Biodiversity & ecosystems
Genetic Diversity
The variation of genes within a species — between populations and between individuals — that underpins adaptation, resilience, and the raw material of evolution and breeding.
Definition
Genetic diversity is the genetic variation within a species, encompassing diversity among different populations of the same species and variation between individuals within a single population. It is one of the three levels of biological diversity recognised by Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity, alongside diversity between species and of ecosystems.
References
CBD-based definition
Overview
What it means
Populations with high genetic diversity carry more options for coping with disease, drought, and a changing climate; narrowed gene pools — in crops, livestock, or fragmented wild populations — raise vulnerability to shocks and inbreeding. Conservation of crop wild relatives, seed banks, and sufficiently large connected populations protects this invisible layer of biodiversity.
How it is used
The concept anchors targets in the Kunming-Montreal Global Biodiversity Framework (maintaining genetic diversity within species), agricultural breeding, ex-situ conservation, and IUCN assessments of extinction risk.
Why it matters
Species counts alone miss genetic erosion: a species can persist while losing the variation it needs to survive future conditions, making genetic diversity the adaptive capital of life.
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