pertumbuhan populasi manusia secara besar-besaran selama abad ke-20 berdampak lebih besar pada keanekaragaman hayati dibandingkan faktor tunggal lainnya."<ref>"[https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jul/11/comment.climatechange Citizens arrest] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160927193654/https://www.theguardian.com/society/2007/jul/11/comment.climatechange |date=2016-09-27 }}". The Guardian. 11 July 2007.</ref><ref>"[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sixth-extinction Population Bomb Author's Fix For Next Extinction: Educate Women] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131110212314/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=sixth-extinction |date=2013-11-10 }}". ''Scientific American''. 12 August 2008.</ref> Paling tidak sampai pertengahan abad ke-21, hilangnya keanekaragaman hayati murni di seluruh dunia mungkin akan sangat bergantung pada [[tingkat kelahiran]] manusia di seluruh dunia.<ref>{{cite journal | last1 = Dumont | first1 = E. | year = 2012 | title = Estimated impact of global population growth on future wilderness extent. | url = http://www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/3/433/2012/esdd-3-433-2012.pdf | journal = Earth System Dynamics Discussions | volume = 3 | issue = 1 | pages = 433–452 | doi = 10.5194/esdd-3-433-2012 | bibcode = 2012ESDD....3..433D | access-date = 2020-06-02 | archive-date = 2017-11-22 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20171122200054/https://www.earth-syst-dynam-discuss.net/3/433/2012/esdd-3-433-2012.pdf | dead-url = no }}</ref> Ahli biologi seperti Paul R. Ehrlich dan Stuart Pimm mencatat bahwa [[Pertumbuhan penduduk|pertumbuhan populasi manusia]] dan konsumsi berlebihan adalah pendorong utama kepunahan spesies.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Pimm |first1=S. L. |last2=Jenkins |first2=C. N. |last3=Abell |first3=R. | last4=Brooks |first4=T. M. |last5= Gittleman |first5=J. L. |last6= Joppa |first6=L. N. |last7=Raven |first7=P. H. |last8=Roberts |first8=C. M. |last9= Sexton |first9=J. O. |date=30 May 2014 |title=The biodiversity of species and their rates of extinction, distribution, and protection |url=http://static.squarespace.com/static/51b078a6e4b0e8d244dd9620/t/538797c3e4b07a163543ea0f/1401395139381/Pimm+et+al.+2014.pdf |journal= [[Science (journal)|Science]] |volume= 344 |issue=6187 |pages= 1246752 |doi=10.1126/science.1246752 |access-date= 15 December 2016 |quote=The overarching driver of species extinction is human population growth and increasing per capita consumption. |pmid=24876501 |archive-date=2020-01-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200107225045/http://static.squarespace.com/static/51b078a6e4b0e8d244dd9620/t/538797c3e4b07a163543ea0f/1401395139381/Pimm+et+al.+2014.pdf |dead-url=no }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/world/sutter-vanishing-help/|title=How to stop the sixth mass extinction |first=John D. |last=Sutter |date=12 December 2016|work=CNN|accessdate=1 January 2017|archive-date=2017-01-12|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20170112083004/http://www.cnn.com/2016/12/12/world/sutter-vanishing-help/|dead-url=no}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last= Graham |first=Chris|date=11 July 2017 |title=Earth undergoing sixth 'mass extinction' as humans spur 'biological annihilation' of wildlife|url=https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/11/earth-undergoing-sixth-mass-extinction-humans-spur-biological/|work= The Telegraph|access-date=25 July 2017|archive-date=2019-12-11|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191211233204/https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2017/07/11/earth-undergoing-sixth-mass-extinction-humans-spur-biological/|dead-url=no}}</ref>

