1. Evolution and Biodiversity
Chapter 4
Evolution and Biodiversity

2. Chapter Overview Questions
How do scientists account for the development of life on earth?
What is biological evolution by natural selection, and how can it account for the current diversity of organisms on the earth?
How can geologic processes, climate change and catastrophes affect biological evolution?

3. Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d)
What is an ecological niche, and how does it help a population adapt to changing environmental conditions?
How do extinction of species and formation of new species affect biodiversity?

4. Chapter Overview Questions (cont’d)
What is the future of evolution, and what role should humans play in this future?
How did we become such a powerful species in a short time?

5. Review: 4 Principles of Sustainability?1. 2. 3. 4.

6. Core Case Study: Why Should We Care about the American Alligator?
Hunters wiped out population to the point of near extinction.
1967- classified as endangered
1975- numbers had rebounded
1977- reclassified as threatened
Figure 7-1

7. Core Case Study: Why Should We Care about the American Alligator?
Alligators have important ecological role.
Alligators are a keystone species:
Influence on ecosystem is much greater than their numbers would suggest
Figure 7-1

8. Core Case Study: American Alligator as Keystone Species
Dig deep depressions (gator holes).
Hold water during dry spells, serve as refuges for aquatic life.
Build nesting mounds.
provide nesting and feeding sites for birds.
Keeps areas of open water free of vegetation (swimming paths)
Keep gar populations in check

9. Gator Holes

10. Nesting Mounds

11. Keep Waterways Clear

12. Longnose Gar

13. Alligator Gar

14. Core Case Study Earth: The Just-Right, Adaptable Planet
Distance from sun
Spins
Size- molten mantle, retain atmosphere
Stratospheric Ozone
(2 billion years)
21% Oxygen
(several hundred million years)
Biodiversity & Sustainability
Temp
Figure 4-1

15. Core Case Study Earth: The Just-Right, Adaptable Planet
During the 3.7 billion years since life arose, the average surface temperature of the earth has remained within the range of 10-20oC.
Figure 4-1

16. Biological Evolution
This has led to the variety of species we find on the earth today.
Figure 4-2

17. Recorded human history begins about 1/4 second before midnight
Modern humans (Homo sapiens sapiens) appear about 2 seconds before midnight
Recorded human history begins about 1/4 second before midnight
Age of mammals
Age of reptiles
Insects and amphibians invade the land
Origin of life ( billion years ago)
Figure 4.3
Natural capital: greatly simplified overview of the biological evolution by natural selection of life on the earth, which was preceded by about 1 billion years of chemical evolution. Microorganisms (mostly bacteria) that lived in water dominated the early span of biological evolution on the earth, between about 3.7 billion and 1 billion years ago. Plants and animals evolved first in the seas. Fossil and recent DNA evidence suggests that plants began invading the land some 780 million years ago, and animals began living on land about 370 million years ago. Humans arrived on the scene only a very short time ago—equivalent to less than an eye blink of the earth’s roughly 3.7-billion-year history of biological evolution.
First fossil record of animals
Plants begin invading land
Evolution and expansion of life
Fig. 4-3, p. 84

18. How Do We Know Which Organisms Lived in the Past?
Our knowledge about past life comes from
fossils
cores drilled out of buried ice
analysis of protein similarities
DNA & RNA analysis.
Figure 4-4

19. EVOLUTION, NATURAL SELECTION, AND ADAPTATION
Evolution in Seven Words:
Genes Mutate, Individuals are Selected, Populations Evolve

20. Natural selection acts on individuals, but evolution occurs in populations
Three conditions are necessary for biological evolution:
1. Genetic variability traits must be heritable
3. trait must lead to differential reproduction.
An adaptive trait is any heritable trait that enables an organism to survive through natural selection and reproduce better under prevailing environmental conditions.

21. EVOLUTION, NATURAL SELECTION, AND ADAPTATION
Biological evolution by natural selection involves the change in a population’s genetic makeup through successive generations.
With positive selection pressure, advantageous traits help individuals to survive long enough to have and raise their young.
With negative selection pressure, individuals die before they can reproduce.

22. EVOLUTION, NATURAL SELECTION, AND ADAPTATION
Advantageous traits originate from genetic variability.
Genetic variability occurs through…
mutations: random changes in the structure or number of DNA molecules in a cell that can be inherited by offspring.
Exposure to mutagens: radioactivity, x rays, certain chemicals
Random mistakes in DNA duplication, or during RNA transcription and translation.

