2.1: intro to Biodiversity
The variety of life on earth
Three scales of biodiversity 1. Genetic Diversity: Genetic variation among individuals in a population (what’s a population?)
Environmental stressors Physical Stress (natural disasters) Wildfires Pollution Thermal stress Radiation Climatic (light, temperature) Biological (predation, competition, parasitism, lack of mates)
Bottleneck Effect
2. Species Diversity: The number of species in a region or habitat (in a community or ecosystem)
A species can interbreed and produce viable offspring. # Identified and catalogued by scientists: 2 million # Estimates of actual total number on earth: 5-100 million Most common estimate: 10 million
Most common animal?
Most common organism: the bacterium Pelagibacter ubique (1/3rd of all single-celled ocean organisms)
CED Textbook 3. Habitat/Ecosystem diversity: the variety of habitats that exist within a given region
Generalist species can live under a wide range of biotic/abiotic conditions
Specialist species live under a very narrow range of conditions or feed on one or a very small group of species
hehe
Species Richness: # of Total Species
Species Evenness: Abundance of individuals within each species
(Apple!)