Menurut sebuah studi pada tahun 2014 oleh WWF, populasi manusia global sudah melebihi [[biokapasitas]] planet; dibutuhkan 1,5 kali biokapasitas Bumi untuk memenuhi kebutuhan kita saat ini.<ref>{{cite news|last=Carrington|first=Damian |url=https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/29/earth-lost-50-wildlife-in-40-years-wwf|title=Earth has lost half of its wildlife in the past 40 years, says WWF |newspaper=[[The Guardian]]|date=30 September 2014 |accessdate=20 January 2017|archive-date=2019-09-04|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190904200733/https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2014/sep/29/earth-lost-50-wildlife-in-40-years-wwf|dead-url=no}}</ref> Laporan lebih lanjut menunjukkan bahwa jika semua orang di planet ini memiliki jejak kaki dari rata-rata penduduk Qatar, kita akan membutuhkan 4,8 Bumi dan jika kita menjalani gaya hidup penduduk AS yang khas, kita akan membutuhkan 3,9 Bumi.<ref name="LivingPlanetReport2014"/>

Tingkat penurunan keanekaragaman hayati dalam kepunahan Holosen (kepunahan massal keenam) setara atau melebihi tingkat penuruhan pada lima [[Kepunahan massal|peristiwa kepunahan massal]] sebelumnya menurut [[catatan fosil]].<ref>{{cite journal|last= Dirzo|first= Rodolfo|author2= Hillary S. Young|author3= Mauro Galetti|author4= Gerardo Ceballos|author5= Nick J. B. Isaac|author6= Ben Collen|title= Defaunation in the Anthropocene |journal= [[Science (journal)|Science]]|date= 2014|doi= 10.1126/science.1251817|pmid= 25061202|volume= 345| issue= 6195|pages= 401–406|url= http://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Science-2014-Dirzo-401-6-2.pdf|quote= In the past 500 years, humans have triggered a wave of extinction, threat, and local population declines that may be comparable in both rate and magnitude with the five previous mass extinctions of Earth’s history.|bibcode= 2014Sci...345..401D|access-date= 2020-06-02|archive-date= 2017-05-11|archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20170511160501/https://www.uv.mx/personal/tcarmona/files/2010/08/Science-2014-Dirzo-401-6-2.pdf|dead-url= no}}</ref><ref name="proceedings1"/><ref>{{cite journal | pmid = 15361627 | year = 2004 | last1 = Koh | first1 = LP | last2 = Dunn | first2 = RR | last3 = Sodhi | first3 = NS | last4 = Colwell | first4 = RK | last5 = Proctor | first5 = HC | last6 = Smith | first6 = VS | title = Species coextinctions and the biodiversity crisis | volume = 305 | issue = 5690 | pages = 1632–1634 | doi = 10.1126/science.1101101 | journal = Science| url=http://www4.ncsu.edu/~rrdunn/KohDunnetal.pdfNCSU.edu|bibcode = 2004Sci...305.1632K }}{{dead link|date=May 2011}}</ref><ref>{{cite journal|doi=10.1670/0022-1511(2007)41[483:ADOECD]2.0.CO;2 |author=McCallum M. L. |year=2007 |title=Amphibian Decline or Extinction? Current Declines Dwarf Background Extinction Rate |url=https://www.herpconbio.org/~herpconb/McCallum/amphibian%20extinctions.pdf |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20081217133741/https://www.herpconbio.org/~herpconb/McCallum/amphibian%20extinctions.pdf |url-status=dead |archive-date=17 December 2008 |journal=Journal of Herpetology |volume=41 |issue=3 |pages=483–491 |issn=0022-1511 }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0802812105 | title = Colloquium Paper: Ecological extinction and evolution in the brave new ocean | year = 2008 | last1 = Jackson | first1 = J. B. C. | journal = [[Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences]] | volume = 105 | pages = 11458–11465 | pmid=18695220 | pmc=2556419 | bibcode=2008PNAS..10511458J}}

