Download Aspects of Biodiversity

Biodiversity
04
Significant ideas:
◦ Ecosystem stability, succession and biodiversity are
intrinsically linked
-“The variety of life in all its forms,
levels and combinations”
-Includes:
ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic
diversity
• Scientists have identified more than 2
million species. Tens of millions -- remain
unknown
•The tremendous variety of life on Earth
is made possible by complex interactions
among all living things.
There are 3 components of
biodiversity
Diversity of genes
Cheetahs are on the edge. Approximately 10,000 remain
in Africa. Less than 300 remain isolated in Iran.
other species are so scarce
that they only survive in captive
breeding programs
There are 3 components of
biodiversity
Diversity of species in communities.
• Product of two variables #of species and relative proportions
Hoary Bat
Iwi
Kahuli
There are 3 components of
biodiversity
Habitat
•
Variety habitat in an ecosystems
Each one is different, with its own set of
species living in it.
Desert
Tropical Rain Forest
tiaga
Biodiversity has Intrinsic Value
Intrinsic Value
= Something
that has value
in and of itself
Source: Burmbaugh © AMNH-CBC
Biodiversity also has Utilitarian Value
Utilitarian Value = the value something has as a
means to another’s end.
Utilitarian values include:
• Goods
• Services
• Information
What do we get from
biodiversity?
Oxygen
Food
Clean Water
Medicine
Aesthetics
Ideas
Should we be concerned about
biodiversity?
What we know:
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
.
Threats to biodiversity
HIPPO Dilemma
Habitat Loss
Introduced Species
Pollution
Population Growth
Over-consumption
Biodiversity Hotspots
Provide formal documentation of the world’s
known biodiversity (living or dead)
Museums, Zoos, Arboreta, Botanical Gardens,
Public and Private Research Collections
Education
Research
Species
distributions
Species
classification
Conservation and recovery programs