BI

ODI
VERSI
TY

Bi
odi
ver
sit
yisthevari
etyofor
gani
smsinanarea.I
tcanbeconsi
der
edondi
ff
erentl
evel
s
i
ncl
udi
nghabit
at,speci
esandgenet
icdi
ver
sit
yofanarea

Habi
tatdi
ver
sit
yref
erst
other
angeofhabi
tat
spr
esenti
nar
egi
on

Speci
esdiv
ersi
tyi
st henumberofspeci
esandthenumberofindi
vidualswithi
neachspeci
esi
n
aspeci
fi
edarea.I
ttakesint
oaccountspeci
esr
ichnessandspeci
esev enness.

Speci
esr
ichnessi
sameasur
eoft
henumberofdi
ff
erentspeci
esi
nacommuni
ty.

Speci
esev
ennessi
sameasur
eoft
her
elat
iveabundancesofdi
ff
erentspeci
esi
nanar
ea.

Geneti
cdiversi
tyi
sthevar
ietyofal
lthegenes(numberofdi
ff
erental
l
elesofgenes)possessed
bytheindi
vidual
sinapopulati
onorwholespecies

Al
l
elesar
edi
ff
erentf
ormsoft
hesamegene

Thegreat
ert
hegenet
icdi
ver
sit
y,t
hegr
eat
ert
heabi
l
ityoft
hespeci
est
oadaptt
oachangi
ng
envi
ronment
.

Genet
icdi
ver
sit
ycanbeest
imat
edbycompar
ingphy
sical
char
act
eri
sti
csorbyanal
ysi
ng
genomes.

Speci
eswi
thagr
eat
ernumberofpol
ymor
phi
cgenest
endt
ohav
egr
eat
ergenet
icdi
ver
sit
y

Si
mpson’
sdi
ver
sit
yindex(
D)measur
ebi
odi
ver
sit
ytaki
ngi
ntoaccountspeci
esr
ichnessand
ev
enness

Pi
ctur
e

N=t
otal
numberofor
gani
smsofal
lspeci
es

n=t
otal
numberofor
gani
smsofeachspeci
es

Fact
orsaf
fect
ingbi
odi
ver
sit
yincl
ude:

Humanpopul
ati
ongr
owt
hincr
easest
hedemandf
orr
esour
cesf
rom t
heenv
ironment

Agri
cult
urereducesbi
odi
ver
sit
ybymonocul
tur
e,useofher
bici
de&pest
ici
des,
hedger
ow
removalandwoodlandcl
ear
ance

Cl
i
mat
echangei
scausi
ngani
mal
stomi
grat
eordi
e
Reasonsf
ormai
ntai
ningbi
odi
ver
sit
ycanbe:

Ecological
-ecosystemsar emorestabl
ewhenbiodiver
sit
yishi
gh.Keyst
onespeciesarea
specieswhichhasadi spr
oport
ionat
eeffectoni
tsenvi
ronmentrel
ati
vet
oitsabundance,
thei
r
remov alwi
llgreat
lyreducetheabil
it
yofanecosyst
em tofunct
ion

Economi
cal
-pr
ovi
desr
esour
ces

Aest
het
ic

Et
hical

Conser
vati
oni
stsprot
ectbi
odi
versi
tywi
thmet
hodssuchas:gi
vi
ngendanger
edspeci
esl
egal
pr
otect
ion,
creat
ingprot
ect
edarea&TheEnvi
ronment
alSt
ewardshi
pScheme.

Abal
ancebet
weenconser
vat
ionandagr
icul
tur
eisneededHodderRev
isi
onGui
deBi
olo

18Bi
odi
ver
sit
y,cl
assi
fi
cat
ionandconser
vat
ion

Thebi odiversityoft heEar thisthreatenedbyhumanact i

vit
iesandcl i
matechange.
Classifi
cationsy stemsat temptt oputor deronthechaosofal ltheorgani
smst hatexiston
Earth.Fieldwor ki sani mpor tantpartofabi ol
ogicaleducat
iontoappr eci
atethisdi v
ersi
tyand
fi
ndouthowt oanal yseit.Ther eareoppor t
unit
iesinthi
stopicforstudentstoobser vediff
erent
speciesi ntheirlocal i
tyandassessspeci esdistri
buti
onandabundance.Conser vingbiodiver
sit
y
i
sadi f
fi
cul ttaskbuti sachi evedbyi ndivi
duals,l
ocalgroups,nati
onalandinternational
organisations.St udent sshoul dappreciatethethreat
stobiodiversi
tyandconsidert hesteps
takeninconser vation,bot hlocall
yandgl oball
y.

18.
1Bi
odi
ver
sit
y

Bi
odi
ver
sit
yismuchmor
ethanal
i
stofal
lthespeci
esi
napar
ti
cul
arar
ea.

Speci
es,
ecosy
stem andni
che–cor
econcept
sinenv
ironment
alst
udy

Speci
es

Speci
es:Agroupofor
ganismsofcommonancest
ryt
hatclosel
yresembl
eeachother
st
ruct
ural
lyandbi
ochemical
ly
,andwhi
char
emember sofnatur
alpopul
ati
onst
hatareact
ual
l
y
orpot
enti
all
ycapabl
eofbr
eedi
ngwi t
heachot
hert
opr
oducef
ert
il
eof
fspr
ing,
andwhi
chdonot
i
nter
breedwithmember
sofotherspeci
es.

Ecosy
stem

Ecosy st
em: aunitmadeupofbi oticandabi
oticcomponent sint
eractingandf unct
ioni
ng
together,i
ncl
udingallt
heliv
ingorganismsofalltypesinagivenar eaandal lt
heabi ot
icphy
sical
andchemi calfactor
sinthei
renvironment,l
i
nkedt oget
herbyener gyf l
owandcy cl
i
ngof
nutri
ents.Ecosystemsmayv aryinsizebutalwaysform afuncti
onal enti
ty:f
orexampl e,
a
decomposi nglog,apond,ameadow, areef
,aforestortheentir
ebi osphere.

Quest
ion

1Nameoneecosy st
em i
nyourlocal
it
ythaty
oumi
ghtst
udyandt
henl
i
stt
hreeabi
oti
cfact
ors
af
fect
ingl
i
vingt
hingsint
hatecosyst
em.

Ni
che

Thenicheisanecol ogi
cal t
ermthatdef
inesjusthowanor ganism f
eeds,wherei
tli
vesandhow
i
tbehav esi
nr elat
iontootheror
ganismsinitshabit
at.Thenicheconceptisusef
ulbecausei
t
i
denti
fiesprecisecondit
ionswhichaspeciesneeds.

