Biodiversity

The biological diversity of life on Earth. As human influence spreads, there is concern over the reduction of the total number of species and its effect on economics, medicine, and the ability of ecosystems to remain viable. Some measures of biodiversity loss are the World Wildlife Fund’s Inventory, and the IUCN Red List. WEO Wilson (Harvard University) and Peter Raven (Missouri Botanical Gardens) are key leaders in tracking and understanding the value of biodiversity.