<
 
 
 
 
×
>
Vous consultez une page Web conservée, recueillie par Bibliothèque et Archives Canada le 2007-11-16 à 14:36:47. Il se peut que les informations sur cette page Web soient obsolètes, et que les liens hypertextes externes, les formulaires web, les boîtes de recherche et les éléments technologiques dynamiques ne fonctionnent pas. Voir toutes les versions de cette page conservée.
Chargement des informations sur les médias

You are viewing a preserved web page, collected by Library and Archives Canada on 2007-11-16 at 14:36:47. The information on this web page may be out of date and external links, forms, search boxes and dynamic technology elements may not function. See all versions of this preserved page.
Loading media information
X
nature.ca The Nature of the Rideau River HomeFrançais  
The ProjectHistory and GeographyRiver HealthAnimals and PlantsWater QualityBiodiversityAction!ResourcesTeachers
Biodiversity

 

Common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis.
Common garter snake, Thamnophis sirtalis.

What is Biodiversity?

In one breath, biodiversity refers to all living things on Earth (plants, animals and micro-organisms), and to the differences that make each species unique.

Biodiversity is the variety of life on Earth, and includes genetics, species, ecosystems and the ecological processes of which they are a part. [17]

Eastern elliptios, Elliptio complanata.
Eastern elliptios, Elliptio complanata.

Biodiversity takes into account all facets of living beings and their habitats. It is not limited to their biological role and their economic value, but also considers what these species, these places, these landscapes bring to us on educational, cultural, spiritual and aesthetic levels.

The term "biodiversity" comes from the words "biological" and "diversity". It appeared for the first time in 1988, in a report of a conference on biodiversity that was held in the United States. The concept of biological diversity was, nevertheless, known and studied well before this date.

Bullet. 
Arrow.  


Narrow-leaved cattail, Typha angustifolia.
Narrow-leaved cattail, Typha angustifolia.
An aquatic invertebrate of the Elmidae family.
An aquatic invertebrate of the Elmidae family.

When applied to the Rideau River, the concept of biodiversity includes the great variety of species that live in and along the River, their habitat and their interactions, not to mention the beneficial effect of this small paradise on visitors!

A World to Discover
With every passing day, our portrait of the natural world is enlarged and enriched. As the table below shows, however, this portrait remains incomplete; we know only a small fraction of the species living on Earth. Many living species disappear entirely before we even learn of them.

Groups Species Known in Canada a Species Known in the World b,c,d Estimated Number of Species in the World b,c,d Amount of Species Not Known
Viruses 200 4,000 400,000 99%
Bacteria 2,000 4,000 1,000,000 99%
Algae 6,000 40,000 400,000 90%
Plants 5,000 270,000 320,000 15%
Protozoans 1,000 40,000 200,000 80%
Other Invertebrates 8,000 90,000 750,000 88%
Molluscs 1,500 100,000 200,000 50%
Insects 30,000 950,000 8,000,000 88%
Fish 200 23,500 25,000 93%
Amphibians 44 5,000 6,000 17%
Reptiles 45 7,400 8,000 8%
Birds 430 9,900 10,000 1%
Mammals 200 4,600 5,000 8%
Totals 54,619 1,548,150 11,324,000  

a Canada's biodiversity. [33]
b Global Biodiversity Assessment. [34]
c Catalog of Fishes. [35]
d Conversations among specific scientists. [36]

 

A Project of the Canadian Museum of Nature
  
 Images: Ruben Boles, Canadian Museum of Nature, Ed Hendrycks, André Martel