Handbook of Biodiversity

The biological variety and variability of life on Earth is called biodiversity. It is generally a measure of variation at the genetic, species and ecosystem level. Some of the factors which influence biodiversity are altitude, soils, precipitation and temperature. Due to the warm climate and high primary productivity, terrestrial biodiversity is generally greater near the equator. The tropical forest ecosystem which has a rich biodiversity covers less than ten percent of the surface of the ...