# Untuk mengatasi masalah ini, umat manusia akan membutuhkan perubahan transformatif, termasuk [[pertanian berkelanjutan]], pengurangan konsumsi dan limbah, kuota perikanan, dan pengelolaan air kolaboratif. Pada halaman 8, laporan ini mengusulkan ringkasan "memungkinkan visi tentang kualitas hidup yang baik yang tidak memerlukan konsumsi bahan yang terus meningkat" sebagai salah satu langkah utama. Laporan tersebut menyatakan bahwa "Beberapa jalur dipilih untuk mencapai tujuan yang terkait dengan energi, pertumbuhan ekonomi, industri dan infrastruktur, konsumsi dan produksi berkelanjutan (Tujuan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan 7, 8, 9, dan 12), serta target terkait dengan kemiskinan, ketahanan pangan, dan kota (Tujuan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan 1, 2 ,dan 11), dapat memiliki dampak positif atau negatif yang substansial pada alam dan pada pencapaian Tujuan Pembangunan Berkelanjutan lainnya".<ref>{{cite book |title=Summary for policymakers of the global assessment report on biodiversity and ecosystem services of the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services |date=6 May 2019 |publisher=the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services |url=https://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/spm_unedited_advance_for_posting_htn.pdf |accessdate=10 May 2019 |archive-date=2019-05-14 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190514152717/https://www.ipbes.net/sites/default/files/downloads/spm_unedited_advance_for_posting_htn.pdf |dead-url=no }}</ref><ref>{{cite news |last1=Deutsche Welle |first1=Deutsche |title=Why Biodiversity Loss Hurts Humans as Much as Climate Change Does |url=https://www.ecowatch.com/biodiversity-loss-human-health-2636410357.html |accessdate=10 May 2019 |agency=Ecowatch |date=6 May 2019 |archive-date=2019-06-17 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20190617100647/https://www.ecowatch.com/biodiversity-loss-human-health-2636410357.html |dead-url=no }}</ref>

Etika konservasi menyarankan pengelolaan [[sumber daya alam]] untuk mempertahankan keanekaragaman hayati dalam spesies, ekosistem, proses evolusi, serta budaya manusia dan masyarakat.<ref name="proceedings1">{{cite journal | doi = 10.1073/pnas.0801921105 | author = Wake D. B., Vredenburg V. T. | year = 2008 | title = Are we in the midst of the sixth mass extinction? A view from the world of amphibians | url = http://www.pnas.org/content/105/suppl.1/11466.full.pdf+html | journal = Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America | volume = 105 | issue = | pages = 11466–11473 | pmid = 18695221 | pmc = 2556420 | bibcode = 2008PNAS..10511466W | access-date = 2012-07-12 | archive-date = 2012-08-19 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20120819034815/http://www.pnas.org/content/105/suppl.1/11466.full.pdf+html | dead-url = yes }}</ref><ref name="Soule86" /><ref name="Dyke08" /><ref>Hunter, ML (1996) ''Dasar-dasar Biologi Konservasi.'' Blackwell Science Inc, Cambridge, Massachusetts. ISBN 0-86542-371-7.</ref><ref>

ME Soule (ed.) (1986). ''Biologi Konservasi: Ilmu kelangkaan dan keanekaragaman.'' Sinauer Associates Inc</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/35012251 | author = Margules C. R., Pressey R. L. | year = 2000 | title = Systematic conservation planning | url = http://www.geography.ryerson.ca/jmaurer/411SystConservPlan.pdf | format = PDF | journal = Nature | volume = 405 | issue = 6783 | pages = 243–253 | pmid = 10821285 | access-date = 2012-07-12 | archive-date = 2009-02-05 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20090205110653/http://www.geography.ryerson.ca/jmaurer/411SystConservPlan.pdf | dead-url = yes }}</ref> Melestarikan keanekaragaman hayati global merupakan prioritas dalam rencana konservasi strategis yang dirancang untuk melibatkan kebijakan publik dan isu yang berpengaruh di dalam masyarakat, ekosistem, dan budaya dalam skala lokal, regional dan global.<ref>Contoh: Gascon, C., Collins, JP, Moore, RD, Gereja, DR, McKay, JE dan Mendelson, JR III (eds) (2007). ''Konservasi Amfibi Rencana Aksi.'' IUCN / SSC Amfibi Specialist Group. Gland, Swiss dan Cambridge, Inggris. 64pp. [http://www.amphibians.org/newsletter/ACAP.pdf Amphibians.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070704172505/http://www.amphibians.org/newsletter/ACAP.pdf |date=2007-07-04 }}, lihat juga [http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf Milleniumassesment.org] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191014033601/http://www.millenniumassessment.org/documents/document.354.aspx.pdf |date=2019-10-14 }}, [http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l28176.htm Europa.eu] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090212233945/http://europa.eu/scadplus/leg/en/lvb/l28176.htm |date=2009-02-12 }}</ref> Rencana aksi yang disusun mengidentifikasi cara mempertahankan kesejahteraan manusia menggunakan modal alam, modal pasar, dan layanan ekosistem.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1016/S0169-5347(03)00100-9 | title = Population diversity and ecosystem services | year = 2003 | last1 = Luck | first1 = Gary W. | last2 = Daily | first2 = Gretchen C. | last3 = Ehrlich | first3 = Paul R. | journal = Trends in Ecology & Evolution | volume = 18 | issue = 7 | pages = 331–336 | url = http://www.ese.u-psud.fr/epc/conservation/PDFs/luck.pdf | format = PDF | access-date = 2012-07-12 | archive-date = 2006-02-19 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20060219125309/http://www.ese.u-psud.fr/epc/conservation/PDFs/luck.pdf | dead-url = yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx |title=Millenniumassessment.org |access-date=2012-07-12 |archive-date=2015-08-13 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150813135309/http://www.millenniumassessment.org/en/index.aspx |dead-url=yes }}</ref>

