Download Community 1 A

Biodiversity
Biodiversity – the
diversity of life in all
its forms and at all
levels of organization.
Word first used in print
by E.O. Wilson 1986
Biodiversity
At all levels of organization – usually three:
• Species Diversity
• Genetic Diversity
• Ecosystem Diversity
Northern Elephant Seal
Southern Elephant Seal - Antarctica
Corn and southern leaf blight
Corn and southern leaf blight
Traditional Peruvian potato varieties
Terrestrial World Biomes
Structure and Function
• Structure of biodiversity – usually the units
of biodiversity (genes, species, ecosystems)
• Function of biodiversity – harder to define
but usually refers to what the units do
Measuring Biodiversity
• When discussing
biodiversity, most people
talk about species diversity
which has two components:
• Species richness - # of
species
• Species evenness
(heterogeneity) – proportion
of individuals in each
species
A comparison of species diversity in two communities
A
B
C
D
Community 1
A: 25%
B: 25%
C: 25%
D: 25%
Community 2
A: 80%
B: 5%
C: 5%
D: 10%
Global Plant Biodiversity
a. Plant species per
Ecoregion
b. Areas of highest
diversity per region
c. Quality of data
With Biodiversity We Must
Consider:
• Risk of extinction of species
• Endemism – endemic species are found in a
particular geographic area
Endemism – Gray Wolf vs. Coyote
Endemism – Gray Wolf vs. Coyote
Wolf
Coyote
Local Endemic - Morro Bay
Kangaroo Rat
Home of Morro Bay Kangaroo Rat
Kirtland’s warbler
Red-winged blackbird
Whittaker’s Diversity
• alpha diversity is diversity within a habitat
- such as a jack-pine forest
• beta diversity is diversity among habitats,
usually measured as change from one
habitat to another - such as a jack-pine
forest and nearby marsh
• gamma diversity is diversity at a large
geographic scale - perhaps all of Michigan
or North America
Species Diversity
What is a Species?
Atelopus frog discovered in Suriname, June 2007
The Biological Species Concept
Species are groups of
actually or potentially
interbreeding natural
populations, which are
reproductively isolated
from other such
groups. - Ernst Mayr
Mayr on right – in
New Guinea 1928
Black Bear –
Ursus americanus
Brown or Grizzly Bear – Ursus arctos
Brown Bear Range
Polar Bear – Ursus maritimus
Grolar bear – polar bear x grizzly
bear hybrid
Gray wolf – Canis lupus
Coyote – Canis latrans
Red wolf – Canis rufus
Helianthus
- sunflowers
Oak Leaves
Hybrid Oak Leaf
Hawthorns - Crataegus
Hawthorns
Morphological Species Concept
Species are assemblages of individuals with
morphological features in common and are
separable from other such assemblages by
correlated morphological discontinuities in
a number of features.
- Davis and Heywood
Linneaus
How many species in genus Rubus?
Red raspberry –
Rubus strigosus
Common blackberry –
Rubus fructicosus
Red Crossbills – a group of
sibling species
Red Crossbill types
type 4 top, type 2 bottom
Sibling species in Gilia
Gilia tricolor
Gilia angelensis
Polytypic species – Song sparrows
Paraspecies (asexual) - yeast
Extinct species - Paraceratherium
Phylogenetic species concept
• Species are determined by whether they are
reproductively and geographically isolated
from each other - thus they are considered
to have branched apart - this would result in
more species than we recognize today as
any separated populations which do not
exchange individuals would be considered
to be isolated and thus separate lineages
Florida scrub jay
Western scrub jay
Terry Erwin fogging insects
Box corer for sampling the deep ocean
Using a box corer
Soil bacteria diversity –
in a nutrient enrichment experiment
Seven kinds of rarity
From Deborah Rabinowitz
Pigweed – widespread, truly common
Red Mangrove – rare –
large range, narrow habitat, large populations
Pygmy Cypress – rare –
small range, wide habitat, large populations
Haleakala silver sword – rare –
small range, narrow habitat, large population
Beach tiger beetle – rare –
small range, narrow habitat, large population
Bristle grass – rare –
large range, wide habitat, small populations
Peregrine Falcon – rare –
large range, wide habitat, small populations
Pacific Yew – rare –
large range, narrow habitat, small populations
Osprey – rare –
large range, narrow habitat, small populations
Malaysian tapir– rare –
small range, wide habitat, small populations
Alpine Lily - rare –
small range, narrow habitat, small populations
Giant Panda - rare –
small range, narrow habitat, small populations