With the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) that entered into force in 1993, the conservation of biodiversity was recognized for the first time in international law as "a common concern of humankind" and almost the entire world committed to it. Conserving biodiversity, however, is far from being an easy task, as shown by the difficulties to reach the conservation targets articulated in the strategic plans connected to the CBD. The failure of the 2010 Biodiversity Target "to achieve by 2010 a significant reduction of the current rate of biodiversity loss at the global, regional and national level" has been explicitly recognized (Butchart et al. 2010). Moreover, there is a widespread scepticism, at present, concerning the possibility of achieving the Aichi Biodiversity Targets by 2020 (Tittensor et al. 2014), i.e., 20 time-bound targets included into the CBD strategic plan 2011-2020 (such as, for instance, making people aware of the values of biodiversity and the steps they can take to conserve it (Target 1) or identifying and eradicating invasive species (Target 9)). 1 Despite increasing communication, accelerating policy and management responses, and notwithstanding improving ecosystem assessment and endangered species knowledge, conserving biodiversity continues to be more a concern than an

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In recent years, we have assisted to an impressive effort to identify and catalogue biodiversity at the microbial level across a wide range of environments, human bodies included (e.g., skin, oral cavity, intestines). This effort, fostered by the decreasing cost of DNA sequencing, highlighted not only the vast diversity at the microbial level but also the importance of cells' social interactions, potentially leading to the emergence of novel diversity. In this contribution, we shall argue that entities other than species, and in particular multispecies biofilms, might play a crucial-and still underestimated-role in increasing biodiversity as well as in conserving it. In particular, after having discussed how microbial diversity impacts ecosystems (Sect. 9.1), we argue (Sect. 9.2) that multispecies biofilms may increase biodiversity at both the genetic and phenotypic level. In Sect. 9.3 we discuss the possibility that multispecies biofilms, both heterotrophic and autotrophic, are evolutionary individuals, i.e. units of selection. In the conclusion, we highlight a major limitation of the traditional species-based approach to biodiversity origination and conservation.

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