As defined in the recent Millenium Ecosystem Assessment (MA), biodiversity scenarios are ‘‘plausible alternative futures.’’ They do not attempt to predict the precise future state of biodiversity, but rather they identify the consequences of the different paths that human society may follow for biodiversity. Scenarios are designed to assist decision makers by identifying costs and benefits, in ...

In 2001, the Canadian Councils of Resource Ministers (CCRM) named biodiversity reporting as a priority. As a result, the Biodiversity Outcomes Framework was developed to identify and link current and future priorities related to sustaining Canadian biodiversity, to engage Canadians on the planning and implementation of these priorities, and to report on progress. In 2006, the CCRM identified th...

1. INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................5 2. A
FOCUS
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MARINE/COASTAL
BIODIVERSITY
INDICATORS
IN
SIDS .............................7 3. POPULATING
THE
 SIDS
BIODIVERSITY
 INDICATORS:
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AVAILABILITY,
 STATUS
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 TRENDS .............................................................................................

plant diversityis essential to maintain the health of planet's ecosystems. conservation of biodiversity is necessary for the ecological stability and productivity in natural ecosystems. the aim of this research was to study the biodiversity and richness of plant species (including trees, shrubs and grasses) related to the environmental factors (soil and physiography) in the forests of zagros, w...

the predatory mites of suborder prostigmata are important natural enemies of spider mites. in this study abundance and biodiversity of predatory mites of super families of raphignathoidea, bdelloidea and erythraeoidea in pomefruit orchards of mashhad) educational orchard of agricultural college of ferdowsi unuversity of mashhad, agricultural research centre of torogh and laeen, torghabe and sha...

The protection of biological diversity (hereafter biodiversity) is considered one of the fundamental goals for the sustainable management of ecological systems. This paper examines how existing levels of biodiversity influence ecosystem capabilities at the local level. Specifically, it tests the effects of biodiversity and the degree of threat to biodiversity on the quality of local comprehensi...

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...

Land use and related pressures have reduced local terrestrial biodiversity, but it is unclear how the magnitude of change relates to the recently proposed planetary boundary ("safe limit"). We estimate that land use and related pressures have already reduced local biodiversity intactness--the average proportion of natural biodiversity remaining in local ecosystems--beyond its recently proposed ...

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...