Niche:thef
uncti
onalr
oleorplaceofaspeciesoforgani
sm wit
hinanecosystem,i
ncl
uding
i
nteracti
onswit
hotherorgani
sms( suchasfeedingi
nter
acti
ons),
habi
tat,
li
fecycl
eandlocat
ion,
addinguptoadescri
ptionofthespecif
icenvi
ronmental
featur
estowhichthespeci
esiswell
adapted.

Habi
tat

Habitat:
thepart
icul
arlocati
onandtypeofl
ocalenv
ironmentoccupiedbyapopulati
onor
organism,char
acter
isedbyitsphysi
calf
eat
uresorbyitsdominantproducer
s(suchasrocky
shoreorsugarcanef i
eld)
.

I
fthear
eaoft
hehabi
tati
sext
remel
ysmal
lwecal
li
tami
crohabi
tat
.Thei
nsect
sthati
nhabi
tthe
crev
icesi
nthebar
kofat r
eeareinthei
rownmicr
ohabit
at.Condi
ti
onsi
nami
crohabi
tatar
e
l
ikel
ytobeverydi
ff
erentf
rom condi
ti
onsi
nthesurr
oundinghabi
tat
.

Popul
ati
on

Popul
ati
on:al
loftheor
gani
smsofonepar
ti
cul
arspeci
eswit
hinaspeci
fi
edareaatapart
icul
ar
ti
me,shar
ingthesamegenepool
andmoreorl
essisol
atedf
rom ot
herpopul
ati
onsoft
hesame
speci
es.

Sotheboundari
esofapopul ati
onmaybehar dt
odefine.Somepopul ati
onsarefull
y‘open’
,wi
th
i
ndivi
dual
smov i
ngi noroutfrom near
bypopul
ati
ons.Alt
ernati
vel
y,somepopul ati
onsaremore
orl
ess‘cl
osed’
,thatis,
isol
atedcommuniti
esalmostcompl et
elycutofffr
om neighboursoft
he
samespecies.

Communi
ty

Communit
y:al
loft
hepopul
ati
onsofal
loft
hedi
ff
erentspeci
eswi
thi
naspeci
fi
edar
eaata
par
ti
cul
art
ime.

Withinanycommuni tyther eexistscomplexint

eracti
onsbetweeni ndi
v i
duals–necessari
ly
,
organismsaffecteachot her.Thisisbecausetheresourcesrequir
edbypl antsandanimalsar
e
i
nl i
mi t
edsupply.Compet iti
veinteract
ionsoccurbetweenmember softhesamespeci es
(i
ntraspeci
fi
ccompet it
ion)andbet weenmember sofdi f
fer
entspecies(inter
speci
fic
compet i
ti
on).Wewi l
lre-visi
taspect softhesei
nteract
ionswhenwedi scussfoodchainsand
foodwebs, energytr
ansferbet weent r
ophiclevel
sandt hecycl
ingofnut r
ientswit
hinthe
environment.

I
ntr
oduci
ngbi
odi
ver
sit
y

Ther
ear
ev astnumbersofl
iv
ingthingsint
heworl
d.Thewor
d‘bi
odi
versi
ty’
,whichrefer
stot
his,
i
sacont
ractionof‘
biol
ogi
caldi
versit
y’
.I
tisat
erm wemayuseint
hreedif
ferentways.

1Bi
odi
ver
sit
y–t
het
otal
number
sofspeci
esknown,
andt
hei
rrel
ati
veabundance

Upt
onow,
about1.
7mi
l
li
onspeci
eshav
ebeendescr
ibedandnamed.
Worl
dwide,
thenumberofunknownspeci
esisest
imat
edatbet
ween3and5mi
l
li
onatt
hev
ery
l
east
,andpossi
blyashi
ghas100mi l
li
ons.

2Bi
odi
ver
sit
y–v
ari
ati
oni
necosy
stem orhabi
tat

Ecosystemsorhabi t
atsar
euni t
sorcomponentsoftheli
vi
ngworl
dthatwemightchooseto
study.Thebioti
celementpresentisl
ikelyt
ocont
ainahugecommunit
yofor
ganisms–t hefl
ora,
fauna,andmi cr
oorgani
smst hatoccurther
e.Wemayalsoref
ert
othi
sspeci
fi
c,local
i
sedrange
ofdiff
erentorgani
smsas‘biodiver
sity
’.

Bi
odiv
ersi
ty:
thetot
alnumberofdif
fer
entspeci
esli
vi
nginadef
inedar
ea,
ecosy
stem orbi
ome.
I
tisal
sopossibl
etoconsi
derthebi
odiver
sit
yoftheEar
th.

3Bi
odi
ver
sit
y–genet
icv
ari
ati
onwi
thi
nspeci
es

Thegenepoolthatt
hemembersofeachpopul
ati
onr
epr
esenti
sal
sor
efer
redt
oasanaspect
of‘
bi
odiver
sit
y’.Wewil
lret
urnt
othi
spoi
ntlat
er,
whendi
scussi
ngt
her
easonswhyconser
vat
ion
ofbi
odiv
ersi
tyisimpor
tant
.

I
nvest
igat
ingaspect
sofbi
odi
ver
sit
y

I
nthestudyofahabi tatitmaybeimportanttocol
lectaccurat
einf
ormationonthesi
zeof
popul
ati
onspr esent
.At otal
countofal
lthemember sofapopul at
ioniscall
edacensus.
However,suchanappr oachisusual
lyt
otall
yimpracti
calbecauseofthesizeoft
hehabit
at,
the
movementofani mals,andthehugenumber soforganismsusuall
yinvol
ved.

Forpracti
calreasonsi ti
sar andom samplethati
ssel
ect
edf orthi
s,i
nvol
vingeit
herapartoft
he
areaofthehabi t
at,orar est
ri
ctednumberoft hewhol
epopulati
on.Bymeansofr andom
sampling,ev
er yi
ndividualofthepopulat
ionhasanequalchanceofbeingselect
ed,andsoa
repr
esentati
vesampl ei sassured.