Penghilangan spesies eksotik akan memungkinkan spesies yang telah terdampak negatif oleh mereka untuk memulihkan relung ekologinya kembali. Spesies eksotik yang telah menjadi hama dapat diidentifikasi secara taksonomi (misalnya dengan [[Sistem Identifikasi Otomatis Digital]] [DAISY], dengan menggunakan [[Konsorsium Kode Batang Kehidupan|kode batang kehidupan]]).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.barcoding.si.edu/ |title=Barcode of Life |publisher=Barcoding.si.edu |date=2010-05-26 |accessdate=2011-09-24 |archive-date=2022-11-22 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20221122175013/https://barcoding.si.edu/ |dead-url=yes }}</ref><ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/303405,camel-cull-would-help-curb-global-warming.html |title=Pemberantasan hewan eksotis (unta) di Australia |access-date=2012-07-12 |archive-date=2012-08-01 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120801074239/http://www.earthtimes.org/articles/show/303405,camel-cull-would-help-curb-global-warming.html |dead-url=yes }}</ref> Secara praktis, penghilangan hanya dilakukan pada kelompok individu besar karena pertimbangan biaya ekonomi.

*[[Bank gen]] merupakan kumpulan spesimen dan materi genetik. Beberapa bank bermaksud untuk memperkenalkan kembali spesies ke ekosistem (misalnya melalui pembibitan pohon).<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.hbvl.be/Archief/guid/vlaanderen-heeft-45-zaadtuinen-voor-autochtone-bomen-en-struiken.aspx?artikel=0935212d-8b19-45a4-9cda-167ff68d347c |title=Belgium creating 45 "seed gardens"; gene banks with intent to reintroduction |publisher=Hbvl.be |date=2011-09-08 |accessdate=2011-09-24 |archive-date=2013-09-20 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130920232744/http://www.hbvl.be/Archief/guid/vlaanderen-heeft-45-zaadtuinen-voor-autochtone-bomen-en-struiken.aspx?artikel=0935212d-8b19-45a4-9cda-167ff68d347c |dead-url=no }}</ref>

