Animals, plants and ecosystems, we have well established measures of biodiversity, such as the Living Planet Index, which are used in large periodic reports of the state of life on Earth, such as the Intergovernmental Science-Policy Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) Global Assessment. Genetic diversity can be measured directly by looking at genes and chromosomes or indirectly by looking at physical features of the organisms and assuming they have a genetic basis. Using the genetic code is arguably the strongest method of measuring biodiversity as it is looking at the building blocks of life.

Biodiversity is basically the variety within and among life forms on a site, ecosystem, or landscape. Biodiversity is defined and measured as an attribute that has two components richness and evenness and richness the number of groups of genetically or functionally related individuals. Genetic diversity can be measured directly by looking at genes and chromosomes or indirectly by looking at physical features of the organisms and assuming they have a genetic basis. Using the genetic code is arguably the strongest method of measuring biodiversity as it is looking at the building blocks of life. Genetic diversity is the biological variation that occurs within species. It makes it possible for species to adapt when the environment changes. Genetic diversity is particularly important under rapid environmental change, such as in the Baltic Sea. Genetic diversity is the differences in DNA among individuals within a species or population. It can be caused by mutation, random mating, random fertilization, and recombination between homologous chromosomes during meiosis. Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species, it ranges widely from the number of species to differences within species and can be attributed to the span of survival for a species.