Biodiversity Ecological Society of America 02.01.01 The concept of biodiversity has provoked considerable debate and misunderstanding among the general public, decision-makers, and even the scientific community. Much has been published on the subject since its first appearance at the National Forum on BioDiversity in September, 1986, the proceedings of which became the best-seller BioDiversity. But what is biodiversity, what threatens it, why is it important, and what are ecologists doing to better understand it?      Short for biological diversity, biodiversity includes all organisms, species, and populations; the genetic variation among these; and all their complex assemblages of communities and ecosystems. It also refers to the interrelatedness of genes, species, and ecosystems and their interactions with the environment. Usually three levels of biodiversity are discussed-genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity.     Genetic diversity is all the different genes contained in all individual plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms. It occurs within a species as well as between species.     Species diversity is all the differences within and between populations of species, as well as between different species.     Ecosystem diversity is all the different habitats, biological communities, and ecological processes, as well as variation within individual ecosystems. Prepared by the Ecology Society of America   1707 H St., NW   Suite 400   Washington, DC 20006 ©2001 The Aurora Collection, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Site Development by: Interactive Multimedia. Inc.