Biodiversity can be broadly defined as the number, variety, and variability of living organisms,
and it is often simply defined the number of different species in a given geographic area. Baseline
organismal biodiversity research is necessary for an understanding of ecosystem, ecology and organism
conservation. The conservation aspect of this type of research is becoming increasingly important due to
a measured decline in worldwide organismal biodiversity and concern over the potential ecological
implications of this decline.
The caddisflies (Trichoptera