Introduction

[image: Cicadella viridis]

'Biodiversity' is the word that we use when we talk about the 'variety of living things'. This diversity is essential to our health, prosperity and well-being.

We get our food from many types of animals and plants, and we are continually discovering new and powerful drugs in our forests and oceans.

We continue to discover new species of plants and animals; of those that have been described, we know how only a few live, their habits, preferences and relationships.

If we are to understand the complexity we must know its building blocks, we must understand its variety, its biodiversity. We must also understand how different species relate to each other both in their interaction as living organisms (e.g. the interaction of insects and flowering plants) and in their evolutionary histories.

'BioSyB' is the name for the amalgamation of two of the founding departments of our museum, Botany and Zoology, as it explains more accurately what we do:

[image: Primula vulgaris]

• the naming of plants and animals, and the study of their classification, evolutionary history, form and structure
• all aspects of physiology, genetics, biochemistry, behaviour and molecular biology.

For more information, choose one of our subject areas from the menu on the left.

Symbiont

A copy of our department newsletter 'The Symbiont' is available here:

• The Symbiont - Summer 2012
• The Symbiont - Winter 2011
• The Symbiont - Summer 2011
• The Symbiont - Winter 2010/11
• The Symbiont - Summer 2010
• The Symbiont - Winter 2009

Enquiries

For general enquiries please use our enquiries page or contact the department directly:

Department of Biodiversity and Systematic Biology
National Museum Cardiff
Cathays Park
Cardiff CF10 3NP
Tel: +44 (0) 29 2057-3224
Fax: +44 (0) 29 2023-9829
E-mail form

» Read more stories about our Natural History collections on our Rhagor website.