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Holosiiv National Nature Park

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The Holosiiv National Nature Park ( Ukrainian : Національний природний парк «Голосі́ївський» , romanized :  Natsionalnyi pryrodnyi park "Holosiivskyi" ) is a protected remnant of forest surrounded by the urban area of the city of Kyiv , Ukraine. It is located on the Kyiv hills, in the Dniester-Dnieper forest-steppe province, North-Dnieper lowland and steppe zone of Left-Bank Dnieper province, in Holosiivskyi District . Its total area is 4525.52 hectares, of which 1879.43 hectares are in permanent use. It is managed by the Ministry of Ecology and Natural Resources of Ukraine .

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70-423: A variety of landscapes, significant biodiversity , lakes and wetlands, plus historical, cultural and ethnographic monuments define a high importance of the park’s area for scientific research, monitoring of ecosystems and conservation, as well as use by locals of ecological trails. The park consists of several spatially disconnected forests located in the southern part of the city of Kyiv . The park area belongs to

140-484: A 10% increase in biodiversity, which was canceled out by a loss in low-income countries. This is despite the fact that high-income countries use five times the ecological resources of low-income countries, which was explained as a result of a process whereby wealthy nations are outsourcing resource depletion to poorer nations, which are suffering the greatest ecosystem losses. A 2017 study published in PLOS One found that

210-501: A country, endangered species are initially supported on a national level then internationally. Ecotourism may be utilized to support the economy and encourages tourists to continue to visit and support species and ecosystems they visit, while they enjoy the available amenities provided. International biodiversity impacts global livelihood, food systems, and health. Problematic pollution, over consumption, and climate change can devastate international biodiversity. Nature-based solutions are

280-499: A critical tool for a global resolution. Many species are in danger of becoming extinct and need world leaders to be proactive with the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework . Terrestrial biodiversity is thought to be up to 25 times greater than ocean biodiversity. Forests harbour most of Earth's terrestrial biodiversity. The conservation of the world's biodiversity is thus utterly dependent on

350-455: A first-order positive feedback (more ancestors, more descendants) and/or a negative feedback arising from resource limitation. Hyperbolic model implies a second-order positive feedback. Differences in the strength of the second-order feedback due to different intensities of interspecific competition might explain the faster rediversification of ammonoids in comparison to bivalves after the end-Permian extinction . The hyperbolic pattern of

420-460: A limit would also cap the number of species. While records of life in the sea show a logistic pattern of growth, life on land (insects, plants and tetrapods) shows an exponential rise in diversity. As one author states, "Tetrapods have not yet invaded 64 percent of potentially habitable modes and it could be that without human influence the ecological and taxonomic diversity of tetrapods would continue to increase exponentially until most or all of

490-405: A report saying that "biodiversity is being destroyed at a rate unprecedented in human history". The report claims that 68% of the population of the examined species were destroyed in the years 1970 – 2016. Of 70,000 monitored species, around 48% are experiencing population declines from human activity (in 2023), whereas only 3% have increasing populations. Rates of decline in biodiversity in

560-586: A third of the Earth's land mass) and are home to approximately 80% of the world's biodiversity. About 1 billion hectares are covered by primary forests. Over 700 million hectares of the world's woods are officially protected. The biodiversity of forests varies considerably according to factors such as forest type, geography, climate and soils – in addition to human use. Most forest habitats in temperate regions support relatively few animal and plant species and species that tend to have large geographical distributions, while

630-986: Is 'planned' diversity or 'associated' diversity. This is a functional classification that we impose and not an intrinsic feature of life or diversity. Planned diversity includes the crops which a farmer has encouraged, planted or raised (e.g. crops, covers, symbionts, and livestock, among others), which can be contrasted with the associated diversity that arrives among the crops, uninvited (e.g. herbivores, weed species and pathogens, among others). Associated biodiversity can be damaging or beneficial. The beneficial associated biodiversity include for instance wild pollinators such as wild bees and syrphid flies that pollinate crops and natural enemies and antagonists to pests and pathogens. Beneficial associated biodiversity occurs abundantly in crop fields and provide multiple ecosystem services such as pest control, nutrient cycling and pollination that support crop production. Coronella austriaca The smooth snake ( Coronella austriaca )

