Download Unit E – Section 1 – Biodiversity The loss of an entire species is

Unit E – Section 1 – Biodiversity
The _______________________ loss of an entire species is called _______________________
As species become extinct, the _______________________ of the biosphere decreases
which decreases the _______________________of the biosphere
Diverse means “made of different _______________________.”
Biodiversity or the _______________________ of life in an area is determined by the
_______________________ of different species in that area
Biodiversity _______________________the stability of an ecosystem, maintains a
_______________________biosphere, and provides direct and indirect _______________________
to humans.
There are _______________________ types of biodiversity:
1) _______________________ diversity – involves the variety of _______________________or
_______________________ characteristics that are present in a population (could be
_______________________, resistance to a particular _______________________ or the ability to
_______________________from a disease, the ability to obtain _______________________ from a
new food source if the old food source should disappear).
Organisms within the population that have these _______________________ would be
more likely to _______________________ and _______________________ than organisms within
the population _______________________ these characteristics.
Genetic diversity within _______________________ populations increases the chances that
_______________________ species will survive during times of environmental
_______________________ or during an outbreak of _______________________
2) _______________________ diversity – involves the number of different
_______________________ and the relative _______________________ of each species within a
biological _______________________.
If there are many species present in one location then there is a _______________________
level of species diversity and vice versa
Species diversity is not evenly _______________________ over the biosphere
As you move geographically from the _______________________ regions to the
_______________________, species diversity _______________________
3) _______________________ diversity – involves the variety of _______________________ that
are present in the biosphere.
Remember that an ecosystem is made up of interacting _______________________ and the
_______________________ factors that support them
The interaction of these organisms with one another affects the
_______________________of stable ecosystems.
Different _______________________ around the world have different _______________________
factors and therefore support different _______________________ of life
All of the ecosystems on Earth support a _______________________ collection of organisms
There are several reasons to _______________________ biodiversity.
It is important to preserve and protect the various _______________________ on Earth for
future generations and, in addition, there are _______________________ ,
_______________________ , and _______________________ reasons for preserving biodiversity.
Maintaining biodiversity has a _______________________ economic value to humans.
We depend on plants and animals to provide _______________________, clothing, energy,
_______________________, and shelter.
It is important to preserve species that are used in this way but it is also important
to preserve species that may be used as _______________________ sources of desirable
_______________________ that might be needed in the future
Most of the world’s food _______________________ come from just a few species
These plants have relatively _______________________ genetic diversity and therefore
share the same _______________________ that all species share when genetic diversity is
_______________________, such as _______________________ resistance to disease.
In many cases, close _______________________ of those crop species still grow in the
_______________________ in their native habitat.
These wild species serve as _______________________ of desirable genetics traits that
might be needed to _______________________ domestic crop species.
Biologists are beginning to learn how to transfer _______________________ that control
inherited characteristics from one _______________________ to the other
So it is possible to use these wild species to genetically _______________________ our food
crops creating disease _______________________ varieties and other desired
_______________________ traits
This process is called “genetic _______________________”
Scientists can modify crops to become resistant to _______________________ , have
increased _______________________ value, become more _______________________ to spoilage,
etc.
Most wild species of plants and animals have not been evaluated for useful
_______________________ traits so the opportunity to _______________________ from these
genes would become lost _______________________ if wild species of plants and animals
become _______________________ .
This increases the _______________________ of species that currently have no
_______________________economic value because their value might _______________________in
the future.
Many of the _______________________ that are used today have been derived from
_______________________ or other _______________________
Some examples follow:

_______________________ (a powerful _______________________ discovered by
Alexander Fleming in 1928) is derived from bread _______________________

_______________________ (a painkiller) was extracted from the
_______________________ tree (by ancient _______________________, native
_______________________and others). Today we _______________________ the drug
acetylsalicylic acid (_______________________) for the same use

the _______________________ periwinkle flower was recently found to yield an
_______________________ that is useful in treating _______________________ (increasing
the survival rate from _______________________to more than
_______________________for leukemia patients who have used it)
Scientists _______________________ to find new _______________________ from plants and
other organisms that help in the _______________________ of disease yet many species of
_______________________ are yet to be identified (especially in _______________________
regions of the Earth) so their ability to provide extracts or useful genes is
_______________________ .
Maintaining _______________________ also has an _______________________ economic value to
humans.
- green _______________________ provide _______________________ to the atmosphere and
_______________________ carbon dioxide
- natural processes (the _______________________ cycle) provide drinking water that is
_______________________ for human use
- substances cycled through _______________________ organisms and non-living
_______________________ , provide _______________________ for all living organisms
- _______________________ ecosystems provide _______________________ against floods and
drought, generate and preserve healthy _______________________ soil,
_______________________ and decompose wastes, and regulate local _______________________
It is difficult to attach a _______________________ to such things
In the 1990’s New York City’s drinking water supply was _______________________.
Building a _______________________ system to fix the problem would have cost more than
6 _______________________ dollars while simply _______________________ up the Catskill and
Delaware _______________________ (areas where the waters drain into the same place)
that served the New York area cost only 1.5 _______________________ dollars.
Clearly the best choice was to maintain a _______________________ ecosystem
Research indicates that when _______________________ ecosystems are preserved, the
_______________________ the ecosystems provide will _______________________ to be less
expensive than performing the same services with _______________________
Maintaining biodiversity also has an _______________________ and _______________________
value to humans.
If we lived on a _______________________ and _______________________ landscape then the
biodiversity of a _______________________ ecosystem would be more _______________________