Editing Biodiversity (section)

==Measuring biodiversity==
{{excerpt|Measurement of biodiversity|paragraphs=1}}

=== Analytical limits ===
Less than 1% of all species that have been described have been studied beyond noting their existence.<ref>{{cite journal |author=Wilson Edward O |year=2000 |title=On the Future of Conservation Biology |journal=Conservation Biology |volume=14 |issue=1 |pages=1–3 |doi=10.1046/j.1523-1739.2000.00000-e1.x |bibcode=2000ConBi..14....1W |doi-access=free }}</ref> The vast majority of Earth's species are microbial. Contemporary biodiversity physics is "firmly fixated on the visible [macroscopic] world".<ref>{{cite journal |author=Nee S |year=2004 |title=More than meets the eye |journal=Nature |volume=429 |issue=6994 |pages=804–805 |bibcode=2004Natur.429..804N |doi=10.1038/429804a |pmid=15215837 }}</ref> For example, microbial life is [[metabolically]] and environmentally more diverse than multicellular life (see e.g., [[extremophile]]). "On the tree of life, based on analyses of small-subunit [[ribosomal RNA]], visible life consists of barely noticeable twigs. The inverse relationship of size and population recurs higher on the evolutionary ladder—to a first approximation, all multicellular species on Earth are insects".<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Stork |first1=Nigel E. |year=2007 |title=Biodiversity: World of insects |journal=Nature |volume=448 |issue=7154 |pages=657–658 |bibcode=2007Natur.448..657S |doi=10.1038/448657a |pmid=17687315 |doi-access=free }}</ref> [[Decline in insect populations|Insect extinction]] rates are high—supporting the Holocene extinction hypothesis.<ref>{{cite journal |last1=Thomas |first1=J. A. |last2=Telfer |first2=M. G. |last3=Roy |first3=D. B. |last4=Preston |first4=C. D. |last5=Greenwood |first5=J. J. D. |last6=Asher |first6=J. |last7=Fox |first7=R. |last8=Clarke |first8=R. T. |last9=Lawton |first9=J. H. |title=Comparative Losses of British Butterflies, Birds, and Plants and the Global Extinction Crisis |journal=Science |date=19 March 2004 |volume=303 |issue=5665 |pages=1879–1881 |doi=10.1126/science.1095046 |pmid=15031508 |bibcode=2004Sci...303.1879T }}</ref><ref name="Modern Insect" />