Transcript Ecosystems, Endangered Species, Biodiversity, and Us

Questions
 What is an ecosystem?
 What is biodiversity? Why is it important?
 Should we focus on the preservation of endangered
species and not the species ecosystem or vice versa?
Why or why not?
Important terms…
- Ecosystem
- Alien Species
- Endangered Species
- Strategic Habitat
- Biodiversity
- Niche
Conservation
Endangered Species are…
 A population of organisms of which are at risk of
becoming extinct
 Species in danger of extinction throughout all or a
significant portion of its range
A community is…
 The group of interacting species in any given area
A habitat is…
 The geographical
locations and
environmental
conditions where a plant
or animal species lives
An ecosystem is…
 Everything that exists in a particular environment
 An ecosystem includes living things, such as plants and
animals, and things that are not living, such as rocks, soil,
sunlight, and water.
 A community and the physical environment in which the
community lives
 The combination of habitats and communities
Ecosystems
Ecosystems
Biodiversity is…
 In an environment as indicated by numbers of different species of plants and
animals
 Is a measure of the health of ecosystems
 The totality of genes, species, and ecosystems of a region
 The existence of many different kinds of plants and animals in an
environment
 The degree of variation of life forms within a given ecosystem, biome, or an
entire planet
 Video
Three levels of biodiversity
 Species diversity
 Ecosystem diversity
 Genetic diversity
Why biodiversity is important…
 Every species has a right to exist
 Species value of its usefulness, directly or indirectly to
humans
 Insurance policy for economic activity\Provision of
environmental services
 Genetic resources
Why biodiversity is important…
Do we need to really care about
every species?
Some people don’t think so
Who Cares?
Every species has a place and a
purpose
Causes of endangered species &
biodiversity degradation…
 Introduction of alien species
 Overexploitation
 Habitat conversion
 Deforestation
 Urbanization
 Conversion to agriculture
Habitat conversion has…
 Eliminated almost 20% of Earth’s forests
 Altered 8% of Earth’s grasslands
 Increased croplands by 500%
So who is responsible
Humans are
Habitat Conservation Plans
(HCP)
 Instead of species-by-species management HCP are a
more effective ecosystem approach
 They are a long-term management plan for the
conservation and protection of species and their habitats
on Wildlife Areas.
Ultimately…
We are responsible!
We can help!
One last thought…
If we only protect endangered species instead of
preserving ecosystems, who will protect
humans once the entire world’s ecosystem has
been destroyed
Resources
 Biodiversitya-z.org
 Environmental Science
 Eswr.com
 Fws.gov
 Globalchange.umich.edu
 Kidsplanet.org
 Student.calumet.purdue.edu
 Wikipedia.org