Download Biodiversity, Human Impact, and Conservation

• What does “BIO” mean?
• What does “DIVERSITY” mean?
Biodiversity is the
variety of life on Earth
and the essential
interdependence of all
living things
Life is really surprising and what makes it
even more incredible is the infinite variety of
forms in which it appears:
there are gigantic animals
like the whales,
and living creatures that are so
small that they can only be seen
with a microscope.
Bacteria: Spirilla
Bacteria :Bacilli
Life has invaded our planet
reaching the farthest corners of the Earth and adapting to the
most diverse situations.
There are creatures that can live in the
cold polar regions,
others that live in
the
arid deserts,
fish that live in the deep abysses
There are 3 components of biodiversity
1. Genetic diversity: Number of different versions
of the same genes within individual species
Chihuahuas, beagles, and rottweilers are all the same species —but
they're not the same because there is variety in their genes.
Chihuahua
Beagle
Rottweiler
There are 3 components of biodiversity
2. Species diversity: Number of different kinds of
organisms within communities or ecosystems
For example: monkeys, dragonflies, and meadow beauties are all different
species
.
Saki Monkey
Golden Skimmer
Meadow Beauty
There are 3 components of biodiversity
3. Ecosystem
diversity: Number of different types of
ecosystems.
Lakes, Ponds, and Rivers are all Freshwater Ecosystems.
Rocky coast, Sand Dune, Coral Reef are all Marine Ecosystems.
So what’s an ECOSYSTEM???
ECOSYSTEM
DEFINITION
“ A self-contained community of microorganisms, animals
and plants, that interact with each other and with their
physical environment.”
example of
marine ecosystem
Within an ecosystem there can be many
HABITATS
HABITATS might describe:
The NAME of the place where the
creature lives.
eg Arctic Canada is the
habitat of the polar bear
Ursa maritima.
HABITATS might describe:
THE Dominant vegetation of the place
where the creature lives.
• The DOMINANT VEGETATION of the
plThe DOMINANT VEGETATION of the
place where the creature ace where the
EgEcreature lives.
Eg:the savannah is the
habitat of the elephant
• The DOMINANT VEGETATION of the
place where the creature lives.
HABITATS might describe:
The TYPE of place where the creature lives.
eeg
Eg: species of fish
like Pike ( Esox
lucius ) are found
in freshwater
lakes and ponds.
So what’s a species
A species is difficult to define exactly!!
1. A group of morphologically
similar creatures which can:
• Interbreed to produce fertile offspring
2. Creatures who are related through
PHYLOGENY
•Similar DNA
•Similar proteins eg in blood
•Similar biochemistry
•Similar embryology
The Earth is losing species at an alarming
rate
• Some scientists estimate that as many as 3
species per hour are going extinct and
20,000 extinctions occur each year.
• when species of plants and animals go
extinct, many other species are affected.
Biodiversity is
important for
Human life
What do we get from biodiversity?
Oxygen
Food
Clean Water
Medicine
Aesthetics
Etc,etc……….
Just think that approximately one third of the food
that we eat comes from plants
that have been pollinated by over 100,000 different species
of bees, flies, butterflies and birds!
Biodiversity is of fundamental importance also in
medicine. Infact, a large number of species of plants are
used for medicinal purposes,
since very ancient times.
An example is quinine,
extracted from the Cinchona
that is used to fight malaria.
tree,
Also many industrial products are obtained due to
biodiversity:
Lubricants
, ,perfumes
, paper, waxes
rubber
are all derived from plants, and also products
of animal origin such as wool
,silk
leather
,etc.
Biodiversity is Effected
by Several Biotic and
Abiotic Factors, but
the Greatest Threat to
Biodiversity is Human
Impact