23. Limits on Adaptation through Natural Selection
A population’s ability to adapt to new environmental conditions through natural selection is limited by its gene pool and how fast it can reproduce.
Humans have a relatively slow generation time (decades) and output (# of young) versus some other species.

24. Common Myths about Evolution through Natural Selection
Yes: Biological evolution through natural selection is about the most descendants.
No: (Misunderstandings)
“Survival of the fittest” means “survival of the biggest, fastest, or strongest”.
Organisms develop certain traits because they need them.
Species evolve towards genetic perfection.

25. New Species: Hybridization
New species can arise through hybridization.
Occurs when individuals to two distinct species crossbreed to produce a fertile offspring.
The red wolf is thought to be a coyote/wolf hybrid

26. New Species: Gene Swapping
Some species (mostly microorganisms) can exchange genes without sexual reproduction.
Horizontal gene transfer

27. BIODIVERSITY

28. Why Should We Care About Biodiversity?
Some consider it ethical to care about nature.
Biodiversity provides us with:
Natural Resources (food, water, wood, energy, and medicines)
Natural Services (air and water purification, soil fertility, waste disposal, pest control)
Aesthetic pleasure

29. Biodiversity Loss and Species Extinction: Remember HIPPO
H for habitat destruction and degradation
I for invasive species
P for pollution
P for human population growth
O for overexploitation

30. ECOLOGICAL NICHES AND ADAPTATION: Coastal Georgia
Smooth cordgrass,
Spartina alterniflora,
Can grow in fresh water…
…but it doesn’t in the wild.
Why not?

31. ECOLOGICAL NICHES AND ADAPTATION
Each species in an ecosystem has a specific role or way of life.
Fundamental niche: the full potential range of physical, chemical, and biological conditions and resources a species could theoretically use.
Realized niche: to survive and avoid competition, a species usually occupies only part of its fundamental niche.

32. Species Diversity and Niche Structure: Different Species Playing Different Roles
Biological communities differ in the types and numbers of species they contain and the ecological roles those species play.
Species diversity has 2 components:
species richness the number of different species the ecosystem contains
species evenness the abundance of individuals within each of those species.

33. Species Diversity and Niche Structure
Niche structure: how many potential ecological niches occur, how they resemble or differ, and how the species occupying different niches interact.
Geographic location: species diversity is highest in the tropics and declines as we move from the equator toward the poles.

34. TYPES OF SPECIES
Native, nonnative, indicator, keystone, and foundation species play different ecological roles in communities.
Native: those that normally live and thrive in a particular community.
Nonnative species a.k.a. invasive species: those that migrate, deliberately or accidentally introduced into a community.

35. Indicator Species: Biological Smoke Alarms
Species that serve as early warnings of damage to a community or an ecosystem.
“Canary in a coal mine”
Presence or absence of trout species because they are sensitive to temperature and oxygen levels.
Birds- require a range of habitat
Lichens- stay in one place and absorb from the environment
Amphibians- vulnerable at any part of life cycle

36. Case Study: Why are Amphibians Vanishing?
Frogs serve as indicator species because different parts of their life cycles can be easily disturbed.
Next

37. Adult frog (3 years) Young frog Sperm Tadpole develops into frog
Sexual
Reproduction
Tadpole
Figure 7.3
Typical life cycle of a frog. Populations of various frog species can decline because of the effects of harmful factors at different points in their life cycle. Such factors include habitat loss, drought, pollution, increased ultraviolet radiation, parasitism, disease, overhunting for food (frog legs), and nonnative predators and competitors.
Eggs
Fertilized egg
development
Egg hatches
Organ formation
Fig. 7-3, p. 147

38. Case Study: Why are Amphibians Vanishing?
Habitat loss and fragmentation.
Prolonged drought.
Increases in ultraviolet radiation.
Parasites.
Viral and Fungal diseases.
Overhunting.
Air OR water pollution
Natural immigration or deliberate introduction of nonnative predators and competitors.

