Download Biodiversity: variety of life on EARTH

BIODIVERSITY: VARIETY OF
LIFE ON EARTH
IS A MEASURE OF BOTH THE NUMBER OF
SPECIES IN AN AREA AND THEIR RELATIVE
ABUNDANCE
BD: MEASURED IN 3-different
ways
 Species diversity
 Habitat diversity
 Genetic diversity
 So Biodiversity refers to amount of biological
or living diversity per unit area. It includes the
concepts of species, habitat and genetic
diversities.
Species Diversity
 This refers to the variety of species per unit
area
 It includes both the number of species
present and their relative abundance
 Higher the species diversity of an ecosystem,
the greater the complexity
Habitat diversity
 This means the range of different habitat in
an ecosystem
 It is associated with the variety of ecological
niches
 A woodland may contain many different
habitat and hence a high habitat diversity
(compared to a desert)
Genetic diversity
 This means the range of genetic material
present in a gene pool or population of a
species
 Genes are sections of DNA found in the
nucleus of all cells
 A large gene pool leads to a high genetic
diversity