Random sampl
i
ngofpl
antpopul
ati
onsusi
ngquadr
ats

Quadratsarecommonl yusedt oestimatepl antpopulati

ons( Fi
gur
e18. 6).Aquadr atisasquare
framethatoutli
nesaknownar eaf orthepur poseofsampl ing.Thechoi ceofsi zeofquadr at
vari
esdependingupont hesizeofthei ndividualsofthepopul at
ionbeinganal y sed.Forexample,
a10cm²quadr ati
sidealforassessingepi phy t
icPleurococcus,asingle-cell
edal ga,commonl y
foundgrowingondampwal lsandt r
eet runks.Al t
ernati
vely,a1m²quadr atisf armor euseful
foranal
ysingthesizeoftwoher baceouspl antpopul ati
onsobser v
edi ngr assland,orofthe
ear
thwor
msandt
hesl
ugst
hatcanbeext
ract
edf
rom bet
weent
hepl
ant
sorf
rom t
hesoi
lbel
ow.

Est
imat
ingspeci
esdi
str
ibut
ionbymeansofat
ransect

Wher eassomecommuni ti
esarerelat
ivel
yunif
orm overagiv enar
eaandar esui
tablef or
random analysi
s(suchast hegrassl
and,othersshowat rendinvariat
ioni
napar t
icular
dir
ection.Examplesincl
udeseashore,pondorlakemar gi
n,saltmarshorevenanar eawher e
thereisachangef r
om drysoilt
owet l
and.Theappropriat
et echni
quetostudysuchat rendof
vari
ationisthetr
ansect.

Transectsareameansofsampl ingbi
oti
c(andabioti
c)dat
aatri
ghtanglestothei
mpactof
unidi
recti
onalphysicalf
orces.Asingl
etr
ansectmaynotprovi
deanadequatesampleorgiv
ean
i
ndicati
onofdi f
ferencesfrom pl
acetopl
ace.Transect
sshoul
dther
eforeprefer
abl
ybe
repli
catedsever
alt i
mes.

Wheret r
ansectsarecarr
iedoutacrossahabit
atwherethel
andchangesinheightandwhere
l
eveli
sani mpor t
antfact
or(suchasaseashore,salt
marshorpondmargi
n),thenthechangesin
l
evelalongthetransectl
i
necanbemeasur edandrecor
dedasaprofi
l
etransect.Thesurvey
ing
f
orthisrequir
est heuseofsurveypoles.

Thecommuni t
ypresentalongat r
ansectcanbeanalysedf r
om astr
aightl
i
nesuchasa
measur
ingtape,l
aiddownacr ossanappar ent
lyrepr
esentati
vepar
tofthehabi
tat.Theposi
ti
ons
ofev
eryorgani
sm presentthattouchestheli
near er
ecordedeit
heral
lthewayalongtheli
neor
el
seatregul
arint
erval
s.Ther esul
tisali
net r
ansect.

Abel ttransectisabroadt ransect,usuall

yhal famet r
ewi de.Topr oduceit,atapemeasur eor
ropei slaidasf orali
netransect,butthistimet heorganismsi naser i
esofquadr atsofhalf
-
met rewi dtharesampl edat(say)met reinterval
s.Ift
hecommuni t
ychangesl i
ttleal
ongt he
transect,thenquadratscanbepl acedlessf requentl
y.Alongwi t
hdat aont hebiota,dat
aon
abioticvari
ablescanbemeasur edandr ecordedalongt hetransect.Forexampl e,al
onga
terrestr
ialtransectt
hesoilpHmi ghtbemeasur ed.

Mar
k,r
eleaseandr
ecapt
ure(
MRR)t
echni
que(
theLi
ncol
nIndex)

Wehaveal
readynotedthatani
mpor
tantst
epindet
ermini
ngthebiodi
ver
sit
yofanar
eai
sthe
col
l
ect
ionofaccur
ateinfor
mati
ononthesi
zeofpopul
ati
onspresenti
nahabit
at.

Atotalcountofallt
hemember sofapopulati
oniscal
ledacensus,andwouldgi
veust hemost
accuratedata.However,t
hetakingofacensusisnormall
yimpract
ical
.Thi
smaybebecauseof
thesizeofthehabit
at,orbecauseofthequickmovementsofmanyani mal
s,orbecauseof
speci
est
hatar
eonl
yact
iveatduskoraf
terdar
k.

Thecapt ure,
mar k,r
eleaseandrecaptur
e(MRR)t
echni
que,al
soknownast heLincolnIndex,i
sa
pract
icalmet hodofestimati
ngpopulati
onsi
zeofmobil
eanimals(N)
,suchassmal lmammal s,
woodliceorinsectsthatcanbecapturedandmarkedwi
tharing,t
ag,ordabofcolouredpaintor
nailv
arnish.

Ofthef i
rstsampl
ecaughtf ormarki
ng( n1) ,i
tisessenti
altouseamet hodofmarki
ngtotall
y
resi
stanttoremovalbymoistureorbydel iberateacti
onsoftheanimals.I
tmustbeamet hod
thatdoesnohar mtothecapt ur
edanimal s,too.Forexample,thesemustnotbemorevisibl
e
andthereforemorevulner
abletopredationt hannormal.Iti
salsoessenti
alt
otr
aprelat
ively
l
argesampl esift
heresult
sar etobesignificant.

Themethodthenrequirest
hatmarkedindivi
dual
s,ontheirrelease,
arefreetodi st
ri
bute
themsel
vesrandomlyinthewholepopulat
ion.Af
terrandomi sati
onhasoccur r
ed, asecond
samplei
scaught(n2),someofwhi chwil
lbefrom t
hef i
rstsampl e(n3)
,recognisedbythei
r
marki
ng.Thesizeofthepopulat
ionisesti
matedbythef ormul a:

MRRmaybedemonst rat
edonpopul at
ionsofwoodli
cedi scoveredshelteri
ngunder
st
ones/f
lowerpots,
etc.i
nanar eaofagardenorwoodl and.Alternat
ively,
onpopulat
ionsof
ni
ght
-fl
yi
ngmot hsviali
ghtt
raps,oronpopulat
ionsofsmal lmammal st r
appedinLongwort
h
smal
lmammal t
rapsprovi
dedsuffi
cienttr
apsareavai
lable,forexampl e.

Priortoexperimentingonnat uralpopul
ati
ons,thet echniquecanbelearntandunder st
oodby
applicati
ontonon-livingmodels.Thesemayi ncludebeansdi spersedinsawdust,orbyusi nga
‘
popul ati
on’ofdri
edpeasi nahessianbag.Here, sampl esaretakenbyhand, t
hesampl er
bli
ndf ol
ded,inef
fect .Thesetri
alsenabl
etheaccur acyoft heMRRmet hodtobet estedbecause
theact ual‘
popul
ation’ si
ze(beansordriedpeas, et
c.)iseasil
yknown.Itwillqui
cklybeev i
dent
thatthesizeofsampl escaptureddeter
minetheaccur acyofthetechni
que;small samplesmay
givewi l
dlyi
naccurateest i
mates.