700-632: Is a species of non- venomous snake in the family Colubridae . The species is found in northern and central Europe, but also as far east as northern Iran. The Reptile Database recognizes two subspecies as being valid, including the nominotypical subspecies described here. Both sexes of C. austriaca grow to an average total length (including tail) of about 60 cm (24 in) to 75 cm (30 in). Two specimens measuring 83 cm (33 in) have been recorded in Sweden, as well as one in Russia that

770-429: Is also a very indistinct series of dark spots running along each of the flanks. These four series of spots along the body overlay four parallel, rather shadowy stripes that also run down the back and flanks. On the top of the head is a dark marking which is often in the shape of a crown, giving rise to the generic name Coronella (which means coronet ). A relatively thick dark stripe extends from each nostril, through

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840-405: Is an increase in biodiversity from the poles to the tropics . Thus localities at lower latitudes have more species than localities at higher latitudes . This is often referred to as the latitudinal gradient in species diversity. Several ecological factors may contribute to the gradient, but the ultimate factor behind many of them is the greater mean temperature at the equator compared to that at

910-407: Is divided (rarely single) and the subcaudal scales are paired. Males have 54–70 subcaudal scales and females 40–76. The colour pattern consists of a brown, grey or reddish ground colour with two rows of small, rather indistinct dark spots running down the back towards the tail. In some cases, each pair of spots may be united toward the neck area, forming a series of cross-bars over the back. There

980-491: Is estimated at 5.0 x 10 and weighs 50 billion tonnes . In comparison, the total mass of the biosphere has been estimated to be as much as four trillion tons of carbon . In July 2016, scientists reported identifying a set of 355 genes from the last universal common ancestor (LUCA) of all organisms living on Earth. The age of Earth is about 4.54 billion years. The earliest undisputed evidence of life dates at least from 3.7 billion years ago, during

1050-402: Is greater now than at any time in human history, with extinctions occurring at rates hundreds of times higher than background extinction rates. and expected to still grow in the upcoming years. As of 2012, some studies suggest that 25% of all mammal species could be extinct in 20 years. In absolute terms, the planet has lost 58% of its biodiversity since 1970 according to a 2016 study by

1120-427: Is local biodiversity, which directly impacts daily life, affecting the availability of fresh water, food choices, and fuel sources for humans. Regional biodiversity includes habitats and ecosystems that synergizes and either overlaps or differs on a regional scale. National biodiversity within a country determines the ability for a country to thrive according to its habitats and ecosystems on a national scale. Also, within

1190-458: Is no concrete definition for biodiversity, as its definition continues to be defined. Other definitions include (in chronological order): According to estimates by Mora et al. (2011), there are approximately 8.7 million terrestrial species and 2.2 million oceanic species. The authors note that these estimates are strongest for eukaryotic organisms and likely represent the lower bound of prokaryote diversity. Other estimates include: Since

1260-534: Is on the eastern edge of the Central European mixed forests ecoregion, meeting the western reaches of the East European forest steppe ecoregion. The climate of Holosiivskyi is Humid continental climate, warm summer ( Köppen climate classification (Dfb) ). This climate is characterized by large swings in temperature, both diurnally and seasonally, with mild summers and cold, snowy winters. The flora of

1330-401: Is possible to build fractal hyper volumes, whose fractal dimension rises to three moving towards the equator . A biodiversity hotspot is a region with a high level of endemic species that have experienced great habitat loss . The term hotspot was introduced in 1988 by Norman Myers . While hotspots are spread all over the world, the majority are forest areas and most are located in

1400-539: Is restricted to heathland habitats. Coronella austriaca is found from the south of England through France and the Low Countries to northern Spain and Portugal, Germany, Norway and Sweden (as far north as latitude 63°), Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Switzerland, Austria, Italy and Sicily (but not in Corsica or Sardinia ), the western Balkans and Greece, and European Russia as far north as latitude 57°. In Asia, it

