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BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth at all levels, including ecosystems, species, and genetics. It is important for several reasons: ecosystems rely on interactions between organisms, diversity provides resistance to environmental changes, and biodiversity supports human needs for food, materials, and medicine. Scientists measure biodiversity using indices that account for factors like species richness, evenness of species abundance, and genetic diversity. However, human activities like habitat alteration and pollution threaten biodiversity by causing extinction and endangering species.

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100 views28 pages

BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity refers to the variety of life on Earth at all levels, including ecosystems, species, and genetics. It is important for several reasons: ecosystems rely on interactions between organisms, diversity provides resistance to environmental changes, and biodiversity supports human needs for food, materials, and medicine. Scientists measure biodiversity using indices that account for factors like species richness, evenness of species abundance, and genetic diversity. However, human activities like habitat alteration and pollution threaten biodiversity by causing extinction and endangering species.

Uploaded by

Glenn Valentin Mendoza
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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BIODIVERSITY

Biological diversity, or biodiversity, is the


sum total of the genetically based
variety of all organisms in the biosphere.
Kinds of Biodiversity
Ecosystem diversity includes the variety
of habitats, communities, and ecological
processes in the living world.
Species diversity is the number of
different species in the biosphere.
Genetic diversity is the sum total of all
the different forms of genetic information
carried by all organisms living on Earth
today.
Why Is Biodiversity Important?
• Ecosystems depend on the combined
contributions and interactions of the individual
organisms within them. The loss of any species
can prevent that ecosystem from operating
optimally.

• An ecosystem with a high level of


biodiversity is more resistant to
environmental changes.
Why Is Biodiversity Important?
• Biodiversity provides us with food,
materials and medicines.

• Biodiversity provides mechanisms that


regulate the air we breathe, the quality
of our water, and our climate.

• Biodiversity provides us with


inspiration, beauty and wonder.
Biodiversity Index
A biodiversity index is a particular way
of measuring biodiversity. There are
different ways—different
biodiversity indices—that are used by
scientists to measure diversity. No single
one will always be appropriate for the
question being posed. In fact, for some
conservation questions, more than one
measure may have to be used.
Species Richness
The most common type of biodiversity index is
species richness, which refers to the number of
species in a particular place. Using number of
species as a measure of biodiversity makes
sense because most people have an idea of
what “species” means. Also, and there is
somewhat less disagreement among scientists
about species than there is about other levels
in the taxonomic hierarchy. And, species keep
their genes more or less to themselves, and so
have their own unique history.
Species Evenness
Species evenness is another way to measure
biodiversity. It refers to the extent to which
individuals are distributed evenly among
species. Put another way, it gives you
information about the relative quantities or
proportions of individuals belonging to the
different species. For example, a site
containing a thousand species may not seem
particularly diverse if 99.9% of the individuals
belong to the same species.
Simpson’s Index
Many diversity indices have been
developed to combine different
measures of biodiversity. One is called
the Simpson’s Index. It combines
measures of species richness and species
evenness.
Threats to Biodiversity
Human activity can reduce biodiversity
by:
 altering habitats
 hunting species to extinction
 introducing toxic compounds into food
webs
 introducing foreign species to new
environments
Extinction occurs when a species disappears
from all or part of its range.

A species whose population size is declining


in a way that places it in danger of
extinction is called an endangered species.

NOTE: As the population of an endangered


species declines, the species loses genetic
diversity.
The Price We Pay
What does biodiversity mean to you?
What can you do to protect and conserve biodiversity?
Choose one:
Make a poster/slogan, or construct a poem about
biodiversity.
- Use 1/8 illustration board
- Use oil pastel
- No boarder lines (poster);
with boarder line (slogan)
- No letters/numbers for posters
- 8 to 12 words for slogan
- Deadline: Friday – September 20, 2013
- Poem must have at least 4 stanzas (4 lines/stanza)

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