Group 3: BIODIVERSITY
• Jowayne Gray
• Jade-leigh James
• Britney Waugh
• Krisauna Oram
• Orane Cassanova
• Shanara Richards
• Shenequa Richards
Objectives:
1. To explain the concept of
biodiversity.
2. To highlight the importance
of biodiversity and the
threats to biodiversity.
3. To discuss the different
types of biodiversity.
4. To give the advantages and
disadvantages for measuring
each type of biodiversity.
PRESENTATION TITLE
Biodiversity
WHAT DOES “BIO” MEAN?
BIO = LIFE
Biodiversity
WHAT DOES “DIVERSITY” MEAN?
DIVERSITY = VARIETY
INTRODUCTION
•The term Biodiversity was first coined by Walter G. Rosen in 1986.
•The Biosphere comprises of a complex collections of innumerable organisms, known
as the Biodiversity which constitute the vital life support for survival of human race.
•Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variation of taxonomic life forms within a
given ecosystem, biome or for the entire Earth.
•The United Nations’ Article 2 of the Convention on Biological Diversity defines
biodiversity as “the variability among living organisms from all sources, including
terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems, the ecological complexes and
diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.”
IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY
•More diverse ecosystem tends to be more productive. E.g. the ecosystem with a great variety of
producer species will produce large biomass to support a greater variety of consumer species.
•Greater species richness and productivity makes an ecosystem more sustainable and stable.
•More diverse the ecosystem, greater is the ability to withstand environmental stresses like drought or
invasive infestations.
•Species richness makes an ecosystem able to respond to any catastrophe.
•In Species-rich communities, each species can use a different portion of resources available as per their
requirement. E.g. plants with smaller roots can absorb water and minerals from shallow soil and plants
with deeper roots can tap deeper soil.
•Rich diversity is important for the survival of mankind.
•Healthy biodiversity has innumerable benefits like nutrients storage and recycling, soil
formation and protection from erosion, absorption of harmful gases, and climate stability.
•Humans get lots of product from nature like fruits, cereals, meat, wood, fibre, raisin, dyes,
medicine, antibiotics, etc.
•Amazon forest is estimated to produce 20 percent of total oxygen in the earth’s atmosphere
through photosynthesis.
•Pollinators, symbiotic relationships, decomposers, each species perform a unique role,
which is irreplaceable.
•Diversity in large numbers help in large scale interaction among organisms such as in the
food web.
•In the nitrogen cycle, bacteria, plants have a crucial relationship, earthworms contribute to
soil fertility.
•Apart from these, there are other benefits such as recreation and tourism, education and
research.
•Environmental changes that are natural or due to human intervention, lead to the natural
selection and survival of the fittest. Hence, due to genetic diversity, the varieties that are
susceptible, die and the ones who can adapt to changes will survive.
THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
•Habitat Loss and Fragmentation: Due to pollution, urbanization and various other human
activities, habitat loss and fragmentation is a major cause of loss in species diversity and
driving plants and animals extinct. E.g. Amazon rainforest (lungs of the planet), which is a
house to millions of species are being cut and cleared for various purposes.
•Tropical rainforest, which once covered 14 percent of landmass, is no more than 6 percent now.
•Over Exploitation: Over-exploitation of natural resources leads to the extinction of many
species. E.g. Steller’s sea cow, the passenger pigeon, many marine fishes are overharvested.
•Alien species invasions: When alien species are introduced deliberately or unintentionally,
some of them become invasive, leading to the extinction of indigenous species. E.g. Extinction
of cichlid fish in Lake Victoria due to the introduction of the Nile perch.
•Illegal introduction of the African catfish is a threat to
indigenous catfishes in rivers.
•Co-extinctions: When a species becomes extinct, the
species that are associated with it also becomes extinct.
E.g. When a host fish goes extinct, the parasite also
goes extinct.
•Mutualism like a plant-pollinator, where extinction of
one species leads to the extinction of other species too.
•Pollution and atmospheric changes threaten
biodiversity and global stability.
•Acid precipitation removes calcium, potassium, and
other nutrients from the soil, depriving plants of these
nutrients.
•Eutrophication occurs when substances rich in
nitrogen and phosphorus flow into waterways, causing
extensive algae growth. The algae use up the oxygen
supply during their rapid growth and after their deaths
during the decaying process.
TYPES OF DIVERSITY
SPECIES DIVERSITY
This type of diversity refers to the variability within the population of a
species or between different species of a community.
It represents broadly the number of species in a quadrat, a habitat, an
ecosystem or geographical region (species richness).
Dividing the species richness by the area in which they were counted gives
a figure describing species density.
The most common type of biodiversity index is species richness, which
refers to the number of species in a particular place.
If we count the number of species of all animals, plants and fungi in a community, the total
number of species can be large. For example, the number of animal species (this includes
insects, of course) in a tropical rainforest community can be in the high hundreds. This will
also be the case for plants and fungi. In habitats further away from the tropics, in general,
there is less species diversity, but in all regions of the world there are ‘hotspots’ for diversity.
For example, if we are analyzing tree species richness, we will see that species richness
decreases as you go further away from the equator. However, there are clearly other factors
at work as well as latitude. It appears that tree species richness is linked to temperature,
solar radiation and the rate of water loss from leaves. Highest tree species richness occurs in
areas with high humidity, high solar radiation and low rates of water loss from leaves.
