Biodiversity. Video: Example of Biodiversity (PE)
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Transcript of Biodiversity. Video: Example of Biodiversity (PE)
Biodiversity
Video: Example of Biodiversity (PE)
Biodiversity
Biodiversity means a variety of living organisms (Bio = Life; Diversity = variety)
Importance of Biodiversity Case Study
If honey bees die out completely, only wealthy people would be able to afford things like beef and ice cream.
Why?
Importance of Biodiversity Case Study
North America used to have more than 4000 different animals that pollinated plants.
Honeybees were introduced from Europe in the 1800’s and outcompeted other pollinators.
Today, honeybees are declining rapidly and are one of few animals that act as pollinators Decrease in biodiversity = less resilient environment
Importance of Biodiversity Case Study
The link between honeybees and ice cream…
Pollinates
Is food for
Produces
Importance of Biodiversity Case Study
What conclusions can we make based on the honeybee case study?
The loss of a single organism has far reaching consequences
Species are all interconnected via food webs and through other special relationships
Honey Bees are a keystone species
Biodiversity maintains ecosystems
Levels of Biodiversity
1. Genetic Diversity
2. Species Diversity
3. Ecosystem Diversity
1. Genetic Diversity
The sum of all the genes present in a particular species Species: Members of a population that look similar and
can breed with each other to produce viable offspring
Each organism within the same species has a different combination of genes (DNA) which is what makes every organism unique
This also allows for populations of species to adapt to changes E.g. Resistance to disease
How Genetic Diversity Allows Adaptations
Imagine that a severe drought were to affect the Savannah and only tall trees could survive. What would happen if all giraffes were like giraffe “A” or giraffe “B”?
* The giraffe population would decrease or become extinct
A B C
2. Species Diversity
The variety of species in a given area
Having a high variety of species in an ecosystem allows the environment to survive droughts, plagues, disease, etc.
2. Species Diversity
E.g. How might this ecosystem manage if a disease impacted the entire rabbit population?
* The Wild Cat and Jackal would become more dependent on other prey
3. Ecosystem Diversity
A diverse range of habitats, the organisms that live in those habitats, and the relationships that connect them.
Any change to a single part of an ecosystem will have some effect on the entire ecosystem but the greater the ecosystem diversity to better able it is to stay balanced
3. Ecosystem Diversity
Genetic and species diversity helps to maintain ecosystem diversity. (it takes both into account)
In Conclusion
Why worry about biodiversity? It protects our food supply, maintains
ideal conditions for human life, and ensures resilience through harsh conditions.
Further Evidence: Sichuan, a small town in China, controlled pests by spraying pesticides over their crops. Unfortunately, these pesticides also killed the honeybees. As a result, humans had to pollinate the pear trees. This takes longer, costs more, and is much less effective. If we were to do this in Canada it would cost $20 billion in wages and only a fraction of the trees would be pollinated!
Homework
Read pages 31-35#1-5, 9-10 (p.37)