1470-561: Is so full, that that district produces the most variety which is the most examined." Biodiversity is the result of 3.5 billion years of evolution . The origin of life has not been established by science, however, some evidence suggests that life may already have been well-established only a few hundred million years after the formation of the Earth . Until approximately 2.5 billion years ago, all life consisted of microorganisms – archaea , bacteria , and single-celled protozoans and protists . Biodiversity grew fast during

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1540-479: Is the variability of life on Earth . It can be measured on various levels. There is for example genetic variability , species diversity , ecosystem diversity and phylogenetic diversity. Diversity is not distributed evenly on Earth . It is greater in the tropics as a result of the warm climate and high primary productivity in the region near the equator . Tropical forest ecosystems cover less than one-fifth of Earth's terrestrial area and contain about 50% of

1610-405: Is uncertainty as to how strongly the fossil record is biased by the greater availability and preservation of recent geologic sections. Some scientists believe that corrected for sampling artifacts, modern biodiversity may not be much different from biodiversity 300 million years ago, whereas others consider the fossil record reasonably reflective of the diversification of life. Estimates of

1680-506: The Carboniferous , rainforest collapse may have led to a great loss of plant and animal life. The Permian–Triassic extinction event , 251 million years ago, was the worst; vertebrate recovery took 30 million years. Human activities have led to an ongoing biodiversity loss and an accompanying loss of genetic diversity . This process is often referred to as Holocene extinction , or sixth mass extinction . For example, it

1750-763: The Eoarchean era after a geological crust started to solidify following the earlier molten Hadean eon. There are microbial mat fossils found in 3.48 billion-year-old sandstone discovered in Western Australia . Other early physical evidence of a biogenic substance is graphite in 3.7 billion-year-old meta-sedimentary rocks discovered in Western Greenland .. More recently, in 2015, "remains of biotic life " were found in 4.1 billion-year-old rocks in Western Australia . According to one of

1820-625: The National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine . Its southwestern parts were developed into separate Feofaniia neighborhood, which was known as a settlement of the St. Michael Kyiv Monastery . Feofania is separated from Holosiiv by the European route E40 which between Pyrohiv and Vita-Lytovska passes the main ridge of Kyiv Hills and turns north towards the city's centre along the Dnieper embankment. The park

1890-696: The Phanerozoic (the last 540 million years), especially during the so-called Cambrian explosion —a period during which nearly every phylum of multicellular organisms first appeared. However, recent studies suggest that this diversification had started earlier, at least in the Ediacaran , and that it continued in the Ordovician . Over the next 400 million years or so, invertebrate diversity showed little overall trend and vertebrate diversity shows an overall exponential trend. This dramatic rise in diversity

1960-551: The Red Book of Ukraine , and 29 species are regionally rare. The Fauna consists of 31 species of terrestrial molluscs , 190 species of insects, and 181 species of vertebrates (21 species of bony fish, 10 species of amphibians , 6 species of reptiles , 100 species of birds, and 44 mammal species). The park is represented by a number of vertebrate and invertebrate animals that are protected internationally, nationally, and regionally: Among National Red Book species of vertebrates in

2030-589: The Soviet persecutions against religion , at the former monastic areas was established a local agrarian institute, previously part of the Kyiv Polytechnic Institute (today National University of Life and Environmental Sciences of Ukraine ). In 1950s-1960s on some territory of the Holosiiv Woods were created Expocenter of Ukraine and Rylskyi Holosiiv City Park. Later there were built several institutions of

2100-456: The Stone Age , species loss has accelerated above the average basal rate, driven by human activity. Estimates of species losses are at a rate 100–10,000 times as fast as is typical in the fossil record. Loss of biodiversity results in the loss of natural capital that supplies ecosystem goods and services . Species today are being wiped out at a rate 100 to 1,000 times higher than baseline, and

2170-504: The tropics . Brazil 's Atlantic Forest is considered one such hotspot, containing roughly 20,000 plant species, 1,350 vertebrates and millions of insects, about half of which occur nowhere else. The island of Madagascar and India are also particularly notable. Colombia is characterized by high biodiversity, with the highest rate of species by area unit worldwide and it has the largest number of endemics (species that are not found naturally anywhere else) of any country. About 10% of

