Overview

Biodiversity refers to the variation of life forms on earth at the genetic, species and ecosystem level. It varies widely across the globe and from region to region. It is dependent on abiotic characteristics of temperature, precipitation, altitude, etc. Biological diversity exists at various levels. These include taxonomic diversity, ecological diversity, morphological diversity and functional diversity. Ecology is a sub-field of biology that studies the interactions between organisms and the environment. The study of biodiversity, its distribution and population of individual organism groups as well as the interaction between systems of organisms are areas of interest in ecology. It has practical applications in conservation biology, wetland management and natural resource management, among many others. The objective of this book is to give a general view of the different areas of biodiversity and ecology, and their applications. It brings forth some of the most innovative concepts and elucidates the unexplored aspects of these fields. For someone with an interest and eye for detail, this book covers the most significant topics relevant to these fields.