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Biodiversity Conservation

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Encyclopedia of Ocean Engineering

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Synonyms

Conservation biology; Conservation of biological diversity

Definition

Biodiversity is “the variety of different forms of life on earth, including the different plants, animals, micro-organisms, the genes they contain and the ecosystem they form” (Rawat and Agarwal 2015). Biodiversity conservation is “about saving life on Earth in all its forms and keeping natural ecosystems functioning and healthy” (Rawat and Agarwal 2015).

Scientific Fundamentals

Three Foundational Elements of Biodiversity Conservation

In 1990, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) identified the conservation of genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity as the three foundational elements of biodiversity conservation (McNeely et al. 1990).

Genetic diversity is “the sum of genetic information and trait contained in the genes of individuals of plants, animals and micro-organisms” (Pearce et al. 1994). Genetic diversity provides the basis for adaptation to...

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China

    Xinzheng Li & Lin Gong

  2. Center for Ocean Mega-Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Qingdao, China

    Xinzheng Li & Lin Gong

  3. Laboratory for Marine Biology and Biotechnology, Qingdao National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology, Qingdao, China

    Xinzheng Li

  4. University of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, China

    Xinzheng Li

Authors
  1. Xinzheng Li
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  2. Lin Gong
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Xinzheng Li .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hadal Science and Technology Research Center, Shanghai Ocean University, Shanghai, China

    Weicheng Cui

  2. School of Naval Architecture, Ocean and Civil Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Shanghai, China

    Shixiao Fu

  3. School of Marine Science and Technology, Newcastle University, Newcastle, UK

    Zhiqiang Hu

Section Editor information

  1. Laboratory of Marine Ecosystem and Biogeochemistry, Second Institute of Oceanography, State Oceanic Administration, Hangzhou, China

    Chunsheng Wang

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Li, X., Gong, L. (2022). Biodiversity Conservation. In: Cui, W., Fu, S., Hu, Z. (eds) Encyclopedia of Ocean Engineering. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6963-5_306-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6963-5_306-2

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  • Publisher Name: Springer, Singapore

  • Print ISBN: 978-981-10-6963-5

  • Online ISBN: 978-981-10-6963-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Reference EngineeringReference Module Computer Science and Engineering

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Chapter history

  1. Latest

    Biodiversity Conservation
    Published:
    20 April 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6963-5_306-2

  2. Original

    Biodiversity Conservation
    Published:
    17 March 2022

    DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-10-6963-5_306-1

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