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2240-417: The world population growth arises from a second-order positive feedback between the population size and the rate of technological growth. The hyperbolic character of biodiversity growth can be similarly accounted for by a feedback between diversity and community structure complexity. The similarity between the curves of biodiversity and human population probably comes from the fact that both are derived from

2310-450: The 16th century. The origin of the name usually is connect with planting trees on the treeless territory in the early 17th century by the order of the founder Holosiivskyi skit Peter Mohyla. However, there are more ancient references to forested land and the farm Hulasiyivskyy. Thus, it is likely that local name is derived from the phrase “siiaty hul” ("to sow hum", but not “holosiiaty” (“to plant treeless land”.) Holosiiv National Nature Park

2380-590: The IUCN's critically endangered . Numerous scientists and the IPBES Global Assessment Report on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services assert that human population growth and overconsumption are the primary factors in this decline. However, other scientists have criticized this finding and say that loss of habitat caused by "the growth of commodities for export" is the main driver. Some studies have however pointed out that habitat destruction for

2450-690: The President of Ukraine No. 446/2014 "On changing the borders of the Holosiiv National Nature Park". By this decree, 6462.62 hectares of forests of the Sviatoshyn Forest Park Farm were added to the territory of the Holosiiv Natural Park. The main historical and cultural attractions are located in the national park and close to it are: Video 2023 from Holosiiv National Nature Park: Biodiversity Biodiversity

2520-566: The World Wildlife Fund. The Living Planet Report 2014 claims that "the number of mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish across the globe is, on average, about half the size it was 40 years ago". Of that number, 39% accounts for the terrestrial wildlife gone, 39% for the marine wildlife gone and 76% for the freshwater wildlife gone. Biodiversity took the biggest hit in Latin America , plummeting 83 percent. High-income countries showed

2590-461: The available eco-space is filled." It also appears that the diversity continues to increase over time, especially after mass extinctions. On the other hand, changes through the Phanerozoic correlate much better with the hyperbolic model (widely used in population biology , demography and macrosociology , as well as fossil biodiversity) than with exponential and logistic models. The latter models imply that changes in diversity are guided by

2660-537: The biomass of insect life in Germany had declined by three-quarters in the last 25 years. Dave Goulson of Sussex University stated that their study suggested that humans "appear to be making vast tracts of land inhospitable to most forms of life, and are currently on course for ecological Armageddon. If we lose the insects then everything is going to collapse." In 2020 the World Wildlife Foundation published

2730-534: The current sixth mass extinction match or exceed rates of loss in the five previous mass extinction events in the fossil record . Biodiversity loss is in fact "one of the most critical manifestations of the Anthropocene " (since around the 1950s); the continued decline of biodiversity constitutes "an unprecedented threat" to the continued existence of human civilization. The reduction is caused primarily by human impacts , particularly habitat destruction . Since

2800-505: The end of the Maastrichtian , just before that extinction event. However, many other taxa were affected by this crisis, which affected even marine taxa, such as ammonites , which also became extinct around that time. The biodiversity of the past is called Paleobiodiversity. The fossil record suggests that the last few million years featured the greatest biodiversity in history . However, not all scientists support this view, since there

2870-481: The end of the last ice age partly resulted from overhunting. Biologists most often define biodiversity as the "totality of genes , species and ecosystems of a region". An advantage of this definition is that it presents a unified view of the traditional types of biological variety previously identified: Biodiversity is most commonly used to replace the more clearly-defined and long-established terms, species diversity and species richness . However, there

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2940-451: The estimated global value of ecosystem services (not captured in traditional markets) at an average of $ 33 trillion annually. With regards to provisioning services, greater species diversity has the following benefits: With regards to regulating services, greater species diversity has the following benefits: Greater species diversity Agricultural diversity can be divided into two categories: intraspecific diversity , which includes

3010-428: The expansion of agriculture and the overexploitation of wildlife are the more significant drivers of contemporary biodiversity loss, not climate change . Biodiversity is not evenly distributed, rather it varies greatly across the globe as well as within regions and seasons. Among other factors, the diversity of all living things ( biota ) depends on temperature , precipitation , altitude , soils , geography and

