Biodiversity

What is biodiversity (bi·o·di·ver·si·ty)? It's the variety of living organisms! From plants and fish to humans and insects, we're all different but we're all alive here on earth!

Polar bears snooze in the Arctic.

Biodiversity, the variety of life on Earth, is essential to sustaining the living networks and systems that provide us all with the support we need to stay alive. The best way we can help to support biodiversity is to learn about it! Increase your awareness of what plants, animals and insects live in the different habitats around the world.

The Earth can be classified broadly into 3 habitats: Terrestrial (solid ground), Freshwater (rivers and lakes) and Marine (oceans).

Books about everything that's alive:
Click the links to see the books!

	Terrestrial Life: About 26% of the Earth's surface is land. Geology Mammals Insects Birds Reptiles Amphibians Plants Humans
	Freshwater Life: Less than 3% of the earth's water is fresh water, the other 97% is salty ocean water. Most fresh water is frozen into glaciers, notably in Antarctica and Greenland. Freshwater habitats Animals Ecology
	Marine Life: Approximately 71% of the Earth's surface is covered by ocean, a volume of about 300 million cubic miles. Oceanography Fish Sharks Whales Jellyfish Squid and octopus Marine plants Starfish Eels Manta rays
	Microorganisms include bacteria, algae, molds and other single cell organisms that live in all habitats. Microorganisms

Cool biodiversity websites:

The Red List of Endangered Species Everything Counts! The Colorado Spider Survey GLOBIO for Kids Cornell University Guide to Birds National Geographic Animals Biodiversity Hotspots Colorado Fish Identification Chart Birds of Colorado