A quantitative and qualitative assessment of the international scientific literature of the past ten years indicates major differences in the definitions and use of the term biodiversity. This in part reflects a steady increase in the number of occurrences of the term in the titles of scientific articles from year to year, as shown by a search of various online literature databases.
In addition, a survey of a sample of articles and books focusing on biodiversity, conservation biology and sustainability provides a variety of formal and informal definitions of the term biodiversity. The use of the term has expanded to cover a wide range of different aspects, at different scales and in different fields of activity, including natural and human sciences. The result is that while biodiversity can be referred to as a concept, its acceptation as a measurable phenomenon may have become more questionable.
Alternatives to misleading use of biodiversity as a buzzword include advising the use more context-specific, specialised terms, and suggesting that a panel of experts agree on an operational definition.