3080-497: The eye, and along the side of the head to a little beyond the neck. The upper labials are whitish, greyish-white or light brown, sometimes with darker spots. The tongue is reddish brown or dark red. The smooth snake feeds on smaller animals, especially other reptiles. It subdues larger prey by constriction, although unlike true constrictors it does not kill by this method. Smooth snakes are ovoviviparous . The juveniles hatch out of eggs internally and are born live. In Britain it

3150-545: The forest-steppe zone, with its main area covered by forest - 4232.8 hectares (more than 90% of the territory). Wetlands make up 66.2 ha, and the remaining 45.9 ha is water. As a toponym it is first mentioned in 1541 as a domain of the Kyiv Pechersk Lavra . In 1617 there was a khutir Holosiiv. The area is located between such Kyiv neighborhoods like Demiivka , Teremky , Feofaniia , Mysholovka , Dobryi Shliakh , Pyrohiv , Samburky , and Kytaiv . Following

3220-491: The genetic variation within a single species, like the potato ( Solanum tuberosum ) that is composed of many different forms and types (e.g. in the U.S. they might compare russet potatoes with new potatoes or purple potatoes, all different, but all part of the same species, S. tuberosum ). The other category of agricultural diversity is called interspecific diversity and refers to the number and types of different species. Agricultural diversity can also be divided by whether it

3290-582: The interactions between other species. The study of the spatial distribution of organisms , species and ecosystems , is the science of biogeography . Diversity consistently measures higher in the tropics and in other localized regions such as the Cape Floristic Region and lower in polar regions generally. Rain forests that have had wet climates for a long time, such as Yasuní National Park in Ecuador , have particularly high biodiversity. There

3360-732: The interference of the hyperbolic trend with cyclical and stochastic dynamics. Most biologists agree however that the period since human emergence is part of a new mass extinction, named the Holocene extinction event , caused primarily by the impact humans are having on the environment. It has been argued that the present rate of extinction is sufficient to eliminate most species on the planet Earth within 100 years. New species are regularly discovered (on average between 5–10,000 new species each year, most of them insects ) and many, though discovered, are not yet classified (estimates are that nearly 90% of all arthropods are not yet classified). Most of

3430-869: The montane forests of Africa, South America and Southeast Asia and lowland forests of Australia, coastal Brazil, the Caribbean islands, Central America and insular Southeast Asia have many species with small geographical distributions. Areas with dense human populations and intense agricultural land use, such as Europe , parts of Bangladesh, China, India and North America, are less intact in terms of their biodiversity. Northern Africa, southern Australia, coastal Brazil, Madagascar and South Africa, are also identified as areas with striking losses in biodiversity intactness. European forests in EU and non-EU nations comprise more than 30% of Europe's land mass (around 227 million hectares), representing an almost 10% growth since 1990. Generally, there

3500-667: The park includes 650 species of vascular plants , 118 species of moss , and more than 60 species of fungi . Some of these species have conservation status of international, national or regional level. Among the vascular plants that grow in the park, 5 species are listed in Annex I of the Berne Convention on the Conservation of European Wildlife and Natural Habitats , 1 species in the European Regional Red List , 24 species in

3570-911: The park, there are: European green lizard , smooth snake , short-toed snake eagle , greater spotted eagle , stock dove , white-backed woodpecker , Miller's water shrew , serotine bat , Nathusius' pipistrelle , Kuhl's pipistrelle , common pipistrelle , soprano pipistrelle , common noctule , Leisler's bat , brown long-eared bat , rearmouse , Daubenton's bat , stoat , European polecat and otter . Among National Red Book species of invertebrates, there are: forest caterpillar hunter , stag beetle , musk beetle , hermit beetle , Neopristilophus depressus (lat.), swallowtail , southern festoon , clouded Apollo , Duke of Burgundy , poplar admiral , blue underwing , Janus femoratus (lat.), Megarhyssa superba (lat.), carpenter bee and mammoth wasp . The park has numerous age-old oaks (oak of Peter Mohyla, oaks of glory, etc.), primroses and colorful cascades of