39. Keystone Species: Major Players
Keystone species help determine the types and numbers of other species in a community thereby helping to sustain it.
Figures 7-4 and 7-5

40. Foundation Species: Other Major Players
Expansion of keystone species category.
Foundation species can create and enhance the physical habitats to benefit other species in a community.
Elephants push over, break, or uproot trees, creating forest openings promoting grass growth for other species to utilize.
Alligators making “gator holes”

41. Generalist and Specialist Species: Broad and Narrow Niches
Generalist species tolerate a wide range of conditions.
Specialist species can only tolerate a narrow range of conditions. Exp: tiger salamander, giant panda
Figure 4-7

42. Specialist species Generalist species with a narrow niche
with a broad niche
Niche
separation
Number of individuals
Figure 4.7
Overlap of the niches of two different species: a specialist and a generalist. In the overlap area, the two species compete for one or more of the same resources. As a result, each species can occupy only a part of its fundamental niche; the part it occupies is its realized niche. Generalist species such as a raccoon have a broad niche (right), and specialist species such as the giant panda have a narrow niche (left).
Niche
breadth
Region of
niche overlap
Resource use
Fig. 4-7, p. 91

43. SPOTLIGHT Cockroaches: Nature’s Ultimate Survivors
350 million years old
3,500 different species
Ultimate generalist
Can eat almost anything.
Can live and breed almost anywhere.
Can withstand massive radiation.
Figure 4-A

44. Specialized Feeding Niches
Resource partitioning reduces competition and allows sharing of limited resources.
Figure 4-8

45. Avocet sweeps bill through mud and surface water in
search of small crustaceans,
insects, and seeds
Ruddy turnstone searches
under shells and pebbles
for small invertebrates
Herring gull is a
tireless scavenger
Brown pelican dives for fish,
which it locates from the air
Dowitcher probes deeply
into mud in search of
snails, marine worms,
and small crustaceans
Black skimmer
seizes small fish
at water surface
Louisiana heron wades into
water to seize small fish
Figure 4.8
Natural capital: specialized feeding niches of various bird species in a coastal wetland. Such resource partitioning reduces competition and allows sharing of limited resources.
Piping plover feeds
on insects and tiny
crustaceans on
sandy beaches
Oystercatcher feeds on
clams, mussels, and
other shellfish into which
it pries its narrow beak
Flamingo
feeds on
minute
organisms
in mud
Scaup and other
diving ducks feed on mollusks, crustaceans,and aquatic vegetation
Knot (a sandpiper)
picks up worms and
small crustaceans left
by receding tide
(Birds not drawn to scale)
Fig. 4-8, pp

46. Evolutionary Divergence: Darwin’s Finches
Each species has a beak specialized to take advantage of certain types of food resource.
Next

47. Insect and nectar eaters
Fruit and seed eaters
Insect and nectar eaters
Greater Koa-finch
Kuai Akialaoa
Amakihi
Kona Grosbeak
Crested Honeycreeper
Akiapolaau
Figure 4.9
Natural capital: evolutionary divergence of honeycreepers into specialized ecological niches. Each species has a beak specialized to take advantage of certain types of food resources.
Maui Parrotbill
Apapane
Unknown finch ancestor
Fig. 4-9, p. 91

48. NATURAL SELECTION: DRIVEN BY GEOLOGIC PROCESSES, CLIMATE CHANGE, & CATASTROPHES
The movement of solid tectonic plates making up the earth’s surface, volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes can wipe out existing species and help form new ones.
The locations of continents and oceanic basins influence climate.
The movement of continents have allowed species to move.

49. 225 million years ago 135 million years ago 65 million years ago
Figure 4.5
Geological processes and biological evolution. Over millions of years the earth’s continents have moved very slowly on several gigantic tectonic plates. This process plays a role in the extinction of species as land areas split apart and promote the rise of new species when once isolated land areas combine. Rock and fossil evidence indicates that 200–250 million years ago all of the earth’s present-day continents were locked together in a supercontinent called Pangaea (top left). About 180 million years ago, Pangaea began splitting apart as the earth’s huge plates separated and eventually resulted in today’s locations of the continents (bottom right).
65 million years ago
Present
Fig. 4-5, p. 88

50. Climate Change and Natural Selection
Changes in climate throughout the earth’s history have shifted where plants and animals can live.
Next

51. Northern Hemisphere Ice coverage
18,000
years before present
Northern Hemisphere
Ice coverage
Modern day
(August)
Note:
Modern sea ice coverage
represents
summer months
Legend
Continental ice
Figure 4.6
Changes in ice coverage in the northern hemisphere during the past 18,000 years. (Data from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration)
Sea ice
Land above sea level
Fig. 4-6, p. 89

52. SPECIATION, EXTINCTION, AND BIODIVERSITY
Speciation: A new species can arise when member of a population become isolated for a long period of time.
Due to natural selection over time, the genetic makeup changes, preventing them from producing fertile offspring with the original population if reunited.

