1. Table Talk
What do you think the word Biodiversity means?

2. Biodiversity & Sustainability

3. A. What is Biodiversity? The variety of life in an ecosystem
Variety of Genes
Variety of Species
Variety of Ecosystems

4. Variety of Genes

5. Variety of species
This is the total number and kinds of different species on earth.

6. Variety of Ecosystems
Smaller ecosystems such as a garden, or even microhabitats

7. TREES IN a Forest

8. This food web has low biodiversity
Rabbits eat grass. Foxes eat rabbits
Foxes
Rabbit
Grass

9. This food web has low biodiversity
A disturbance hits…
A drought happens and kills all the grass.
Foxes
Rabbit
Grass

10. This food web has low biodiversity
What happens to the foxes?
Foxes
How many species do we have left? 0!
Rabbit
BIG change?
Grass

11. This food web has high biodiversity
Let’s add a few more species to our original ecosystem
Foxes
Lettuce
Rabbit
Chickens
Grass

12. This food web has high biodiversity
A disturbance hits…
A drought happens and kills all the grass.
Foxes
Lettuce
Rabbit
Chickens
Grass

13. This food web has high biodiversity
The food web started with high biodiversity
High biodiversity = stable ecosystem
One change… didn’t really do anything!
What happens to the foxes?
Population size decreases… a little
Foxes
Lettuce
Rabbit
BIG change?
Chickens
Grass

14. High Biodiversity Biodiversity IS…
*Many Different Kinds of organisms…. *many Different organisms filling the same energy role (niche)in the same ecosystem
High
Biodiversity

15. Low Biodiversity Biodiversity is NOT
*Larger populations of the SAME organism…..
Low Biodiversity

16. More organisms at each energy level is better

17. High or Low Biodiversity?

18. Let’s see how biodiversity effects the stability of an ecosystem!

19. Evidence of a stable ecosystem…
Many Different organisms in the same energy role (niche)
If disaster strikes one species, there is food to choose from.
Equilibrium- proper balance...NOT changing=SUSTAINABILITY

20. Stability More species at each role = healthier ecosystem
More diverse energy level = more sustainable ecosystem

21. Which ecosystem is more stable why?

22. Answer: Food web A Variety of organisms filling the same energy role
If something happens and species dies out others fill the same role
Ecosystem A is better able to handle environmental stressors

23. which describes biodiversity supporting sustainability. (table talk)
Student A: A disease causes the coyote population to decrease, which causes the rabbit population to increase Student B: A freeze kills one of the many plants bees pollinates from. The bees survive by getting nectar from the many other plants they get nectar from. Student C: there is an increase in wheat plants causing the population of mice to increase.

24. More links = More Stability
Healthy Ecosystems
More links = More Stability

25. Large leaves to get light
So what is a niche?
The way an organism uses the environment.
Decomposer
Climb to the light
Large leaves to get light
Herbivore
Nesting High
Predator
Or in a hole..
Autotroph
Diurnal
Nocturnal
When do I get to eat?
Where will I get food?
What do I get to eat?
Where do I get to live?

26. Why is an organisms niche important?
balance!!!
1. to keep the balance
2. they provide resources for other organisms
Who is missing?
So we don’t lose balance

27. How does biodiversity support ecosystem stability
Genetic variety = greater chances species survival over time (natural selection)
Variety of species= more organisms can fill the same niche
Variety of ecosystems= everything doesn’t live in the same place. (more resources)
If Disaster Strikes it’s “business as usual”

28. B. Why is it important? Medicines Recreation and Tourism
Indicates health of biosphere

29. Quick Facts There are millions of species on Earth
Loss of about 50 per day
Normal should be 1 per 5 years
Tropical Rainforests hold a large percentage of Earth’s diversity
30 Extinction Hotspots
Biodiversity maintains the health of the earth (fill in the next blank) and its people.
It provides us with food and medicine and contributes to our economy. For example, we
use plants and animals for food and medicine and we can harvest plants and animals and
sell them to make money. In Manitoba, the fishing industry contributes $150 million
annually to our economy.
Biodiversity tells us a lot about the health of the biosphere. The greater the variety of
species, the healthier the biosphere is. Why is this? (pause, have students brainstorm
answers).
[Possible answers]
more species = more links in food chains/webs = more stable
more plants = more food for other animals (more oxygen too)
more genes = better chances for survival through adaptation
a variety of ecosystems = more habitat for different species

30. Biodiversity is diminished by…
Habitat Loss
Overhunting
Climate changes
Disease
Natural Disasters
Invasive Species

31. Hold up… Don’t these things happen all the time?
How do ecosystems stay healthy if there is always stress?

32. Healthy Ecosystem More Biodiversity = Healthier ecosystem= sustainable
The more sustainable the ecosystem is the better it is at dealing with stress!

33. Biodiversity and Sustainability
Oh yes…they have a relationship! biodiversity = sustainability

34. E. Invasive Species Let’s take a closer look…
What is an invasive species?
An exotic species (not native to the area) that negatively impacts the ecosystem

35. How do they upset the balance?
Here is an example:
Rabbits in Australia
Timeline:
1788 Rabbits brought to Australia for food
1827 Rabbits begin to overrun the countryside
1859 So many, that killing 2million/year had no effect on the population size!!!!
Why did this happen?

36. Back to the Niche… So what did they do????
There were no native species in the ecosystem with the ability (role) to control the rabbit population!
No natural predators = Too many rabbits!
So what did they do????

37. Oh they tried… They tried to hunt and trap them…
Fail
They built a fence to contain them…
They introduced a virus to kill them…
Semi-success, but now many are resistant to it
This didn’t happen until 1950!!!

38. So what has happened to the ecosystem?
Rabbits have devastated the Australian lands!
Billions of dollars!
Many native species now under severe stress
LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY….
Loss of Sustainability!
European Rabbits in Austrailia

39. Remember… More Biodiversity = More Sustainability
This means a healthy Earth and a healthy you!

40. How can we improve sustainability and biodiversity?
Some possibilities:
Reduce, Reuse, Recycle
Care for the environment
Limit monoculture Farming
Responsible pet/plant owners
Others???