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3640-468: The planet's species went extinct prior to the evolution of humans. Estimates on the number of Earth's current species range from 10 million to 14 million, of which about 1.2 million have been documented and over 86% have not yet been described. However, a May 2016 scientific report estimates that 1 trillion species are currently on Earth, with only one-thousandth of one percent described. The total amount of related DNA base pairs on Earth

3710-546: The poles. Even though terrestrial biodiversity declines from the equator to the poles, some studies claim that this characteristic is unverified in aquatic ecosystems , especially in marine ecosystems . The latitudinal distribution of parasites does not appear to follow this rule. Also, in terrestrial ecosystems the soil bacterial diversity has been shown to be highest in temperate climatic zones, and has been attributed to carbon inputs and habitat connectivity. In 2016, an alternative hypothesis ("the fractal biodiversity")

3780-507: The ponds named Orikhuvatskyi, Kytaivskyi and Didorivskyi. Source of the holy bathing house located in Didorivsky watercourse near the "Mytkin pound" in Holosiiv forest, a bath called by religious people in the area healing or miraculous. Another bath – Kytaivskyi is near watercourse Kytaivskyi. A picturesque and cozy place that was called Holosiiv or Holosiievo was mentioned from the beginning of

3850-412: The present global macroscopic species diversity vary from 2 million to 100 million, with a best estimate of somewhere near 9 million, the vast majority arthropods . Diversity appears to increase continually in the absence of natural selection. The existence of a global carrying capacity , limiting the amount of life that can live at once, is debated, as is the question of whether such

3920-729: The rate of extinction has increased, many extant species may become extinct before they are described. Not surprisingly, in the animalia the most studied groups are birds and mammals , whereas fishes and arthropods are the least studied animals groups. During the last century, decreases in biodiversity have been increasingly observed. It was estimated in 2007 that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050. Of these, about one eighth of known plant species are threatened with extinction . Estimates reach as high as 140,000 species per year (based on Species-area theory ). This figure indicates unsustainable ecological practices, because few species emerge each year. The rate of species loss

3990-577: The rate of extinctions is increasing. This process destroys the resilience and adaptability of life on Earth. In 2006, many species were formally classified as rare or endangered or threatened ; moreover, scientists have estimated that millions more species are at risk which have not been formally recognized. About 40 percent of the 40,177 species assessed using the IUCN Red List criteria are now listed as threatened with extinction —a total of 16,119. As of late 2022 9251 species were considered part of

4060-913: The researchers, "If life arose relatively quickly on Earth...then it could be common in the universe ." There have been many claims about biodiversity's effect on the ecosystem services , especially provisioning and regulating services . Some of those claims have been validated, some are incorrect and some lack enough evidence to draw definitive conclusions. Ecosystem services have been grouped in three types: Experiments with controlled environments have shown that humans cannot easily build ecosystems to support human needs; for example insect pollination cannot be mimicked, though there have been attempts to create artificial pollinators using unmanned aerial vehicles . The economic activity of pollination alone represented between $ 2.1–14.6 billion in 2003. Other sources have reported somewhat conflicting results and in 1997 Robert Costanza and his colleagues reported

4130-684: The species of the Earth can be found in Colombia, including over 1,900 species of bird, more than in Europe and North America combined, Colombia has 10% of the world's mammals species, 14% of the amphibian species and 18% of the bird species of the world. Madagascar dry deciduous forests and lowland rainforests possess a high ratio of endemism . Since the island separated from mainland Africa 66 million years ago, many species and ecosystems have evolved independently. Indonesia 's 17,000 islands cover 735,355 square miles (1,904,560 km ) and contain 10% of

4200-419: The terrestrial diversity is found in tropical forests and in general, the land has more species than the ocean; some 8.7 million species may exist on Earth, of which some 2.1 million live in the ocean. It is estimated that 5 to 50 billion species have existed on the planet. Assuming that there may be a maximum of about 50 million species currently alive, it stands to reason that greater than 99% of

