Species
Topic: Biodiversity and its Conservation · NCERT: Class 11, Ch 14 "Biodiversity and Conservation"
Meaning
A species is a group of similar organisms that can breed with each other and have fertile young, meaning young that can themselves breed. It is the basic unit used to count life on Earth. Estimates of the total number of species run from 2 million to 100 million. NCERT gives about 10 million as the best estimate. But scientists have described only about 2 million, so most species are still unknown.
Example
All Asiatic lions belong to one species and can breed together. In the wild, they now live only in Gir and the wider Saurashtra area of Gujarat.
Don't confuse with
- Species diversity: the variety of different species in an area. A species is a single group of organisms that can breed together.
Related concepts
- Biodiversity
- Genetic diversity
- Species diversity
- Ecosystem diversity
- Latitudinal diversity gradient
- Endemic species
- Importance of biodiversity
- Ecosystem services
- Agro-biodiversity