Quest
ions.

5Asanewhabi t
atwascol
onised,t
hesi
zeofapopulati
onofthecommonr oughwoodlouse
Por
cel
l
ioscaberwasi
nvest
igatedbymar
k,r
elease,
recaptur
e,wi
ththef
oll
owingresul
ts:

aCal
cul
atet
hesi
zeoft
hepopul
ati
onatday
s2,
16,
31,
46,
61and76.

bPl
otagr
aphofest
imat
edpopul
ati
onsi
zeagai
nstt
ime.
 cAnnot
atey
ourgr
aphasf
ull
yasy
ouar
eabl
e.

Analysi
ngr
elat
ionshi
psbet
weendi
str
ibut
ionandabundanceofspeci
esandabi
oti
candbi
oti
c
fact
ors

Therearediff
erentst
ati
stical
testsfordiff
erentkindsofquanti
tat
ivedat
a.I
nthiscaseweare
l
ookingforthepossibi
li
tyofanassoci at
ionorcor rel
ati
onbetweentwosetsofdata.Whenone
fact
orisplott
edagainsttheotherthenwemayf indthat:

•bot
hfact
orsi
ncr
easet
oget
her
,indi
cat
ingaposi
ti
vecor
rel
ati
on

•onef
act
ori
ncr
easeswhi
l
stt
heot
herdecr
eases,
indi
cat
inganegat
ivecor
rel
ati
on

•t
hescat
terdi
agr
am appear
stohav
epoi
ntsr
andoml
ydi
sper
sed,
indi
cat
ingnocor
rel
ati
on.

Thesedi
ff
erencesar
eil
l
ust
rat
edi
nFi
gur
e18.
9.

I
ninv
est
igat
ingpossi
bleassoci
ati
onst
her
ear
etwoi
ssues:

•I
sther
eanassoci
ati
onbet
weent
het
woset
sofv
ari
abl
es?

•I
fso,
whati
sthest
rengt
hoft
heassoci
ati
on?

Toresolv
etheseissuestherearealternat
ivestat
ist
icaltest
saccordingtothetypeofdatayou
havecoll
ect
ed–ei therSpearman’srankcor r
elat
ionorPearson’
slinearcorrel
ati
on.I
nTable18.1
thedi
ffer
encesbetweent hem ar
et abulat
ed,andsituat
ionsinwhicht heywouldbechosenli
sted.

Tabl
e18.
1Twot
est
sofassoci
ati
on

Spear
man’
srankcor
rel
ati
on Pear
son’
sli
nearcor
rel
ati
on

Wheniti
sused Forordi
nal(non-nor
mal )dat
a–v al
uesorobservat
ionst
hatcanberanked,
count
edandorder
ed.Fornormal dat
a–v aluesorobserv
ati
onsthatcanbeassignedanumber
(asal
abel
)butdatacannotberanked.

Exampl
es

Howdoest
hepopul
ati
onsi
zeofgr
asshopper
sv ar
yinr
elat
iont
owhenpest
ici
deswer
elast
appl
i
ed–aref
eweri
nsect
sfoundwher
epesti
cideappl
i
cati
onisrecent
?

Howdonumbersofaquat
icstone-
fl
yny
mphsr
elat
etot
hehar
dnessoft
hewat
er–ar
emor
e
nymphspr
esenti
nhardwater
?
Howdoest
hedepthofastr
eam r
elat
etot
hepr
oxi
mit
yoft
her
iverbank–doesdept
hofwat
er
i
ncr
easewi
thdi
stancef
rom t
heedge?

Howdoestheheightoff
ather
srel
atet
ohei
ghtoft
hei
rsonsordaught
ers–dot
all
erf
ather
s
hav
etal
lerchi
l
dren?

Howdoesspeciesdi
ver
sit
yrel
atet
olat
it
ude–doesspeci
esdi
ver
sit
ydecr
easewi
thdi
stance
f
rom t
heEquator?

Howdoesthesizeoflandcr
absr
elat
etot
hedensi
tyoft
hei
rbur
row–ar
ethebur
rowsofl
arge
cr
absmoredispersed?

Wher
eyourst
ati
sti
cal
testf
it
sin

Whenyouhavedeci
dedonanecol
ogicali
ssuetoinvesti
gateregardi
ngsomeaspectof
bi
odi
ver
sit
yinrel
ati
ont
oanabiot
icfact
ororanotherbioti
cfactor,
fol
lowthesest
eps:

1St
atet
henul
lhy
pot
hesi
s(seepage381)
.

2Conducty
ouri
nvest
igat
ionandobt
ainy
ourdat
a.

3Pr
esenty
ourr
esul
tsi
nat
abl
eandpl
otascat
terdi
agr
am.

4Deci
deont
heappr
opr
iat
est
ati
sti
cal
testandcar
ryt
hisout(
seebel
ow)
.

5Drawaconclusion,stat
ingwhet
hery ouacceptorrejectt
henull
hypot
hesi
s.Addast
atement
expl
aini
ngt
hesignif
icanceorimpl
icat
ionsofy ourconclusi
ons.

Quest
ions

6Inaveget
abl
epl
otlef
tfal
l
ow(lef
tunsown,
typi
cal
l
yforay
ear
)thr
eeweedspeci
esappear
ed.
I
ndi
vi
dualpl
ant
swerecount
ed:

Speci
es n(
no.ofi
ndi
vi
dual
s)

Gr
oundsel
(Seneci
ovul
gar
is)45

Shepher
d’sPur
se(
Capsel
l
abur
sa-
past
ori
s)40

Dandel
i
on(
Tar
axacum of
fi
cinal
e) 10

Tot
al(
N) 95

Cal
cul
atet
heSi
mpsonDi
ver
sit
yIndexf
ort
hishabi
tat
.

7Figur
e18.11isastudyoft
hevegetat
ionofasyst
em ofdevel
opi
ngsanddunes.Notehow
bot
hthespeci
esdiv
ersit
yandphysi
calparamet
erschangeasthedunesage.Cal
cul
atet
he
Diver
sit
yindi
cesoft
hef
oreduneandsemi
-f
ixeddune(
usi
ngaspr
eadsheet
).Commentont
he
resul
ts.