Secondly if analyzing mammalian species, we see that the species richness takes on a
similar trend to the tree species richness. It is not so easy to find a reason for the variation in
mammalian species richness, but this also partly links to low rates of water loss from leaves
and may be a product of plant species diversity.
There are two main indices which researchers use to measure species diversity; Simpson's
Diversity Index and Shannon-Weiner Diversity Index. The Shannon index measures
uncertainty about the identity of species in the sample, and its units quantify information
while the Simpson Index measures a probability, specifically, the probability that two
individuals, drawn randomly from the sample, will be of different species.
ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY
Ecosystem diversity deals with the study of different ecosystems in a certain
location and their overall effects on humans and the environment as a whole.
Ecosystem diversity focuses on both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems.
Ecosystem diversity has a great deal on both genetic and species diversity,
thus it is coined as the “largest scale of biodiversity”.
It can be dealt with at a micro-level (small scale) or at a macro-level (large
scale). Macro-scale ecosystem diversity would therefore be concerned with the
variations in the ecosystems at a large scope, such as oceans, forests, and
wetlands. Conversely, small-scale ecosystem diversity would be interested in
the variations in the ecosystems over a relatively small geographical space or
area.
The importance of ecosystem biodiversity is the wide variety of ecological
niches that provide opportunities for species diversity.
You would expect the number of different ecosystems in an area to have an effect
on species diversity, with more ecosystems giving rise to greater species richness.
To determine the relationship between the two, bird species richness and
ecosystem richness were studied across the whole of the South American
continent. Here bird diversity is great, including about one third of the world’s
bird species. The continent was divided into large quadrats of up to about 1
million square kilometers in size. Within these quadrats, species richness ranged
from 200 to 782 species and ecosystem diversity ranged from 12 to 24 per quadrat.
As expected, greater ecosystem diversity was correlated with greater species
diversity. However, it was calculated that ecosystem diversity could account for
only about 30 to 50% of the species diversity. This shows that these two
measurements give different information about the biodiversity of an area.
An information entropy index is presented to measure ecosystem diversity based on the
numbers of components and the strengths of interactions between them.
GENETIC DIVERSITY
This is when genes within the same species show different versions due to new
combinations.
Examples include, 1. Different breeds of dogs (dogs are selectively bred to get the
desired traits). 2. There are more than 50,000 varieties of rice and more than a
thousand varieties of mangoes found in India. 3. Different varieties of medicinal
plant Rauvolfia vomitoria present in different Himalayan ranges differ in the
amount of chemical reserpine produced by them.
A species with low genetic diversity is less likely to survive in a changing
environment than one with high genetic diversity. Loss of genetic diversity is
almost inevitable when the species falls to a very low population size, if the
species cannot cross-fertilize with other populations in other areas.
Proving that genetic diversity does increase chances of
survival is not easy. However, in one study of the
seagrass, Zostera marina, plots of 1m^2 in a natural
habitat were planted with populations of Zostera of
increasing genetic diversity. The plots contained 1, 2, 4 or
8 genotypes and were surrounded by natural Zostera
populations. The plots were left and were subjected to
normal grazing by geese. After two weeks there was a
clear relationship between the number of remaining
Zostera shoots and number of genotypes planted. With
one genotype only 55% of shoots remained but with
eight genotypes 75% of shoots remained. This indicates
that high genetic diversity in the seagrass increases its
resistance to grazing geese. The genetic diversity of a
species is investigated by identifying the variation that
exists in proteins. For example, populations often have
different forms (or variants) of proteins, such as
haemoglobin and intracellular and extracellular
enzymes. The different forms are coded for by different
alleles. The alleles are sequenced so that we can see how
the order of bases in the DNA that codes for the primary
structure differs between the variants.
ADVANTAGES AND DISADVANTAGES OF
DIFFERENT MEASUREMENTS OF
DIVERSITY
SPECIES DIVERSITY
Advantages
•It is a simple concept.
Disadvantages
•Collecting the data is time consuming, depending on the
sampling methods chosen.
•The presence or absence of a particular species tells you
nothing about the ecological ‘health’ of that species.
•It gives no measure of the abundance of the species, if it is
present.
•It does not describe the genetic diversity of any one species.
GENETIC DIVERSITY
Advantages
•It is important in determining survival of a species in a
community.
•It is important in determining the allelic richness in a
particular area.
Disadvantages
•It is quite difficult to determine.
•The procedure is highly expensive in certain methods.
•It involves complicated laboratory tests.
ECOSYSTEM
DIVERSITY
•There is a corelation
between ecosystem
diversity and species
diversity. Therefore,
the methods to
determine species
richness can be used
to indicate the level of
ecosystem diversity.
Questions
1. Regarded as the largest scale of biodiversity
A. Genetic Diversity
B. Ecosystem Diversity
C. Species Diversity
2. The wide variety of species that takes place in a particular area
D. Species Richness
E. Resource Diversity
F. Habitat Diversity
3. Name the two popular indices to measure species diversity
4. List four threats to biodiversity and 4 benefits of biodiversity
5. The term biodiversity was first coined by whom in what year?
THANK YOU!
ANY QUESTIONS?
