Biodiversity within a community

• What does biodiversity refer to?

  Biodiversity refers to the variety of life and can be measured on different scales. It can relate to a small local habitat, such as a pond or woodland, or to the entire Earth, encompassing global ecosystems.
• What is species richness?

  Species richness is a simple measure of biodiversity. It refers to the number of different species present in a community. However, it does not account for the number of individuals within each species.
• How do farming techniques reduce biodiversity?

  • Remove habitats (e.g. through hedgerow removal or draining wetlands)
  • Use monocultures (large areas of a single crop), which reduce species richness
  • Use pesticides and herbicides, which kill insects and unwanted plants, reducing food sources and habitats for other organisms
  • Overuse fertilisers, which can lead to eutrophication and damage aquatic ecosystems