Transcript The number of different species in an area.

Describe the value of biodiversity
economically ($) and ecologically
Explain the factors that affect
diversity
• The number of different species
in an area.
• 1. Only 1.5 million species have been identified. There is
probably tens of millions more!
It’s been said you can
walk outside, scoop up a
handful of dirt and
discover a dozen new
species of bacteria!
• Natural rubber is
made from the
sap of the wild
rubber tree. The
bark of the tree
is 'tapped', this
means cutting
small slits into the
bark, so that the
white sap, known
as latex, drips
out and is
caught in
collecting cups.
• 90% of the world's food is derived
from only 15 species of plants?
• In total, humans use only about 150
species of plants for food, out of 80,000
potentially edible plants.
• What are your thoughts about this?
• Can account for 83% of a
developing countries
economy
• About 20% of international
travel
• Biodiversity has direct economic benefits.
• It is estimated that biodiversity provides between $3-$33
trillion dollars to the global economy.
• The annual economic and environmental benefits of biodiversity
in the United States total approximately $300 billion.
• In 1995 alone, visitors to national wildlife refuges contributed
$401 million to local businesses in communities surrounding those
refuges.
Economic
Ecological
•Tourism
•Jobs
•Clothing
•Medicine
•Food
•Paint
•Lots of resources
•Provides a more stable
ecosystem with a more
complex food web.
•More niches
• What is a keystone species?
The keystone
“locks” the
arch into
place; if it is
removed the
arch
collapses.
3. A keystone species affects the biodiversity because their
survival influences the survival of many other species in an
ecosystem.
4.
Factors that affect biodiversity in an ecosystem include:
Area
Climate
Diversity of
niches
More area,
more species
More suitable
climate, more
species
More niches,
more species
• Factors that affect biodiversity in an ecosystem include area,
climate, and diversity of niches.
Coral reefs are home to more than 20% of the world’s saltwater species.
• Niche diversity
Rainforests are
home to more
than half of the
world’s species.
• Climate
• Structures in an organism’s cells that carry its hereditary
information
• All the genes for the
different characteristics in
the population make up the
gene pool.
A healthy gene pool has a good
mixture of dominant and recessive
genes
Dominant genes are not “stronger” or
“better” – they are the genes you see
or are expressed in your DNA.
Recessive genes are the codes for
characteristics that you don’t show, but
your children may.
When we say a disease or condition is
inherited, it means that your DNA
carries the condition and you can
become affected by it.
5. Healthy populations have a large gene pool which allows for
a greater diversity of traits such as color, size, and ability to
fight disease.
6. Species that lack a diverse gene pool are less able to adapt
to changes in the environment.
Extinction of Species
• Every 20 minutes, the world adds another 3,500 human lives but
loses one or more entire species of animal or plant life – at least
27,000 species per year. (Source: PBS)
• At the present rates of extinction, as many as 20% of the world's
species could be gone in the next 30 years. This rate of extinction
has been unprecedented since the disappearance of dinosaurs 65
million years ago (Source: WWF).
•
80% of the decline in biological diversity is caused by habitat
destruction.
8. The # of extinct species is increasing dramatically.
4,499
• In the US alone, nearly 4,500 species
are threatened with extinction.
• What causes species to become
extinct and /or endangered?
• What can be done to prevent species
from becoming extinct?
9.
California
Tiger Salamander
Towns have replaced much of
this salamander’s habitat. The
salamanders that remain are
in danger of being run over
by cars or washed down
storm drains.
Tennessee Purple
Coneflower
These daisy-like plants
grow only
in cedar forests in
central
Tennessee.
Conservation
organizations and
landowners
are working together
to
protect these plants.
Whooping Crane
Threatened by habitat
destruction and
disease, about half
of the remaining
whooping cranes
are in zoos. The
species is recovering
well since its lowest
point in the 1940s.
Schaus Swallowtail
Butterfly
Threatened by habitat loss
and pesticide pollution in
the Florida Keys, this
butterfly was nearly wiped
out by Hurricane Andrew
in 1992.
Steller’s Sea Lion
Overfishing has led to a decline in
this mammal’s sources of food.
Other factors may also be
threatening this species.
10. Three successful approaches to protecting biodiversity are:
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Captive breeding
Laws and Treaties
Habitat Preservation
• Predicting What sort of problems could animals raised by
humans come upon when they are released into the wild?
• They may be unable to find food and feed themselves. They
might not be able to defend against natural predators.
• Inferring Why are there laws against removing
endangered species from their habitats?
• Removing an individual of an endangered species
from its habitat subjects the individual to stress and
risks, which may limit the individual’s ability to thrive.
Thereby weakening the already endangered species.
• The most effective way to protect biodiversity is to leave it
alone!
• HABITAT PRESERVATION / RESTORATION
• Why did the AMA call for the protection of Earth’s biodiversity
in 1995?
• To preserve possible undiscovered medicines that may exist!
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HIV/AIDS?
Cancer?
Diabetes?
Ebola infection?
Multiple Sclerosis?
Cystic Fibrosis?
And many other diseases that have no cure…
What is unusual about the Pacific
Yew’s adaptations?
It is resistant to diseases many other
trees suffer from in the temperate
rain forest because of a crystalline
chemical called taxol
Cancer cells grow and divide quickly – forming a tumor – a large mass
of cancer cells.
Taxol “cages” the cancer cells, preventing them from spreading.
• Why are Pacific Yew Trees no longer required (and therefore
threatened with endangerment or extinction) for use in the drug
Taxol?
• Because scientists can create the chemical structure of taxol in the laboratory
now.
• Do you think medical researchers could eventually use this idea
of finding natural treatments and manufacturing them in labs
with other medicinal plants?
• Nature also provides us with medicines that save lives and
relieve suffering.
• Approximately 1 in 5 prescription drugs in the US come from
plants.
o is a primary producer in an ecosystem.
o is unnecessary for the survival of the other species in an
ecosystem.
o is the most abundant species in an ecosystem.
o influences the survival of many other species in an ecosystem.
o
o
o
o
whether it can be cloned
the organism’s characteristics, including individual differences
whether the organism is a keystone species
whether the organism will soon become extinct
o
o
o
o
dramatically decreased.
slightly decreased.
remained fairly constant.
dramatically increased.
o
o
o
o
illegally killing or removing wildlife.
breaking larger habitats into much smaller, isolated pieces.
introducing species not native to the ecosystem.
an animal species eating the eggs of another species.
o
o
o
o
to set up captive breeding programs for endangered species.
to preserve whole ecosystems.
to pass laws protecting wildlife.
to prosecute poachers.