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    Biodiversity (High & Low)

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    Leslayy Celiz
    This document discusses biodiversity and its importance. It defines biodiversity as the variety of species in an ecosystem and notes that ecosystems with high biodiversity have many species while those with low biodiversity have few. High biodiversity provides more stability since small changes are less likely to cause many species to die off at once. Low biodiversity systems are more unstable and prone to large changes from disturbances like drought that eliminate food sources.

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    Biodiversity (High & Low)

    Uploaded by

    Leslayy Celiz
    75 views27 pages
    This document discusses biodiversity and its importance. It defines biodiversity as the variety of species in an ecosystem and notes that ecosystems with high biodiversity have many species while those with low biodiversity have few. High biodiversity provides more stability since small changes are less likely to cause many species to die off at once. Low biodiversity systems are more unstable and prone to large changes from disturbances like drought that eliminate food sources.

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    This document discusses biodiversity and its importance. It defines biodiversity as the variety of species in an ecosystem and notes that ecosystems with high biodiversity have many species while those with low biodiversity have few. High biodiversity provides more stability since small changes are less likely to cause many species to die off at once. Low biodiversity systems are more unstable and prone to large changes from disturbances like drought that eliminate food sources.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    75 views27 pages

    Biodiversity (High & Low)

    Uploaded by

    Leslayy Celiz
    This document discusses biodiversity and its importance. It defines biodiversity as the variety of species in an ecosystem and notes that ecosystems with high biodiversity have many species while those with low biodiversity have few. High biodiversity provides more stability since small changes are less likely to cause many species to die off at once. Low biodiversity systems are more unstable and prone to large changes from disturbances like drought that eliminate food sources.

    Copyright:

    © All Rights Reserved
    Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online from Scribd
    Download as ppt, pdf, or txt
    of 27

    Objectives

     describe the value of each organisms;


     differentiate high from low

    biodiversity; and
     appreciate the importance of

    biodiversity.
    Biodiversity and Change
    Biodiversity is…
     Biodiversity is a measure of how many different
    species live in an ecosystem.
    High vs. Low Biodiversity
     Ecosystems with high biodiversity have
    many different species of organisms.
     Ecosystems with low biodiversity do not

    have many different species of


    organisms.
    High Biodiversity
    Low Biodiversity
    Low or High Biodiversity?
    Low or High Biodiversity?
    Low or High Biodiversity?
    Low or High Biodiversity?
    Low or High Biodiversity?
    Ecosystem Stability
     The higher the biodiversity, the more
    stable the ecosystem (stable= stays the
    same)
     An ecosystem with high biodiversity does not
    change easily; it is stable
     An ecosystem with low biodiversity is unstable
     One small change could cause many species to
    die
    Low Biodiversity

    Rabbits eat grass. Foxes eat rabbits

    Foxes

    Rabbit

    Grass
    Low Biodiversity
     A disturbance hits…
    A drought happens and kills all the grass.

    Foxes

    Rabbit

    Grass
    Low Biodiversity
     What happens to the foxes?

    How many species do we have left?


    Foxes
    0!
    BIG change? Rabbit

    Grass
    Higher Biodiversity

    Let’s add a few more species to our original


    ecosystem

    Lettuce Foxes

    Rabbit
    Chickens
    Grass
    Higher Biodiversity
     A disturbance hits…
    A drought happens and kills all the grass.

    Lettuce Foxes

    Rabbit
    Chickens
    Grass
    Higher Biodiversity

     The
    Whatfood web started
    happens with high biodiversity
    to the foxes?
     High biodiversity = stable ecosystem
    Population size decreases… a little
     One change didn’t have a major impact!

    Lettuce Foxes

    BIG change? Rabbit


    Chickens
    Grass
    Example: Low vs. High
    Ecosystem 1
    Ecosystem 2

    Which ecosystem has higher


    biodiversity?
    Ecosystem 1
    Ecosystem 2

    Which ecosystem would be more


    affected by a disease that killed all
    the rats?
    Ecosystem 1
    Ecosystem 2

    Which ecosystem is more stable?


    Why?
    Ecosystem 1
    Ecosystem 2

    What might happen to the snakes in Ecosystem


    2 if there are not any of that species of snakes
    anywhere else in the world and most of the rats
    in the ecosystem die from disease?
    Biodiversity and Extinction
     Environmental change in an ecosystem with low
    biodiversity can even cause extinction of a species
     Can occur if there are no organisms of that species in
    other ecosystems throughout the world
     Species with specialized diets (low surrounding
    biodiversity) and specific habitats are more likely
    to become extinct than species with diverse diets
    and a wide range of habitats

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