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4/30/2020 • Have you ever considered that the cereal you eat is brought to you each morning by the wind? • Or that the clear, cold, clean water drawn from your faucet may have been purified for you by a wetland?

4/30/2020 • Trees in your front yard work to trap dust, dirt and harmful gases from the air you breathe.

• The medicine you take to ease a fever, or the achy muscles from a cold comes to you from Nature’s warehouse of services.

Biodiversity

Components of…

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Biodiversity —Components

• Species Diversity • Genetic Diversity • Ecosystem Diversity Scientists will look at all these different factors to determine the biodiversity of an area.

Species diversity • number of species in a given area.

– An island with 2 bird species and 1 lizard species is more diverse than an island with 3 bird species.

http://www.ipgri.cgiar.org/themes/human/images/Vegetation_Cuba.jpg

– It’s numbers of species as well as categories of organisms.

http://www.sagarprabhu.com/gif/rice5.gif

Genetic diversity

• Variations of genes within a species.

– Lots of distinct populations within a species (lots of varieties of rice in India--all from same species) – Genetic Variation within the population as a whole (high in Indian rhinos, low in cheetahs)

A few of the hundreds of rice varieties found in India.

Some genetic diversity in potatoes … http://www.potatoperspective.org/about_files/DSCN7746.jpg

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Ecosystem diversity

• Variety of ecosystems within an area.

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Coniferous Forest meeting a meadow

– Wisconsin has about 9 different ecosystems, other states only have about 3, some >14, etc.

– Very hard to measure due to overlapping boundary areas also called ecotones.

Ocean meeting a beach

Biodiversity

Ecosystem Services

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Ecosystem Services Moderating weather events… –Lessen the effects of droughts and floods –Protect streams/rivers and coastal shores from erosion

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Weather Events, egs

• Plant roots can help buffer shores from erosion, holding the soil in place. • Large trees can shade the understory plants from the sun’s rays, helping them sustain a long period of drought.

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Flood protection —WORTH?

Mississippi River Valley

• Humans drained the wetlands and altered stream channels. The wetlands have been controlling flooding for millennia.

Ecosystem Services • Maintain Soil quality

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Ecosystem Services • Maintain Air quality

Ecosystem Services • Maintain Water quality

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Ecosystem Services —WORTH?

Water Purification

• When NYC had altered its ecosystem to eliminate the natural landscape, their water quality plummeted.

• It would have cost them 6-8 billion PLUS 300 million per year to install water treatment plants… • They instead restored the ruined landscape at a cost of $660 million.

Ecosystem Services

Detoxify and decompose wastes – Many geochemical cycles (water cycle, nitrogen cycle, carbon cycle) rely on microorganisms to decompose waste products to be used again 4/30/2020 copyright 2006 Free template from brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Ecosystem Services

• Control agricultural pests – most crop pests can be controlled by other organisms for a longer period of time – helpful because many pests become resistant to synthetic pesticides copyright 2006 Free template from brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Intercropping cocoa plants with coconut trees.

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Ecosystem Services —WORTH?

Pollination

• 1/3 of human food comes from plants pollinated by wild pollinators • Over 100,000 different animals—including bats, bees, flies, moths, beetles, birds and butterflies —provide FREE pollination services • This service would cost the US alone 4 – 6 billion dollars per year!

Ecosystem Services

Disperse seeds • Many plants rely on the wind or animals to disperse their seeds. http://www.ontariowildflower.com/images/scat_elk.jpg

4/30/2020 http://www.yallaroo.com.au/images/Seed_dispersal.JPG

Ecosystem Services —WORTH?

Medicines

• 80% of the world’s population relies upon natural medicinal products. • Of the top 150 prescription drugs in the US, 118 originate from natural sources: – 74% from plants – 18% from fungi 4/30/2020 • 9 of the top 10 drugs come from natural plant products copyright 2006 Free template from brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Ecosystem Services

Photosynthesis!

• Plants convert the sun’s energy into energy the rest of the world’s organisms can use. Without this service, there would be no life on the planet!

Ecosystem Services

Gas exchange • Plants and animals continuously cycle gases among themselves, the soil and the air.

http://www.kidsgeo.com/images/carbon-cycle.gif

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Ecosystem Services —Threats

4/30/2020 • Easy to take for granted, but human actions can limit or destroy these services –Growth in the human enterprise (population, consumption of goods, effects of technologies) –Looking to short term gain as opposed to long term health of society copyright 2006 Free template from brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

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Ecosystem Services —Threats

The HIPPO Dilemma • H—Habitat destruction/fragmentation • I—Invasive species • P—Population growth of HUMANS • P—Pollution • O--Overconsumption copyright 2006 Free template from brainybetty.com ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Habitat Destruction/Fragmentation 4/30/2020 • Changing a habitat to suit human needs…for housing, farming, etc.

•This displaces animals/plants. As the human population grows, so does habitat destruction!

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Fragmentation

• Breaking up large habitats into smaller habitats. • Creates an “edge” habitat where “inner” habitat used to be. Some plants and animals cannot adapt to these changes.

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Invasive Species

Oftentimes, invasive species

 Any organism that has

out-compete native species resulting in disruption of the

been relocated somewhere

Many native organisms are

other than its original habitat.

Synonyms include:

Zebra Mussel

Introduced species, non native species, exotic species and alien species 27

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Population growth of Humans

 Increasing population means greater demand for food, shelter, fuel and water.

 This often leads to habitat loss, pollution, resource scarcity and overconsumption (in areas with enough money)  Humans are coming into greater (more frequent) contact with previously wild areas with high biodiversity http://www1.istockphoto.com/file_thumbview_approve/ 2222903/2/istockphoto_2222903_crowded_city.jpg

http://www.chbr.noaa.gov/categories/stressors/image s/pollution_sm.jpg

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Pollution

o Pollution can alter the habitat to the point where some plants and animals will not be able to adapt.

o Global Climate Change--many species are intolerant to changes in temperature--affects feeding relationships and breeding patterns.

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Pollution

o Acid rain/Air pollution-these types of issues do not respect borders. US acid rain fell in Canada destroying sugar maple forests which upset the amount/quality of maple syrup produced.

• Pesticide runoff—frequently pesticides will degrade an environment for most organisms in that ecosystem.

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Overconsumption

   Individuals consuming many more resources than are needed to survive – sometimes even more than is needed for a high standard of life Industrialized nations make up 25% of the world’s population, but use 75% of its resources. US makes up only 5% -causes 33% of world’s pop of world’s pollution!

Slide 1

Transcript Slide 1

Biodiversity

Components of…

Biodiversity —Components

Species diversity • number of species in a given area.

Genetic diversity

Ecosystem diversity

Biodiversity

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services Moderating weather events… –Lessen the effects of droughts and floods –Protect streams/rivers and coastal shores from erosion

Weather Events, egs

Flood protection —WORTH?

Mississippi River Valley

Ecosystem Services • Maintain Soil quality

Ecosystem Services • Maintain Air quality

Ecosystem Services • Maintain Water quality

Ecosystem Services —WORTH?

Water Purification

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services —WORTH?

Pollination

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services —WORTH?

Medicines

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services

Ecosystem Services —Threats

Ecosystem Services —Threats

Fragmentation

Invasive Species

Population growth of Humans

Pollution

Pollution

Overconsumption

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