Introduction Biodiversity conservation has traditionally been seen as problem of protecting genetic diversity. It has had two dimensions: ex situ germ plasm preservation in zoos, aquaria and arboreta (and by extension, seed banks, tissue cultures and genomic libraries), and in situ species preservation in refugia, especially in megadiversity areas involving high levels of endemism. Increasingly...

Wetlands are important sites for biological conservation because they support rich biodiversity and present high productivity. Species-area relationship is an important tool in conservation planning and it has been extensively used for wetland management. This study had as aims: (1) to analyse macrophyte and macroinvertebrate diversity in the fragmented wetlands of the Sinos River basin; and (2...

Effective management of biodiversity in production landscapes requires a conservation approach that acknowledges the complexity of ecological and cultural systems in time and space. Fennoscandia has experienced major loss of forest biodiversity caused by intensive forestry. Therefore, the Countdown 2010 initiative to halt the loss of biodiversity in Europe is highly relevant to forest managemen...

Global biodiversity is under significant threat from the combined effects of human-induced climate and land-use change. Covering 12% of the Earth's terrestrial surface, protected areas are crucial for conserving biodiversity and supporting ecological processes beneficial to human well-being, but their selection and design are usually uninformed about future global change. Here, we quantify the ...

To counteract global species decline, modern biodiversity conservation engages in large projects, spends billions of dollars, and includes many organizations working simultaneously within regions. To add to this complexity, the conservation sector has hierarchical structure, where conservation actions are often outsourced by funders (foundations, government, etc.) to local organizations that wo...

Biodiversity — the variety of all life, from genes and species to ecosystems — is intimately linked to Earth’s climate and, inevitably, to climate change. Biodiversity and poverty are also inextricably connected. For instance, changes to natural ecosystems influence both climate change and people’s ability to cope with some of its damaging impacts. And in their turn climate change, as well as p...

Indigenous people number over 300 million. They are inhabitants of practically each main biome of the earth and especially of the least disturbed terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems of the world. Based on an exhaustive review of recently published data, this chapter stresses the strategic importance of indigenous peoples in the maintenance and conservation of world's biodiversity. Four main link...

BACKGROUND This paper describes a growing biodiversity platform, launched in 2008, which organizes knowledge on the biodiversity of India. The main objective and originality of the India Biodiversity Portal (IBP) is to aggregate curated biodiversity data of different kinds (e.g. distribution maps, temporal distribution or life history) in an integrated platform where amateurs and experts can ea...

Direct contact with biodiversity is culturally important in a range of contexts. Many people even join conservation organisations to protect biodiversity that they will never encounter first-hand. Despite this, we have little idea how biodiversity affects people's well-being and health through these cultural pathways. Human health is sensitive to apparently trivial psychological stimuli, negati...

1 School of Geography, Planning and Environmental Management & Centre for Biodiversity and Conservation Science, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, QLD 4072, Australia 2 School of Global, Urban and Social Studies, RMIT University, GPO Box 2476, Melbourne, VIC 3001, Australia 3 Griffith Climate Change Response Program, Griffith University, Gold Coast City, Parklands Drive, Southport, QLD 42...