Car
ryi
ngoutast
ati
sti
cal
test

Alt
ernati
vel
yifyouwishtoanalysedatebyPearson’
slinearcor
rel
ati
on,
youcoul
duset
he
fol
lowingsi
te:www.socsci
stat
isti
cs.
com/test
s/pearson.

Usi
ngSi
mpson’
sIndexofDi
ver
sit
ytocal
cul
atebi
odi
ver
sit
yofahabi
tat

Earlyoni nthedev el
opmentofasuccessi on,f
orexampleatt hepioneerstagewhennewl andi
s
beingcol oni
sed,thenumberanddi versit
yofspeci
esar elow.Atthisstaget hepopulat
ionsof
organi smspresentareusual l
ydomi natedbyabiot
icfactors.Forexample,ifextr
eme,
unfav ourabl
eabioticcondi
tionsoccur( prol
onged,
verylowt emperatures,
per haps)
,thenumber
ofor ganismsmaybesev erelyreduced.

Ont heotherhand,inast abl

eclimaxcommuni t
ymanydi f
ferentspeciesarepresent
,manyin
quitel
argenumber s.Inthissit
uati
on, adverseabioti
ccondi t
ionsar el
esslikel
ytohavea
dramaticeffectonthenumber sofor ganismspr esent.Infact,i
nawel l-
establ
ishedcommunity
thedomi nantplant
ssett hewayofl i
fef ormanyot herinhabitant
s.Theypr ovi
dethenutr
ient
s,
determinethehabitatsthatexi
st,andi nfl
uencetheenv ir
onment alcondit
ions.Thesepl
antsare
l
ikelytomodi fyandreducetheef f
ectsofext remeabioticcondi t
ions,
too.

Thusthedi
v er
sit
yofspeci
espresenti
nahabi
tati
sal
soani
ndicat
oroft
hest
abi
l
ityoft
he
community.Speci
esdiv
ersi
tyofacommunit
ymaybemeasuredbyappl
yi
ngt
heformul
a,known
astheSimpsonDiver
sit
yIndex:

18.
2Cl
assi
fi
cat
ion

Or
gani
smsstudi
edl
ocal
l
ymaybeusedt
oshowhowhi
erar
chi
cal
classi
fi
cat
ionsy
stemsar
e
or
gani
sed.
Byt
heendoft
hissect
iony
oushoul
dbeabl
eto:

a)descr
ibetheclassi
fi
cat
ionofspeci
esi
ntothet
axonomi
chi
erar
chyofdomai
n,ki
ngdom,
phyl
um,class,or
der,f
amil
y ,
genusandspeci
es

b)out
li
net
hechar
act
eri
sti
cfeat
uresoft
het
hreedomai
nsAr
chaea,
Bact
eri
aandEukar
ya

c)out
li
net
hechar
act
eri
sti
cfeat
uresoft
heki
ngdomsPr
otoct
ist
a,Fungi
,Pl
ant
aeandAni
mal
i
a

d)expl
ainwhyv i
rusesarenoti
ncludedint
hethr
eedomai
nclassi
fi
cat
ionandoutli
nehowt
hey
arecl
assif
ied,
li
mi t
edtotypeofnuclei
caci
d(RNAorDNA)andwhetherthesear
esingl
e
st
randedordoublestranded

Taxonomy–t
hecl
assi
fi
cat
ionofdi
ver
sit
y

Classi
fi
cat
ionisessent i
altobiologybecauset herear
et oomanydi f
fer
entorganismst osor tout
andcompar eunlesst heyareor ganisedintomanageabl ecat
egori
es.Biol
ogi
cal classi
fi
cation
schemesarethei nv enti
onofbi ologist
s,basedupont hebestevi
denceavail
ableatt hetime.
Withaneff
ectivecl assifi
cat
ionsy stem inuse,i
tiseasiert
oorganiseouri
deasaboutor ganisms
andmakegener alisations.

Thescienceofcl assif
icat
ioniscalledtaxonomy .Thewor dcomesfrom taxa(si
ngular:t
axon),
whichist hegeneralnamef orgroupsorcat egori
eswi t
hinaclassi
fi
cati
onsy st
em.Thescheme
ofclassifi
cat
ionhast obef l
exi
ble,all
owingnewl ydiscoveredl
ivi
ngorganismstobeadded
wheret heyfi
tbest.Itshouldalsoincludefossi
ls,si
ncewebel i
eveli
vingandextinctspeciesar
e
rel
ated.

Thepr
ocessofcl
assi
fi
cat
ioni
nvol
ves:

•gi
vi
ngev
eryor
gani
sm anagr
eedname

•i
mposi
ngaschemeupont
hedi
ver
sit
yofl
i
vingt
hings.

Thebi
nomi
alsy
stem ofnami
ng

Manyor ganismshav elocal names, butt heseof t

endifferfr
om locali
tyt
olocalit
yaroundthe
wor l
d,sot heydonotal l
owobser verstobeconf i
denttheyaretalki
ngaboutt hesamet hi
ng.For
exampl e,thenamemagpi erepresent sent i
rel
ydiffer
entbirdscommonl yseeni nEurope,
inAsia,
andinSr i Lanka(Figur
e18. 12).Instead, sci
entist
suseani nternati
onalapproachcall
edthe
binomial system (meaning‘at wo-par tname’ )
.Byt hi
ssy st
em everyone,ever
ywhereknows
exactl
ywhi chorganism isbeingr eferredto.

So,
eachor
gani
sm i
sgi
venasci
ent
if
icnameconsi
sti
ngoft
wowor
dsi
nLat
in.Thef
ir
st(
anoun)
desi gnatest hegenus, thesecond( anadj ectiv
e)thespecies.Thegener i
cnamecomesf i
rst
,and
begi nswi thacapi tall
etter,f
ollowedbyt hespeci fi
cname.Byconv ent
ion,t
hisnameiswritt
enin
i
talics( orisunder l
ined).Asshowni nFi gure18. 13,cl
oselyrelat
edorganismshavethesame
gener icname; onlytheirspeciesnamesdi ff
er.Youwi l
lseet hatwhenorganismsarefr
equentl
y
referredt ot hefullnamei sgiveninit
iall
y ,butthereaft
erthegener i
cnamei sshort
enedtothe
fi
rst( capital)l
etter.Thus,incontinui
ngr eferencestohumansi nanarti
cleorsci
enti
fi
cpaper,
Homosapi enswoul dbecomeH.sapi ens.

