Diversity of Living Things Sec 1.1

Learning Goals We are learning the biological concept of species. We are learning why biodiversity is important. We are learning about threats to biodiversity.

Intro to Biodiversity biodiversity: the number and variety of species and ecosystems on Earth over 1.7 million kinds of living things have been discovered on Earth but there may as many as 15 million Video

What Is a Species? species: all organisms capable of breeding freely with each other under normal conditions i.e. lions only breed with lions, robins only breed with robins

What Is a Species? Exceptions: occasionally plants of different species will undergo hybridization (cross-breading of two different species) some plants, fungi and micro-organisms only reproduce asexually and are defined according to their morphology (the physical appearance and characteristics of an organism)

Levels of Biodiversity Description Importance 1. 2. 3.

Levels of Biodiversity genetic diversity: the genetic variability among organisms of the same species important during environmental change (if there is variation, some individuals may have suitable traits to allow them to survive in the new environment) this diversity is important during environmental change because if none of the individuals has the traits to survive this change, they will all die however, if there is variation, some individuals may have suitable traits to allow them to survive in the new environment the population will continue on into future generations

Levels of Biodiversity Cont’d… species diversity: a measure of the variety of species in an ecosystem and the number of individuals within each of those species important for healthy ecosystems (the loss of a species will not disrupt the ecosystem as much) this diversity is important for healthy ecosystems the more different species there are, the more interactions can exist the loss of a species will not disrupt the ecosystem as much

Levels of Biodiversity Cont’d… structural diversity: the range of physical shapes and sizes within a habitat or ecosystem

Levels of Biodiversity Cont’d… an ecosystem with greater structural diversity provides a greater range of habitats that can support a variety of species ex. rainforests have greater structural diversity than even-aged tree plantation

Biodiversity at Risk biodiversity is essential for the health and sustainability of ecosystems

Biodiversity at Risk Cont’d… The loss of biodiversity affects humans by: threatening our food supply eliminating sources of natural medicines and potential new medicines economically impacting tourism and forestry disrupting biogeochemical cycles (ex. normal carbon uptake by ecosystems)

Threats to Biodiversity The biggest threats to biodiversity are: Habitat Loss Invasive Species Pollution Population Overharvesting Climate Change (HIPPO (C))

Learning Goals We are learning the biological concept of species. We are learning why biodiversity is important. We are learning about threats to biodiversity.

Homework p13 #1, 2, 4, 6 - 8 , 10, 13, 15