1. Prepared by Dakota Joiner & Lindsey bat Joseph for Alexander College Writing and Learning Centre, April 2015. Research source: Krebs, Charles J. Ecology, 6 th ed. Pearson: San Francisco, 2009.

2. Biodiversity is the scientific term coined to describe the variety and diversity of organisms in a given ecosystem. There are many different kinds of biological organisms in different ecosystems. E.g., a tropical rainforest ecosystem may contain thousands of different species of animals, plants, insects, bacteria, etc.

3. This idea generally refers to richness of species within a community. Source: Walter Jetz Lab, Yale University, adapted from Jetz et al. 2007, 2008. Why do you think southern countries have more species than northern countries?

4. Biodiversity is also used to describe taxonomical diversity, ecological diversity, genetic diversity, and molecular diversity. Figure 1. A phylogenetic tree showing basic taxonomic divisions Source: Adl, Sina M.; Simpson, Alastair G. B.; et al. (2006). "Toward Automatic Reconstruction of a Highly Resolved Tree of Life". Science 311 (5765): 1283–1287.

5. A community is a group of organisms living in the same habitat that are connected to each other by interactions, such as feeding or energy flow. Source: Google Images This is an example of the Antarctic community of organisms showing feeding relationships.

6. Biodiversity is stratified in a latitudinal manner. This is referred to as latitudinal species gradient. Figure 1. A graph demonstrating the latitudinal species gradient in terms of different numbers of species of fish found in different latitudes. Something to Think About: Why do you think fish biodiversity is highest around the equator?

7. The factors primarily affecting organismal diversity and distribution are: Temperature Precipitation Altitude Soils Geography The presence of other species. Something to Think About: Why do you think biodiversity is highest, both on land and in the seas, around the equator?

8. Images from: http://www.talesmaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/http://www.talesmaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/

9. Nembrotha-cristata Promachoteuthis-sulcus Pistol Shrimp Yeti Crab Orcinus orca – Killer Whale

10. Alarm Jellyfish Frilled Shark Red Cap Gold Fish Lion’s Mane Jellyfish: Jellyfish are invertebrates The Mexican Walking Fish is actually a type of salamander Crocodile Fish

11. They have many different characteristics. Amazon Milk Frog Glass Frogs Purple Frogs Indian Bull Frog

12. Hermit Crab Leatherback Sea Turtle

13. This is a rare, recessive gene that produces some very unique and rare animals. Humans can exhibit traits of albinism too.

14. These unique creatures have evolved with many different characteristics. Blue Footed Booby King of Saxony Bird of Paradise See the video about the Cornell University’s project on the Birds of Paradise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTR21os8gTAhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTR21os8gTA Cardinal Gynandromorph – this isn’t a different species of bird – it’s a cardinal that is displaying characteristics of male and female genders. Something to Think About: What do you think that the booby’s bright blue feet are for?

15. See the video about the Cornell University’s project on the Birds of Paradise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTR21os8gTA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTR21os8gTA

16. Consult an ecology textbook to go further in depth. See our school librarians for help finding books about ecology. Also, David Attenborough’s natural productions with the BBC (such as Blue Planet and Planet Earth) are rich in portraying species diversity. This is an excellent way to see the different types of animals and plants around the world.