Quest
ion

8Scient
if
icnamesofor
gani
smsar
eof
tendi
ff
icul
ttopr
onounceandt
oremember
.Expl
ainwhy
t
heyareused.

Theschemeofcl
assi
fi
cat
ion

Inclassificati
on,theaimi stouseasmanychar act
eri
sti
csaspossibleinplacingsimilar
organi smst ogetheranddi ssimil
aronesapar t.Justassimil
arspeci
esar egr oupedtogetherinto
thesamegenus( pl
ural:genera),sot oo,simil
argeneraaregroupedt ogetherintofamili
es.This
appr oachi sextendedf r
om f amili
est oor der
s, t
henclasses,
phylaandki ngdoms.Thi sisthe
hierarchicalschemeofcl assif
ication;eachsuccessi v
egroupcontainingmor eandmor e
diff
er entkindsofor ganism.Thet axausedi ntaxonomyar egiv
eninFi gure18. 14.

Domai
nsandki
ngdoms

Atonet imet heli

vingwor ldseemedt odi v
idenaturall
yintotwoki ngdomsconsi st
ingofthe
plants(withautotrophicnut ri
tion)andt heani mals(wit
hheterotrophicnutrit
ion).Thesetwo
kingdomsgr ewfrom t heor i
ginaldiscipli
nesofbi ol
ogy,namel ybotany,thestudyofpl ant
s, and
zoology,thestudyofani mals.Fungi andmi croor
ganismswer econvenientl
y‘ added’t
obot any!
Init
ial
lytherewasonl yonepr oblem; fungi possessedthetypicall
y‘animal’heterotr
ophic
nutrit
ionbutwer e‘plant-l
ike’i
nst ructure.

The‘
fi
veki
ngdoms’
concept

Then,wi ththeuseoft heelectr

onmicroscopecamet hedi
scoveryofthetwot ypesofcell
st
r uct
ure, namelyprokary
ot i
candeukaryoti
c(page22).Asaresult
,thebacteri
awiththeir
prokaryoticcel
lscouldnol ongerbe‘
plants’
sincepl
antshaveeukaryoti
ccell
s.Thedivisionsof
l
ivingthingsint
oki ngdomsneededov erhauli
ng.Thi
sledtothedivi
sionofli
vingthi
ngsi ntofi
ve
ki
ngdoms.
Tabl
e18.
2Thef
iveki
ngdoms

Prokar
y ot
ae t heprokary
otekingdom, t
hebacter
iaandcy
anobact
eri
a(phot
osy
nthet
ic
bacter
ia),
predominatel
yunicel
l
ularorganisms

Protoct
ista theprot
octi
stanki
ngdom, (
eukary
otes),
predomi
nat
elyuni
cel
l
ular
,andseenas
resemblingt
heancest
orsofthef
ungi,
plantsandanimals

Fungithef
ungalki
ngdom,(
eukar
yot
es)
,pr
edomi
nat
elymul
ti
cel
l
ularor
gani
sms,
non-
mot
il
e,
andwit
hhet
erot
rophi
cnutr
it
ion

Plant
ae t
heplantki
ngdom,
(eukar
yot
es)
,mul
ti
cel
l
ularor
gani
sms,
non-
mot
il
e,wi
th
autot
rophi
cnut
ri
ti
on

Ani
mali
a t
heanimal
kingdom,
(eukar
yot
es)
,mul
ti
cel
l
ularor
gani
sms,
mot
il
e,wi
th
het
erot
rophi
cnutr
it
ion

Not
ethatv
irusesar
enotcl
assi
fi
edasl
i
vingor
gani
sms–seebel
ow.

Ext
remophi
l
esandt
her
ecogni
ti
onof‘
domai
ns’

Thencamet hedi
scov
eryoft
hedist
inct
ivebiochemi
str
yofthebact
eri
af oundi
next
remel
y
hosti
l
eenvir
onments(t
heext
remophil
es–i nit
ial
l
y,t
he‘heat
-l
ovi
ng’
bacteri
afoundi
nhot-
spr
ings
atabout70°C).

Tabl
e18.
3Ther
angeofex
tremophi
l
es

Halophy
tes–‘sal
t-
lov
ing’bact
eri
a commoni nsal
tlakesandwhereseawat
erbecomes
t
rappedandconcentr
atedbyevapor
ati
onwher
esalthascryst
all
i
sed

Al
kal
inophi
l
es–‘
al
kal
i
-l
ovi
ng’
bact
eri
a sur
viv
eatabov
epH10,
condi
ti
onst
ypi
cal
ofsoda
l
akes

Aci
dophi
l
es–‘
aci
d-l
ovi
ng’
bact
eri
a bact
eri
aofext
remel
yaci
diccondi
ti
ons

Thermophil
es–‘heat-
lov
ing’
bacter
ia occuri
nhot
-spr
ingsatabout70°C.Someare
adaptedastosur
viveattemper
aturesof100–115°
C(hyper
thermophi
li
cprokar
yotes)

Cryophi
les–bacter
iaofsub-
zer
otemperat
ures commonatt emper
atur
esof−10°
C,asi
n
theiceofthepol
eswheresal
tdepr
essesthefr
eezi
ngpoi
ntofwat
er

Sincethesenameswer ef
irstused,t
heseorgani
smshav ebeenf oundinabr oaderrangeof
habit
ats.Forexample,someoccuri ntheoceans,andsomeinf ossil
-f
ueldepositsdeep
underground.Somespeciesoccuronl yi
nanaerobicenvi
ronmentssuchast hegutsoftermit
es
andofcat t
le,andatthebottom ofpondsamongt herot
ti
ngpl antremains.Heretheybreak
downor ganicmatterandreleasemethane–wi t
hv er
yimportantenvir
onment alconsequences.
Ext
remophi
l
esar
edi
ff
erent

Thesemi croor
ganismsofext r
emehabitatshavecellsthatwecani dentifyas‘prokary
oti
c’.
Howev er
, t
helargerRNAmol ecul
espresentintheri
bosomesofext remophi l
esar edif
fer
ent
fr
om thoseofpr evi
ouslyknownbacteri
a.Furt
heranalysesoftheirbiochemi st
ryincompar i
son
wit
hthatofot hergroupshassuggestednewev olut
ionaryrel
ati
onshi ps.Thisdiscoveryl
edtoa
newschemeofcl assif
icat
ion(Fi
gur
e18.15).

