Biodiversity: Definition Q

 Biological diversity or biodiversity - is a term we use to describe the

variety of life on Earth. It refers to the wide variety of ecosystems
and living organisms: plants, animals, their habitats and their
genes.

Importance:
Biodiversity boosts ecosystem productivity where each species, no
matter how small, all have an important role to play. 

At least 40 per cent of the world’s economy and 80 per cent of the
needs of the poor are derived from biological resources. In addition,
the richer the diversity of life, the greater the opportunity for medical
discoveries, economic development, and adaptive responses to
such new challenges as climate change.
 Biological Evolution Q
 Biological evolution refers to the change in inherited (genetic) characteristics
of a population from generation to generation. It is one of the features that
distinguishes life from everything else in the universe.
 According to the theory of biological evolution, new species arise as a
result of competition for resources and the difference among
individuals in their adaptations to environmental conditions.
 It is a one-way process— when a new species evolves, it cannot evolve
backward into its parents.
 Populations can no longer reproduce with members of the original species.
 Biological evolution is the key to the diversity of different species that exist
today.
Four processes that lead to evolution:
 Mutation
 Natural Selection
 Migration
 Genetic Drift
 Speciation: How do new species evolve
• Speciation is the evolutionary process by which populations
evolve to become distinct species. 
Most common mechanism of speciation takes place in two
phases:
• Geographic Isolation
• Reproductive Isolation
• Geographic isolation is a term that refers to a population of
animals, plants, or other organisms that are separated from
exchanging genetic material with other organisms of the same
species.
This can be due to migration, or physical barriers:
e.g.,Uplifting mountains, rerouting of rivers, formation of desert
How do new species evolve? : Reproductive Isolation..
…
The mechanisms
of reproductive
isolation are a collection
of evolutionary
mechanisms, behaviors
and physiological
processes critical for
speciation.
They prevent members of
different species from
producing offspring, or
ensure that any offspring
are sterile.
• This process as a whole is
called Divergence, or
Divergent Evolution.
These same evolutionary
(Reproductive and Divergent)
changes can also result in the
populations evolving into
separate species. ... Other
predictions are that traits
involved in divergent
adaptation will also cause
reproductive isolation.
• Ostrich, rhea, and emu have a
common ancestor, examples
of divergent evolution.
 Speciation
Geographic
isolation can
lead to
reproductive
isolation,
divergence
and
speciation.
 Extinction

• Ultimate fate of all species  Causes of extinction

• It occurs when the last
individual of a species dies • Population risk
• Extinction is an irreversible
process
• Environmental risk

• Local extinction occurs when a

• Natural catastrophe
species disappears from a part
of its range but persists
elsewhere • Genetic risk
Global extinction means that a
species becomes • Human actions
extinct everywhere
 Extinction
 Population Risk
 Species in low abundance
become extinct
 Risk especially to species that
consist of only a single population
in one habitat, can occur without
any change in the environment
 For example, if in one year most
whales were unsuccessful in
finding a mate, then birth could be
dangerously low
 Environmental Risk
 Variation in the
physical or biological
environment, including
variations in predator,
prey, symbiotic, or
competitor species
 In some cases, species
are sufficiently rare and
isolated that such
normal variations can
lead to their extinction
 Extinction

 Natural Catastrophe  Genetic Risk

• Land  Detrimental change in
 Fires, major storms, genetic characteristics is
earthquakes, and called genetic risk
floods
 In a small population,
• Water reduced genetic variation
 Changes in currents, will be found
upwellings, and
tsunami  The species is vulnerable
to extinction because it
lacks variety
 Extinction

 Human Actions:
• If large areas are modified, entire species may be displaced
• Intentional hunting or harvesting
• Disruption or elimination of habitat
• Introduction of new parasites, predators, or competitors of

a species
• Pollution of the environment
• Humans have become a major force in the premature
extinction of species
The IUCN estimates that 75% of the extinction of birds and mammals
since 1600 were caused by human beings
Hunting caused 42% & 33% of the extinctions of birds and mammals
respectively
During this century human expansion may cause the premature
extinction of up to a quarter of the Earth’s current species
 Species : Types

• Endemic— Native to a particular area and not native elsewhere

(Monterey pine endemic in California coast, exotic in New Zealand)
• Cosmopolitan—Occurring all over the world wherever the
environment is appropriate (house mouse)
• Ubiquitous—Humans are, as are some bacteria (Escherichia coli).
• An indicator species is an organism whose presence, absence or
abundance reflects a specific environmental condition. When an
ecosystem or community starts to collapse, ecologists look at
indicator species for the first warning signs.
• Exotic species are those that have been intentionally or
unintentionally introduced by humans into an ecosystem in which
they did not evolve. 
There are other terms for an "exotic" species including introduced
species, non-native, non-indigenous and alien species.
 Keystone Species / Community Effect
• A keystone species is a species that has a
disproportionately large effect on its
environment relative to its abundance.
E.g., Sea otters: Sea otters are a keystone
species in the kelp forests. One of the
preferred food of sea otters is sea urchins.
 Sea urchins feed on kelps, brown algae,
that form undersea forests—important habitat
for many species.
 With more kelp, there is a larger habitat for
many species
 Where sea otters lack, sea urchins are
Sea Otters sea urchins
abundant and there is little kelp.
 Where sea otters are abundant, kelp beds are
abundant and there are few urchins
 Otters affect the abundance of kelp indirectly.
So indirectly sea otters increase diversity
 Thus sea otters have a community effect
and is the keystone species.

• Kelp
 Community Interaction

1. When organisms live together in ecological

communities, they interact constantly.

2. Community interactions, such as competition,

predation, and various forms of symbiosis,
can affect an ecosystem.
 Competition
 Competition occurs when organisms of the same or different species
attempt to use an ecological resource in the same place at the same
time.
• The more fit will win out & persist and the less fit will lose or become
extinct— known as the competitive exclusion principle.
 Competitive Exclusion Principle states that two species that have
exactly the same requirements (niches) cannot coexist in exactly the
same habitat.
 Competition
However,
species that
require the same
resources can
coexist by
utilizing those
resources under
different
environmental
conditions

They are said

to have
different
ecological
niches.
Predation occurs when one Predation
organism, known as a
predator, kills and eats
another, known as the
prey.

Predation can increase

diversity of prey species
by reducing the
abundance of the
dominant prey.

It can contribute to species

evenness by keeping the
dominant species from
overwhelming others.
 Symbiosis
• Symbiosis is a close, long-lasting, physical relationship between
two different species.

 Two species can benefit one

another and enhance each other’s
chance of persisting.

 Symbiosis affects biodiversity.

 Symbiotic relationships include:

–mutualism
–commensalism
 Symbiosis

Mutualism: Both species benefit from the relationship. ( a bee

pollinated a flower);

• Commensalism: One member of the association benefits and the

other is neither helped nor harmed. (a bird

living in a tree);
 Major threats To Biodiversity QQ
• Biodiversity is under serious threat as a result of human
activities.
• The main dangers worldwide are population growth and
resource consumption,
• Climate change and global warming,
• Habitat conversion (destruction, fragmentation,
modification),
• Urbanisation,
• Invasive alien species,
• Intentional hunting,
• Over-exploitation of natural resources,
• Environmental degradation.