Biological Diversity of Medicinal Plants in México

Abstract

Biological diversity can be described as the product of the richness or variety of entities (usually species) and the variance of that richness or its importance value.1 Diversity can be extended to include ecological and biogeographic heterogeneity, and various indices can be used to measure it.2 Biological diversity also can be appreciated by the number of endemic species whose distributions are restricted to a confined geographic area. In recent years, public attention has been given to diversity at the world level3 as well as in the Western Hemisphere4 and Mexico.5