Al
lor
gani
smsar
enowcl
assi
fi
edi
ntot
hreedomai
ns

Asar esult
,wenowrecognisethr
eemajorfor
msoflif
e,call
eddomai ns.Theorgani
smsofeach
domai nshareadi
sti
nct
ive,uni
quepatt
ernofri
bosomalRNA, andthereareot
herdif
fer
ences
thatestabl
isht
hei
revol
utionar
yrel
ati
onshi
ps(Tabl
e18.4).Thesedomai nsar
e:

•t
heAr
chaea(
theext
remophi
l
epr
okar
yot
es)

•t
heEubact
eri
a(t
het
ruebact
eri
a)

•t
heEukar
yot
a(al
leukar
yot
iccel
l
s–t
hepr
otoct
ist
a,f
ungi
,pl
ant
sandani
mal
s).

Thismajoradvance,t
her ecogni
ti
ont
hattheAr
chaeawereasepar
ateli
neofevol
uti
onar
y
descentfr
om bacteri
a,wasmadebyCar l
Woesein1977.Youcanreadabouthi
mifyouputhi
s
namei nt
oasear chengine.

Quest
ion

9InFigur
e18.14t
woanimalspeci
esarecl
assi
fi
edfr
om ki
ngdom t
ospeci
esl
evel
.Suggesthow
t
hisf
lowdiagr
am needst
obemodifiedt
oshowitscl
assi
fi
cat
ionf
rom ‘
domai
n’l
evel
.

Thechar
act
eri
sti
cfeat
uresoft
heki
ngdomsPr
otoct
ist
a,Fungi
,Pl
ant
aeandAni
mal
i
a

TheKi
ngdom Pr
otoct
ist
a

I
ncl
udest
heal
gae(
incl
udi
ngt
hemul
ti
cel
l
ularseaweeds)
,thepr
otozoaandt
hesl
i
memoul
ds.

Char
act
eri
sti
csoft
hePr
otoct
ist
a:

•Si
ngl
e-cel
l
edor
gani
sms,
ori
fmul
ti
cel
l
ular
,notdi
ff
erent
iat
edi
ntot
issues.
•Cel
l
sar
eeukar
yot
ic,
wit
hadi
sti
nctnucl
eusandmembr
ane-
boundor
ganel
l
es.

•Nucl
euscont
ainsl
i
nearchr
omosomesofDNAwi
thhi
stonepr
otei
nat
tached.

•Lar
ger
ibosomes(
80S)pr
esent
.

•Somepr
otoct
ist
ahav
ecel
lwal
l
s,buti
not
her
sthesear
eabsent
.

•Nut
ri
ti
oni
shet
erot
rophi
c(i
npr
otoz
oaandsl
i
memoul
ds)oraut
otr
ophi
c(al
gae)
.

TheKi
ngdom Fungi

I
ncl
udest
hemoul
ds,
yeast
s,mi
l
dews,
mushr
oomsandbr
acketf
ungi
.

Thechar
act
eri
sti
csoft
heFungi
:

•Mult
icel
l
ularor
gani
sms(
exceptt
heuni
cel
l
ulary
east
s),
notdi
ff
erent
iat
edi
ntot
issuesandnon-
mot
il
e.

•Cel
l
sar
eeukar
yot
ic,
wit
hadi
sti
nctnucl
eusandmembr
ane-
boundor
ganel
l
es.

•Nucel
uscont
ainsl
i
nearchr
omosomesofDNAwi
thhi
stonepr
otei
nat
tached.

•Lar
ger
ibosomes(
80S)pr
esent
.

•Cel
lwal
l
sar
eofchi
ti
n.

•Nut
ri
ti
oni
shet
ert
rophi
c.

•Bodyi smadeofbr
anchi
ng,
tube-
li
kehy
phae,
oft
endi
vi
diedbycr
oss-
wal
l
sint
omul
ti
nucl
eat
e
sect
ions.

•Repr
oducebyspor
es,
producedbyasexual
andsex
ual
processes.

TheKi
ngdom Pl
ant
ae

I
ncludesthemosses,
fer
ns,
coni
fer
sandfl
ower
ingpl
ant
s(br
oad-
leav
edt
rees,
her
baceous
pl
ants,l
eguminouspl
ant
sandgr
asses)
.

Char
act
eri
sti
csoft
hePl
ant
ae:

•Mult
icel
l
ularor
gani
sms,dif
ferent
iat
edint
ot i
ssues;
theyar
enon-
mot
il
eor
gani
sms(
butt
he
mal
egamet esofmossesandfernsaremoti
le).

•Cel
l
sar
eeukar
yot
ic,
wit
hadi
sti
nctnucl
eusandmembr
ane-
boundor
ganel
l
es.
•Nucl
euscont
ainsl
i
nearchr
omosomesofDNAwi
thhi
stonepr
otei
nat
tached.

•Lar
ger
ibosomes(
80S)pr
esent
.

•Nut
ri
ti
oni
saut
otr
ophi
c.

•Cel
lwal
l
sar
elar
gel
yofcel
l
ulose.

TheKi
ngdom Ani
mal
i
a

I
ncl
udesthenon-v
er t
ebr
ates,suchaswormsandarthr
opods(whi
chi
ncludest
hei
nsect
s),
and
t
hevert
ebrat
es,whicharefi
sh,amphibi
ans,
rept
il
es,
birdsandmammals.

Char
act
eri
sti
csoft
heAni
mal
i
a:

•Mul
ti
cel
l
ularor
gani
sms,
dif
fer
ent
iat
edi
ntot
issues;
manyar
emot
il
eor
gani
sms.

•Cel
l
sar
eeukar
yot
ic,
wit
hadi
sti
nctnucl
eusandmembr
ane-
boundor
ganel
l
es.

•Nucl
euscont
ainsl
i
nearchr
omosomesofDNAwi
thhi
stonepr
otei
nat
tached.

•Lar
ger
ibosomes(
80S)pr
esent
.

•Cel
l
ssomet
imeshav
eci
l
iarorf
lagel
l
a.

•Nut
ri
ti
oni
shet
erot
rophi
c.

•Cel
lwal
l
sar
eabsent
.

