Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic, species, and ecosystem levels. Biodiversity is not distributed evenly on Earth; it is usually 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 10% of Earth's terrestrial surface and contain about 50% of the world's species. There are latitudinal gradients in species diversity for both marine and terrestrial taxa. Marine coastal biodiversity is highest globally speaking in the Western Pacific ocean steered mainly by the higher surface temperatures. In all oceans across the planet, marine species diversity peaks in the mid-latitudinal zones. Terrestrial species threatened with mass extinction can be observed in exceptionally dense regional biodiversity hotspots, with high levels of species endemism under threat. There are 36 such hotspot regions which require the world's attention in order to secure global biodiversity.

जैववैविध्य या जैव विविधता पृथ्वी पर जीवन की विविधता और परिवर्तनशीलता है। जैववैविध्य आनुवंशिक, प्रजाति, और पारितन्त्र स्तर पर भिन्नता का एक माप है। जैव वैविध्य वन्य जीवन और कृषि फसल प्रजातियों में अत्यधिक समृद्ध है, रूप और कार्य में विविध है किन्तु अन्तर्नैभर्यों के कई संजालों के माध्यम से एक तन्त्र में सुक्ष्म रूप में एकीकृत है।