Entry
Reader's guide
Entries A-Z
Subject index
Biodiversity
Biodiversity, short for biological diversity, is the variety and variability of life on Earth. It is the outcome of ongoing evolutionary processes that began about 4 billion years ago. The term gained currency in the 1980s as people became more aware of human-driven mass extinction and the many costs to society that are associated with rapidly diminishing biodiversity. The concept encompasses not only genetic and species diversity but also the multiple dimensions, dynamics, and processes of organisms and their ecological systems or ecosystems. Thus, biodiversity science investigates the past and present forms, patterns, functional traits, and interactions of ecological components, including genetic sequences, organisms, populations, communities, ecosystems, and landscapes. The global biodiversity crisis is one of the greatest challenges facing humanity. Solutions to this ...
- City Organizations, Movements, and Planning
- Agenda 21
- Brownfields
- Carrying Capacity
- Charrette
- City Politics
- Civic Space
- Ecoindustrial Parks
- Environmental Impact Assessment
- Environmental Planning
- Green Communities and Neighborhood Planning
- Green Design, Construction and Operations
- Greenfield Sites
- Infrastructure
- Intermodal Transportation
- Millennium Development Goals
- Mitigation
- NIMBY
- Personal Rapid Transit
- Resilience
- Sustainability Indicators
- Sustainable Development
- Transit-Oriented Development
- Transportation Demand Management
- City Profiles
- Austin, Texas
- Bahía de Caráquez, Ecuador
- Bangkok, Thailand
- Barcelona, Spain
- Beijing, China
- Bogotá, Colombia
- Chattanooga, Tennessee
- Chernobyl, Ukraine
- Chicago, Illinois
- Copenhagen, Denmark
- Curitiba, Brazil
- Dongtan, China
- Dzerzhinsk, Russia
- Hamburg, Germany
- Kabwe, Zambia
- Kampala, Uganda
- La Oroya, Peru
- Linfen, China
- London, England
- Los Angeles, California
- Malmö, Sweden
- Mexico City, Mexico
- New York City, New York
- Norilsk, Russia
- Portland, Oregon
- Reykjavik, Iceland
- Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
- San Francisco, California
- Seattle, Washington
- Stockholm, Sweden
- Sukinda, India
- Sumgayit, Azerbaijan
- Sydney, Australia
- Tianying, China
- Vancouver, Canada
- Vapi, India
- Green City Challenges
- Adaptation, Climate Change
- Adaptive Reuse
- Air Quality
- Biodiversity
- Carbon Footprints
- Coastal Zone Management
- Combined Sewer Overflow
- Commuting
- Construction and Demolition Waste
- Denitrification
- Density
- Ecological Footprint
- Ecosystem Restoration
- Embodied Energy
- Energy Efficiency
- Environmental Justice
- Environmental Risk
- Food Deserts
- Food Security
- Garbage
- Greywater
- Gridlock
- Heat Island Effect
- Indoor Air Quality
- Landfills
- Light Pollution
- Natural Capital
- Nonpoint Source Pollution
- Ports
- Power Grids
- Recycling in Cities
- Sea Level Rise
- Stormwater Management
- Transit
- Waste Disposal
- Water Conservation
- Water Pollution
- Water Treatment
- Water, Sources and Delivery
- Watershed Protection
- Wetlands
- Green City Solutions
- Bicycling
- Biophilia
- Bioregion
- Bluebelts
- Bus Rapid Transit
- Carbon Neutral
- Carbon Trading
- Carpooling
- Cities for Climate Protection
- Citizen Participation
- Combined Heat and Power (Cogeneration)
- Community Gardens
- Compact Development (New Urbanism)
- Composting
- Congestion Pricing
- Conservation Subdivision
- Daylighting
- Distributed Generation
- District Energy
- Ecovillages
- Green Belt
- Green Energy
- Green Fleets (Vehicles)
- Green Housing
- Green Infrastructure
- Green Jobs
- Green Landscaping
- Green Procurement and Purchasing
- Green Roofs
- Greening Suburbia
- Greyfield Development
- Habitat Conservation and Restoration
- Healthy Cities
- Historic Preservation
- Infill Development
- LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design)
- Location-Efficient Mortgage
- Masdar Ecocity
- Mayors Climate Protection Agreement
- Parks, Greenways, and Open Space
- Renewable Energy
- Smart Growth
- Traffic Calming
- Universal Design
- Urban Agriculture
- Urban Forests
- Walkability (Pedestrian-Friendly Streets)
- Xeriscaping
- Loading...