As the principal division of Christopher Betts Environmental Biology, Betts Ecology provide a comprehensive range of ecological and nature conservation services, from walk-over surveys to the most specialist studies of uncommon species. Our full-time in-house team of scientists are always ready to help you with a friendly response and objective advice.

What is biodiversity?
Biodiversity (short for biological diversity) is defined in Biodiversity: The UK Steering Group Report volume 1 1995 (HMSO) as: The variability among living organisms from all sources including, inter alia, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Why is biodiversity important?
During the last hundred years or so, the rate of environmental change to the landscape, habitats and ecological systems caused by human beings has increased at an unprecedented rate. The effects of these impacts are difficult to assess and often counter-intuitive; they are not always negative, but some are decidedly worrying because of their potential effects on us and the long term ecological health of the planet. Pollution and loss of habitats and species are among the more disturbing. The resources of the living world are finite and interdependent: a sustainable approach to our relationship with them makes sense.

Other pages in the Betts Ecology section:
Baseline Surveys
Desktop Data Trawl
Phase 1 Habitat, Protected Species & Biodiversity Surveys
Phase 2 Habitat
Survey
Arboricultural Surveys
Other Specialist Surveys
Expert Witness
Advice and Support

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