Investasi sumber daya yang difokuskan pada area terbatas dengan potensi keanekaragaman hayati yang lebih tinggi diperkirakan membawa hasil yang lebih besar dan cepat dibandingkan menyebarkan sumber daya secara merata atau berfokus pada area yang keanekaragamannya rendah.<ref>[http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=conservationists-triage-determine-which-endangered-species-to-save Conservationists Use Triage to Determine which Species to Save and Not; Like battlefield medics, conservationists are being forced to explicitly apply triage to determine which creatures to save and which to let go] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131102083405/http://www.scientificamerican.com/article.cfm?id=conservationists-triage-determine-which-endangered-species-to-save |date=2013-11-02 }} 23 July 2012 ''[[Scientific American]]''.</ref> Strategi kedua berfokus pada area yang mempertahankan sebagian besar keanekaragaman asli mereka, yang biasanya hanya membutuhkan sedikit restorasi atau bahkan tidak ada. Area ini biasanya merupakan area nonperkotaan dan nonpertanian. Daerah tropis sering kali cocok dengan kedua kriteria tersebut, mengingat keanekaragaman aslinya yang tinggi dan pembangunan yang relatif kurang.<ref>{{Cite journal | last1 = Jones-Walters | first1 = L. | last2 = Mulder | first2 = I. | doi = 10.1016/j.jnc.2009.06.001 | title = Valuing nature: The economics of biodiversity | journal = Journal for Nature Conservation | volume = 17 | issue = 4 | pages = 245–247 | year = 2009 | url = http://mdvnaturalist.com/images/econmics_of_biodiversity.pdf | access-date = 2020-06-03 | archive-date = 2022-07-02 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20220702084819/http://mdvnaturalist.com/images/econmics_of_biodiversity.pdf | dead-url = no }}</ref>

* Meningkatkan pertanian organik. Dalam program EU terkait, yaitu dari Sawah ke Garpu Fork disebutkan bahwa targetnya adalah membuat 25% pertanian UE menjadi organik pada tahun 2030.<ref>{{cite web |title=From Farm to Fork |url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions-being-taken-eu/farm-fork_en |website=European Commission website |publisher=European Union |accessdate=26 May 2020 |archive-date=2021-07-07 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210707195806/https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions-being-taken-eu/farm-fork_en |dead-url=no }}</ref>

Menurut halaman strategi tersebut, sekitar setengah dari [[Produk domestik bruto|PDB]] global bergantung pada alam. Di Eropa, banyak unsur ekonomi yang menghasilkan triliunan € per tahun, tergantung pada alam. Manfaat [[Natura 2000]] saja di Eropa berkisar antara € 200 hingga € 300 miliar per tahun.<ref>{{cite web |title=EU Biodiversity Strategy for 2030 |url=https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions-being-taken-eu/eu-biodiversity-strategy-2030_en |website=European Commission website |publisher=European Union |accessdate=25 May 2020 |archive-date=2021-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210526180755/https://ec.europa.eu/info/strategy/priorities-2019-2024/european-green-deal/actions-being-taken-eu/eu-biodiversity-strategy-2030_en |dead-url=no }}</ref>

* Hukum yang mengatur lungkang gen baru muncul sekitar seabad terakhir.{{Citation needed|date=October 2008}} Domestikasi dan pemuliaan tanaman bukanlah hal baru, tetapi kemajuan dalam [[Rekayasa genetika|rekayasa genetik]] menyebabkan diciptakannya hukum yang lebih ketat yang di antaranya mengatur distribusi [[Organisme termodifikasi secara genetika|organisme termodifikasi secara genetik]], [[paten]] gen, dan paten proses.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/patents.shtml |title=Gene Patenting |publisher=Ornl.gov |accessdate=21 June 2009 |archive-date=2013-07-10 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130710075026/http://www.ornl.gov/sci/techresources/Human_Genome/elsi/patents.shtml |dead-url=no }}</ref> Pemerintah masih belum memutuskan dengan pasti apakah akan berfokus pada, misalnya, gen, genom, atau organisme dan spesies.{{citation needed|date=September 2010}}

