Extinction and Adaptation Biodiversity on Earth What is

Extinction and Adaptation Biodiversity on Earth

What is Biodiversity? • Variety of species of organisms present on Earth. – Includes members of all 5 kingdoms • Animal – multi-cellular heterotrophs • Plant – multi-cellular autotrophs • Fungi – multi-cellular saratrophs • Protista and Monera – unicellular & simple cellular colonies – Amoeba Bacteria

Is Biodiversity Important? • Yes – Think about a food chain • What happens if one “link” is taken out? • Today nearly 2 million species have been discovered and named by scientist. • The number of different species decreases each year. • For more information on importance of biodiversity go to: http: //encarta. msn. com/encyclopedia_761579557/Biodiversity. html

Causes of Extinction • Man-Made – Pollution – Global Climate Changes – Over-harvesting – Loss of Habitat – Invasion Species • Natural – Global Climate Changes – Loss of Habitat – Invasion Species http: //library. thinkquest. org/25014/why/index. html

Survival • When a species changes to live in its environment, it is said to have adapted. • Adaptation can be simple or complicated. – Coral fish – Giraffe

Natural selection • As a species adapts, members that have favorable traits for survival will live to produce offspring, and others will die. – This is how survival adaptations get passed to the next generation. • Coloring schemes • Burrowing and/or sleep habits. • Migration patterns

Human adapt too. • We’ve all heard of the fight or flight response, but what is it? – When humans first started hunting for food, their bodies developed a hormonal response to emergency situations. • Blood vessels dilate, eyes widen, heart and breathing rates increase and muscles tense ready to fight for their life or run.

• This response kept the hunters alive. • This response can be seen even in humans today (many thousands of years later) <Demonstration> • Humans are among the best of the animal kingdom at surviving. – Not only do our bodies adapt but we can use our minds to invent and engineer ways of surviving in extreme conditions such as space.

Review • Biodiversity is… • Major causes of extinction… • Adaptation is… • How does adaptation allow for species survival? • Name some ways humans adapt?