Definition of "biodiversity" []

• The number and variety of organisms found within a specified geographic region. (noun)
• The variability among living organisms on the earth, including the variability within and between species and within and between ecosystems. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Perhaps inevitably, such an all-encompassing definition, together with the strong emotive power of the concept, has led to somewhat cavalier use of the term biodiversity, in extreme cases to refer to life or biology itself."
• "Biologists use the term biodiversity to describe the earth's stunning variety."
• "Colin: As a graduate student, I suspect the scientific community is trying to tighten its use of the term biodiversity because it encompasses many ..."