Dari semua spesies yang telah dideskripsikan, kurang dari 1% yang telah diteliti lebih lanjut dari sekadar mencatat keberadaan mereka.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.00000-e1.x | author = Wilson Edward O | year = 2000 | title = On the Future of Conservation Biology | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_conservation-biology_2000-02_14_1/page/n8 | journal = Conservation Biology | volume = 14 | issue = 1| pages = 1–3 }}</ref> Sebagian besar spesies Bumi merupakan mikrob. Fisika keanekaragaman hayati kontemporer dianggap "terpaku tegas pada dunia yang terlihat [makroskopik]".<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/429804a | author = Nee S | year = 2004 | title = More than meets the eye | journal = Nature | volume = 429 | issue = 6994| pages = 804–805 | pmid = 15215837 |bibcode = 2004Natur.429..804N }}</ref> Sebagai contoh, kehidupan mikrob secara metabolik dan lingkungan lebih beragam dibandingkan kehidupan multiseluler (misalnya pada ekstremofil). "Pada pohon kehidupan, didasarkan pada analisis subunit kecil [[Ribosomal RNA|RNA ribosom,]] kehidupan yang terlihat oleh mata hanya meliputi ranting kecil yang hampir tak terlihat. Hubungan terbalik antara ukuran makhluk hidup dan populasinya berulang lebih tinggi pada tangga evolusi "pada perkiraan pertama, semua spesies multiseluler di Bumi adalah serangga".<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1038/448657a | bibcode=2007Natur.448..657S | title = Biodiversity: World of insects | year = 2007 | last1 = Stork | first1 = Nigel E. | journal = Nature | volume = 448 | issue = 7154 | pages = 657–658 | pmid = 17687315 }}</ref> Tingkat kepunahan serangga yang tinggi mendukung hipotesis kepunahan Holosen.<ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1126/science.1095046 | author = Thomas J. A. | year = 2004 | title = Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction Crisis | url = http://www.sciencemag.org/content/303/5665/1879.abstract | journal = Science | volume = 303 | issue = 5665 | pages = 1879–1881 | pmid = 15031508 | bibcode = 2004Sci...303.1879T | author2 = Telfer M. G. | author3 = Roy D. B. | author4 = Preston C. D. | author5 = Greenwood J. J. D. | author6 = Asher J. | author7 = Fox R. | author8 = Clarke R. T. | author9 = Lawton J. H. | access-date = 2012-07-12 | archive-date = 2013-06-18 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20130618034145/http://www.sciencemag.org/content/303/5665/1879.abstract | dead-url = no }}</ref><ref>{{cite journal | doi = 10.1111/j.1523-1739.2005.00078.x | title = Modern Insect Extinctions, the Neglected Majority | url = https://archive.org/details/sim_conservation-biology_2005-08_19_4/page/1030 | year = 2005 | last1 = Dunn | first1 = Robert R. | s2cid = 38218672 | journal = Conservation Biology | volume = 19 | issue = 4 | pages = 1030–1036 }}</ref>

* [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&amp;_udi=B83WC-4N0HJMK-2&amp;_user=1300184&amp;_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2007&amp;_rdoc=6&amp;_fmt=summary&amp;_orig=browse&amp;_srch=doc-info(%23toc%2333783%232007%23999839995%23671853%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&amp;_cdi=33783&amp;_sort=d&amp;_docanchor=&amp;_ct=9&amp;_acct=C000052237&amp;_version=1&amp;_urlVersion=0&amp;_userid=1300184&amp;md5=d9c2663e7fbd6a77385d61334953d75d Alexander V. Markov, dan Andrey V. Korotayev (2007) "Fanerozoikum keanekaragaman hayati laut mengikuti tren hiperbolik" ''Palaeoworld'' 16 (4): pp 311-318] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090416193528/http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B83WC-4N0HJMK-2&_user=1300184&_coverDate=12%2F31%2F2007&_rdoc=6&_fmt=summary&_orig=browse&_srch=doc-info(%23toc%2333783%232007%23999839995%23671853%23FLA%23display%23Volume)&_cdi=33783&_sort=d&_docanchor=&_ct=9&_acct=C000052237&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=1300184&md5=d9c2663e7fbd6a77385d61334953d75d |date=2009-04-16 }} .

* [http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pbaae019.pdf Zhuravlev, Yu. N., ed. (2000) ''Стратегия сохранения биоразнообразия Сихотэ-Алиня = A Biodiversity Conservation Strategy for the Sikhote-Alin''' Vladivostok: Russian Academy of Sciences, Far Eastern Branch] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160206104603/http://pdf.usaid.gov/pdf_docs/pbaae019.pdf |date=2016-02-06 }}