Transcript Ecosystem Structure and Biodiversity

Biodiversity
Biodiversity
Objectives- You should be able to:
1. Explain the hierarchy of organisms
2. Define biodiversity
3. Explain how diversity affects the ecosystem
Biodiversity
Important Vocabulary
 Biodiversity
 Organism
 Species
 Population
 Community
Ecosystem
 Biome
 Biosphere
 Hot Spots
 Endemic Species

Biodiversity

In most cases, diversity is a good thing.
Biodiversity is the amount of different
species of organisms that occupy an
area.
Biodiversity
The measure of the amount of different types of
organisms that can live in an area is a sign of
the biological complexity in that area.
It is generally thought that an area that
contains a lot of different types of organisms
is better off than an area that does not show
the same amount of diversity.
Coral Reefs Have High Biodiversity!
Interesting Scientific Fact:

Biologists are monitoring the amphibian population
in areas of concern. It is thought that the number of
amphibians will show whether an area is healthy or
unhealthy. The more amphibians they are able to
locate, the better the area.
REMEMBER THIS!!!
Biodiversity is the number of
different types of organisms
that can live in an area.
Biodiversity is usually a
good thing.
Questions
Question1:1:Define
Definebiodiversity
biodiversityininyour
your own
Question
words.
own words.
 Question 2: Does the North Pole have
more biodiversity or less biodiversity
then Maryland?
Why do
you
think
so?
Question
2: Does the North
Pole
have
more

biodiversity or less biodiversity than
Maryland? Why do you think so?
Ecological Organization

It is helpful in understanding Biodiversity to
also understand ecological organization.
Here is a helpful reminder of how organisms
are grouped.
Organism—Population— Community—
Ecosystem—Biome—Biosphere
Organism

The organism stage refers to the smallest units.
Organism refers to the individual.
Species

Species are similar organisms that are capable of
interbreeding and producing fertile offspring.
Population

Populations are groupings of all the same type of
species.
Community

Similar organisms make up a population. Several
populations of different species make up a
community.
Ecosystem

Several communities along with their abiotic
components make up an ecosystem.
Biomes

Ecosystems with similar climate (temperature
and precipitation) make up the world’s biomes.
Biosphere
 The
biosphere is all
the biomes linked
together and form
the part of the
Earth, including
air, land, and
water, within
which life occurs.
Remember Biodiversity?
 Biodiversity
is the variety of species
living in a community.
 Biodiversity
is a measure of the
number of organisms living in an
ecosystem.
Question
Question 3: List the 6 levels of ecological
organization from the smallest to the
largest.
Biodiversity and
Ecosystem Health


An ecosystem is healthy and doing well if it
has a lot of biodiversity. It means that there
are a lot of different types of organisms
living there and that there is plenty of food.
That is good!
Unhealthy ecosystems do not have a good
biodiversity.
Examples


An example of an ecosystem with good
biodiversity would be a forest that has been
untouched for hundreds of years. There are a
lot of different organisms there and there are
lots of them.
MORE BIODIVERSITY MEANS A MORE
STABLE ECOSYSTEM!
Examples
Examples

A forest that just had a fire would not have good
biodiversity because there are not many plants or
animals there anymore.
Question
Question 4: Is it better to have more or less
biodiversity? Why?
Interesting Scientific Fact:

Airports do not like biodiversity. In fact, they
prefer an ecosystem that does not have any
flying organisms. Why? Because flying
organism, like birds, get in the way of the
airplanes as they take-off and land.
Sometimes larger birds, like geese, actually
fly into the airplane motors and create
problems for the plane.
Interesting Scientific Fact:
Biodiversity Hotspots

Biodiversity hotspots are geographic regions
with a significant amount of biodiversity that
is threatened with destruction.

Biodiversity hotspots contain many endemic
species.

Endemic Species are those species native to a
particular area. They are not naturally found
elsewhere.
Interesting Scientific Fact:



There are 34 biodiversity hotspots, each holding at
least 1,500 endemic plant species. Overall, the 34
hotspots once covered 15.7 percent of the Earth’s
land surface.
In all, 86% of the hotspots’ habitat has already been
destroyed, such that the intact remnants of the
hotspots now cover only 2.3 percent of the Earth’s
land surface.
Unless we succeed in conserving this small
fraction of the planet’s land area, we will lose more
than half of our natural heritage.
THE END!!!