1. Diversity of Living Things
Sec 1.1

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

3. 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

4. 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

7. 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)

8. Levels of Biodiversity
Description
Importance 1. 2. 3.

9. 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

10. 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

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

12. 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

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

14. 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)

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

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

17. Homework
p13 #1, 2, 4, , 10, 13, 15