Biodiversity http earthref orgSCC Biodiversity Biodiversity refers to

Biodiversity http: //earthref. org/SCC

Biodiversity ● Biodiversity refers to the variety of all forms of life, from genes to species, through to the broad scale of ecosystems ● There are patterns in the distribution of biodiversity – biodiversity is not uniform across the globe ● Bioviversity provides us with food, medicine, raw materials, leisure and energy. http: //earthref. org/SCC

Why Does Biodiversity Matter? • Agriculture • Human health • Business and Manufacturing • Tourism • Ecosystem Services http: //earthref. org/SCC

Types of Biodiversity • Species Diversity • Ecosystem Diversity • Genetic Diversity wikipedia Wikimedia http: //earthref. org/SCC

Evolution Leads to Biodiversity http: //earthref. org/SCC

How much Biodiversity is there? ● 10– 30 million insects; (of some 0. 9 million we know today) ● 5– 10 million bacteria; ● 1. 5 million fungi; (of some 0. 075 million we know today) 5 -10 million bacteria http: //earthref. org/SCC 10 -30 million insects within the kingdom animalia 1. 5 million fungi

How do we study biodiversity? • What level are we interested in? – Ecosystem – Species – Population – Genetics • This determines our method – would we look with our eyes? With a microscope? With an experiment? http: //earthref. org/SCC

The loss of biodiversity ● Some human actvities are leading to the disappearance of species and the destruction of their natural habitats and causing a loss of biodiversity ● Excessive fishing and hunting ● Pollution and the spillage of waste ● Deforestation or excessive logging or burning of trees

How to avoid the loss of biodiversity ● To prevent the extincation of species – the hunting and collecting of certain species must be prohibited. ● Endangered species should be bred in captivity ● To prevent the destruction of natural habitats – protected spaces must be created; pollution of the environment must be reduced or eliminated, and fires must be prevented.

Adaptation causes biodiversity ● Adaptation – the adjustment of living things to their environment. ● On Earth there is a great variety of environments (oceans, forests, deserts, etc) and living things have had to develop very different characteristics to survive in each of these environments.

Adapting ● In nature only organisms that are adapated to their environment survive. ● The great quanity and variety of living things that have developed to adapt to the different conditions of their environments is the reason for diodiversity.

Conclusions ● Biodiversity is literally the “spice of life” ● Having lots of types of organisms in an ecosystem means all the jobs get done! (decomposers, recyclers, top predators etc. ) ● We can measure biodiversity in lots of ways depending on what question we want to answer http: //earthref. org/SCC