53. Catastrophes and Natural Selection
Asteroids and meteorites hitting the earth and upheavals of the earth from geologic processes have wiped out large numbers of species and created evolutionary opportunities by natural selection of new species.

54. Geographic Isolation…
…can lead to reproductive isolation, which leads to divergence of gene pools and speciation.
Figure 4-10

55. matches snow for camouflage.
Adapted to cold through heavier fur,short ears, short legs,short nose. White fur
matches snow for camouflage.
Arctic Fox
Northern
population
Early fox
Population
Spreads
northward
and southward
and separates
Different environmental
conditions lead to different selective pressures and evolution into two different species.
Adapted to heat through lightweight
fur and long ears, legs, and nose, which give off more heat.
Southern
Population
Figure 4.10
Geographic isolation can lead to reproductive isolation, divergence of gene pools, and speciation.
Gray Fox
Fig. 4-10, p. 92

56. Extinction: Lights Out
Extinction occurs when the population cannot adapt to changing environmental conditions.
The golden toad of Costa Rica’s Monteverde cloud forest has become extinct because of changes in climate.
Figure 4-11

57. Categorizing Extinction Rates
Biologists estimate that 99.9% of all the species that ever existed are now extinct.
Background extinction- a certain number of species disappearing at a slow rate due to changes of local environmental conditions
Estimate: 1-5 species per million per year
Mass depletion- rates of extinction above background level but not high enough to be considered a mass extinction.
Mass extinction- a significant rise in extinction rate above background level.

58. Effects of Humans on Biodiversity
The scientific consensus is that human activities are decreasing the earth’s biodiversity.
Figure 4-13

59. Silurian Permian Jurassic Cambrian Ordovician Devonian Devonian
Terrestrial
organisms
Silurian
Permian
Jurassic
Cambrian
Ordovician
Devonian
Devonian
Cretaceous
Pre-cambrian
Marine
organisms
Carboniferous
Number of families
Tertiary
Quaternary
Figure 4.13
Natural capital: changes in the earth’s biodiversity over geological time. The biological diversity of life on land and in the oceans has increased dramatically over the last 3.5 billion years, especially during the past 250 million years. During the last 1.8 million years this increase has leveled off.
Millions of years ago
Fig. 4-13, p. 94

60. Species and families experiencing mass extinction
Bar width represents relative
number of living species
Millions of
years ago
Era
Period
Extinction
Current extinction crisis caused
by human activities. Many species
are expected to become extinct
within the next 50–100 years.
Quaternary
Today
Cenozoic
Tertiary
Extinction 65
Cretaceous: up to 80% of ruling
reptiles (dinosaurs); many marine
species including many
foraminiferans and mollusks.
Cretaceous
Mesozoic
Jurassic
Extinction
Triassic: 35% of animal families, including many reptiles and marine mollusks.
180
Triassic
Extinction
Permian: 90% of animal families, including over 95% of marine species; many trees, amphibians, most bryozoans and brachiopods, all trilobites.
250
Permian
Carboniferous
Extinction
345
Figure 4.12
Fossils and radioactive dating indicate that five major mass extinctions (indicated by arrows) have taken place over the past 500 million years. Mass extinctions leave many organism roles (niches) unoccupied and create new niches. Each mass extinction has been followed by periods of recovery (represented by the wedge shapes) called adaptive radiations. During these periods, which last 10 million years or longer, new species evolve to fill new or vacated niches. Many scientists say that we are now in the midst of a sixth mass extinction, caused primarily by human activities.
Devonian: 30% of animal families, including agnathan and placoderm fishes and many trilobites.
Devonian
Paleozoic
Silurian
Ordovician
Extinction
500
Ordovician: 50% of animal families, including many trilobites.
Cambrian
Fig. 4-12, p. 93

61. GENETIC ENGINEERING AND THE FUTURE OF EVOLUTION
We have used artificial selection to change the genetic characteristics of populations with similar genes through selective breeding.
We have used genetic engineering to transfer genes from one species to another (gene splicing)
Takes half the time and costs less than crossbreeding.
Figure 4-15