4270-413: The third and fourth or fourth and fifth border the eye. In the middle part of the body there are 19 (rarely 17 or 21) rows of dorsal scales . In contrast with many other snakes found in the region, these scales are flat (not keeled). This gives the snake a smooth texture to the touch, from which it gets its common name. The ventral scales number 150-164 in males and 162–200 in females. The anal scale

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4340-773: The way in which we interact with and use the world's forests. A new method used in 2011, put the total number of species on Earth at 8.7 million, of which 2.1 million were estimated to live in the ocean. However, this estimate seems to under-represent the diversity of microorganisms. Forests provide habitats for 80 percent of amphibian species , 75 percent of bird species and 68 percent of mammal species. About 60 percent of all vascular plants are found in tropical forests. Mangroves provide breeding grounds and nurseries for numerous species of fish and shellfish and help trap sediments that might otherwise adversely affect seagrass beds and coral reefs, which are habitats for many more marine species. Forests span around 4 billion acres (nearly

4410-630: The world's flowering plants , 12% of mammals and 17% of reptiles , amphibians and birds —along with nearly 240 million people. Many regions of high biodiversity and/or endemism arise from specialized habitats which require unusual adaptations, for example, alpine environments in high mountains , or Northern European peat bogs . Accurately measuring differences in biodiversity can be difficult. Selection bias amongst researchers may contribute to biased empirical research for modern estimates of biodiversity. In 1768, Rev. Gilbert White succinctly observed of his Selborne, Hampshire "all nature

4480-647: The world's species. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity for both marine and terrestrial taxa. Since life began on Earth , six major mass extinctions and several minor events have led to large and sudden drops in biodiversity. The Phanerozoic aeon (the last 540 million years) marked a rapid growth in biodiversity via the Cambrian explosion . In this period, the majority of multicellular phyla first appeared. The next 400 million years included repeated, massive biodiversity losses. Those events have been classified as mass extinction events. In

4550-453: Was 92 cm (36 in). The head has a rostral scale that is at least as deep as it is wide, creating a triangular indentation between the internasal scales (rarely separating them). The top of the head is covered with nine large plates. The nasal scale is often divided. There is one (rarely two) preoculars and two postoculars . The temporals number 2+2 or 2+3 (rarely 1+2) . There are seven (rarely eight) upper labials , of which

4620-553: Was created in the city of Kyiv in accordance with the Decree of the President of Ukraine Viktor Yushchenko dated 27 August 2007 No. 794. The park is subordinate to the Ministry of Environmental Protection of Ukraine. The total area of the park is 4,525.52 hectares, of which 1,879.43 hectares are given to it for permanent use. On 1 May 2014 the acting President of Ukraine signed the Decree of

4690-501: Was estimated in 2007 that up to 30% of all species will be extinct by 2050. Destroying habitats for farming is a key reason why biodiversity is decreasing today. Climate change also plays a role. This can be seen for example in the effects of climate change on biomes . This anthropogenic extinction may have started toward the end of the Pleistocene , as some studies suggest that the megafaunal extinction event that took place around

4760-478: Was marked by periodic, massive losses of diversity classified as mass extinction events. A significant loss occurred in anamniotic limbed vertebrates when rainforests collapsed in the Carboniferous , but amniotes seem to have been little affected by this event; their diversification slowed down later, around the Asselian / Sakmarian boundary, in the early Cisuralian (Early Permian ), about 293 Ma ago. The worst

4830-401: Was proposed to explain the biodiversity latitudinal gradient. In this study, the species pool size and the fractal nature of ecosystems were combined to clarify some general patterns of this gradient. This hypothesis considers temperature , moisture , and net primary production (NPP) as the main variables of an ecosystem niche and as the axis of the ecological hypervolume . In this way, it

4900-559: Was the Permian-Triassic extinction event , 251 million years ago. Vertebrates took 30 million years to recover from this event. The most recent major mass extinction event, the Cretaceous–Paleogene extinction event , occurred 66 million years ago. This period has attracted more attention than others because it resulted in the extinction of the non-avian dinosaurs , which were represented by many lineages at

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