With the grant of
Ministry of the University and Scientific and Technological Research Ministero dell'Università e della Ricerca
The biodiversity of the seas is made up of the various habitats – from the poles to the tropics and from the surface of the sea to the deepest abysses of the ocean – as well as the ensemble of living organisms they support – viruses, bacteria, plants, and animals. Life originated in the seas, and over millions of years, it evolved and developed to occupy all the available habitats.
Marine Biodiversity The classification of this great variety of marine ecosystems present on Earth is important for the conservation and management of the biosphere. Ecosystem diversity is an essential component of global biodiversity.
It is estimated that of the entire variety of habitats and organisms present in the world’s oceans, only 50% of the Species, 80% of the Families, 95% of the Orders, and practically all of the Classes are known today. Realized by
Maritime Admiral Michelagnoli Foundation NGO non-profit Fondazione Marittima Ammiraglio Michelagnoli Onlus - Taranto - Italy
The Biological Diversity, which is today estimated at 15 million species, represents only 0.1% of that which existed in the past. Photo archive "Mare Nostrum" , property of Fondazione Michelagnoli & Giuseppe Pignataro (international champion) www.fondazionemichelagnoli.it English version translated by Dr Adrian Mallia - Adi Associates Environmental Consultants Ltd - Malta
In agreement with
National Interuniversity Consortium For Marine Sciences - Italy Co.N.I.S.Ma. - Consorzio Nazionale Interuniversitario di Scienze del Mare