62. Genetic Engineering: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)
GMOs use recombinant DNA
genes or portions of genes from different organisms.
Figure 4-14

63. Case Study: Species Diversity on Islands
MacArthur and Wilson proposed the species equilibrium model a.k.a. theory of island biogeography in the 1960’s.
Model projects that at some point the rates of immigration and extinction should reach an equilibrium based on:
Island size
Distance to nearest mainland

64. THE FUTURE OF EVOLUTION
Biologists are learning to rebuild organisms from their cell components and to clone organisms.
Cloning has lead to high miscarriage rates, rapid aging, organ defects.
Genetic engineering can help improve human condition, but results are not always predictable.
Currently: We do not know where the new gene will be located in the DNA molecule’s structure and how that will affect the organism.

65. Biopharming
Biopharming is when humans use genetically engineered organisms for the production of consumables such as
Drugs
Chemicals
Human body parts
Which one of these have we not yet mastered?

66. Controversy Over Genetic Engineering
There are a number of privacy, ethical, legal and environmental issues.
Should genetic engineering and development be regulated?
What are the long-term environmental consequences?

67. Case Study: How Did We Become Such a Powerful Species so Quickly?
Compared to other species, we lack:
strength, speed, agility.
weapons (claws, fangs), protection (shell).
poor hearing and vision.
We have thrived as a species because of our:
opposable thumbs
ability to walk upright
complex brains (problem solving).

68. Ch 4 Final Thoughts
Microevolution- Traits changing in a species (e.g.color, fur type, etc.)
Industrial Melanism
in pepper moths:
Macroevolution- The development of new species

69. Ch 4 Final Thoughts
Gradualism- species change slowly over time at a steady rate of change (Darwin was wrong about this)
Punctuated Equilibrium- Long periods of stability punctuated by peiods of rapid change, initiated by changes in the environment (evolutionary biologist Stephen Jay Gould)
# of species
Time
# of species
Time

70. Ch 4 Final Thoughts
Natural Selection happens to individuals, and leads to differential reproduction (think about the wooly worms lab)
Evolution happens to a population over time, and is ultimately understood as changes in gene frequencies within that population.
Leads to microevolution in the short term
Leads to macroevolution in the long term

71. Genetic Engineering: Genetically Modified Organisms (GMO)
GMOs use recombinant DNA
genes or portions of genes from different organisms.
Figure 4-14

72. Identify and remove portion of DNA with
Phase 1
Make Modified Gene
E. coli
Genetically
modified
plasmid
Insert modified
plasmid into E. coli
Cell
Extract
Plasmid
Extract DNA
Plasmid
Gene of
interest
DNA
Identify and remove portion of DNA with
desired trait
Remove plasmid
from DNA of E. coli
Insert extracted
(step 2) into plasmid
(step 3)
Identify and extract gene with desired trait
Grow in tissue
culture to
make copies
Figure 4.14
Genetic engineering: steps in genetically modifying a plant.
Fig. 4-14, p. 95

73. Transfer plasmid copies to a carrier agrobacterium
Phase 2
Make Transgenic Cell
A. tumefaciens
(agrobacterium)
Foreign DNA
E. Coli
Host DNA
Plant cell
Nucleus
Transfer plasmid copies to a carrier agrobacterium
Agrobacterium inserts foreign DNA into plant cell to yield transgenic cell
Figure 4.14
Genetic engineering: steps in genetically modifying a plant.
Transfer plasmid to surface of microscopic metal particle
Use gene gun to inject
DNA into plant cell
Fig. 4-14, p. 95

74. Grow Genetically Engineered Plant
Phase 3
Grow Genetically Engineered Plant
Transgenic cell
from Phase 2
Cell division of
transgenic cells
Culture cells
to form plantlets
Figure 4.14
Genetic engineering: steps in genetically modifying a plant.
Transfer to soil
Transgenic plants
with new traits
Fig. 4-14, p. 95

75. Grow Genetically Engineered Plant
Transgenic cell
from Phase 2
Phase 3
Grow Genetically Engineered Plant
Cell division of
transgenic cells
Culture cells
to form plantlets
Transfer to soil
Transgenic plants
with new traits
Stepped Art
Fig. 4-14, p. 95