Ext
ensi
on

I
ntr
oduci
ngt
hev
iruses

Virusesaredisease- causingagentsthatar einacti

veout si
deahostcel l.Theyar eanassembl y
ofcompl exmol ecules,rathert
hanaf or
m ofl i
fe.I
solatedf r
om theirhostcelltheyarebest
describedas‘crystalli
ne’
.Wi t
hinsusceptiblehostcel ls,howev er
,theyar ehi
ghlyact i
vegenetic
programmest hatt akeov erthebiochemi cal machineryoft hehost.Here, t
hecomponent
chemi cal
softhev irusar esynthesi
sed,andt henassembl edtoform newv i
ruses.Onbr eakdown
(l
ysis)ofthehostcel l
,vi
rusesarereleased, andmaycausef reshinfect
ions.So, vi
rusesarenot
l
ivi
ngorganisms,butmaybecomeact
ivecomponentsofhostcel
ls.Forthesereasons,vi
ruses
arenoti
ncludedi
nt he‘
thr
eedomai
ns’cl
assi
fi
cat
ion.Remember ,
antibi
oticsar
ei nef
fect
ive
agai
nstvi
ruses.

Char
act
eri
sti
csofv
iruses

Vi
rusesar
edi
sease-
causi
ngagent
s,r
athert
han‘
organi
sms’
.Thedi
sti
nct
ivef
eat
uresofv
iruses
ar
e:

•Theyar
enotcell
ularst
ruct
ures,
butr
atherconsi
stofacor
eofnucl
eicaci
dsur
roundedbya
pr
otei
ncoat
,cal
l
edacapsi d.

•Insomevi
rusest
herei
sanaddit
ional
ext
ernalenvel
opeofmembr anemadeofl
i
pidsand
pr
otei
ns,
asinHIV,
Figur
e10.
15,page204andtheinfl
uenzav
irus)
.

•Theyareextr
emelysmal
lwhencomparedwithbacter
ia.Mostv
irusesarei
nasizerangeof
20–400nm (0.
02–0.4mm).Theybecomevi
sibl
eonlybymeansoft heelect
ronmicr
oscope.

•Theycanr
eproduceonl
yinsi
despeci
fi
cli
vi
ngcel
l
s,sov
irusesf
unct
ionasendopar
asi
tesi
n
t
hei
rhostor
ganism.

•Theyhav
etobet
ranspor
tedi
nsomewaybet
weenhost
s.

•Virusesarehi
ghl
yspeci
fi
ctopar
ti
cul
arhostspeci
es,
somet
opl
antspeci
es,
somet
oani
mal
speciesandsometobact
eri
a.

•Vi
rusesar
eclassi
fi
edbythet
ypeofnucl
eicaci
dtheycont
ain,
eit
herDNAorRNA,
andwhet
her
t
heyhaveasingl
eordoubl
estr
andofnucl
eicaci
d(Fi
gure18.
22).

18.
3Conser
vat
ion

Maint
aini
ngbiodi v
ersi
tyisi
mpor t
antformanyreasons.Act
ionst
omaintai
nbiodi
ver
sit
ymustbe
t
akenatlocal,nati
onalandgloball
evels.I
tisi
mportantt
oconser
veecosyst
emsaswel las
i
ndi
v i
dualspecies.

Thet
hreat
stobi
odi
ver
sit
y

Evoluti
on,thedev
elopmentofl
if
eingeol
ogicalt
ime,i
stheprocesst
hathastransfor
medl i
feon
Earthfrom it
sear
li
estbegi
nni
ngstotheorgani
smsweknowaboutt oday,l
i
vingandextinct
.
Biodiv
er si
tyi
saresul
tof3.5mil
l
ionyear
sofevolut
ion.Ver
ymanydisti
nct
lydiff
erentor
ganisms
haveevol
vedbynaturalsel
ecti
onandf l
ouri
shedatleastforawhil
eduringthisl
ongti
mespan.
Consequentl
y,t
oday’
sbiodiver
sit
yisonlyati
nyproporti
onofthediver
sef or
msoflif
ethathav
e
evol
vedintotal
.Mostoftheseorgani
smsandgr oupshav ebecomeextinct.

Itisfossil
sthatprov
idethemai nsourceofinformationabouttheselif
eformst hatarenow
extinct–andgi v
eusawi ndowont hetruescaleofdi ver
sit
y.Fossi
li
sati
onisanext r
emelyr ar
e,
chanceev entbecausescav engersandbacter
ialacti
onnor mallydi
smemberanddecompose
deadpl antandanimalst
r uctur
esbeforetheycanbef ossil
i
sed.Ofthefossi
lsthatdof or
m, we
canassumet hatmostarenev erfoundorareov er
lookedorar eacci
dental
lydestroyedbefore
discovery.Never
thel
ess,numer ousfossil
shavebeenf ound.

Quest
ion

10Mostfossi
l
sar
epr
eser
vedi
nsedi
ment
aryr
ocks.Whyi
sthi
ssoandhowar
esedi
ment
ary
rocksf
ormed?

Bi
odi
ver
sit
yandhabi
tatst
abi
l
ity

Somet imes, enti

rel
ynewl andbecomesav ail
ableandi scoloni
sedbyexi stinglifef orms.When
thisoccurs, i
nevi
tablytheiniti
al numberanddi versityofspeciesislow.Att hisst aget he
populationsofor ganismspr esentar ealmostent irelydependentuponabi oti
cf act ors.For
exampl e,ifextr
eme, unfavour ableabioticconditi
onsoccur( pr
olonged,verylowt emper at
ures,
perhaps) ,
thenumberofor gani smsmaybesev erelyreduced.Ont heotherhand, inawel l
-
establi
shedcommuni ty
,manydi fferentspeciesar epresent,oft
eni nqui
tel argenumber s.I
nt hi
s
sit
uation,foodwebsar ecompl ex,withv er
ymanyl inksandi nt
erconnections.Now, unfavourabl
e
abioti
ccondi ti
onsar emuchl essl i
kelytohaveamar kedeffectont henumber sofor ganisms
present.Wecanseet hatt
hedi versi
tyofspeci espr esentinahabi t
atisani ndicat oroft he
stabil
i
tyoft hecommuni ty
.Iti sbiodiversit
ythatsust ainsecosystems.

Theassoci
atedgenet
icdi
ver
sit
ysustainsthest
abi
l
ityoft
heecosy
stem andt
hesur
viv
alof
speci
es.Wewill
retur
ntothi
spointshort
ly.

Thecur
rentshar
pdecl
i
nei
nbi
odi
ver
sit
y

Today
,thei
ssueofhumani
nfl
uenceonbi
odi
ver
sit
yisani
ssueofmaj
orconcer
n.

Whydoy
out
hinkt
hisi
s?

I
nthelonghi
stor
yofli
feonEart
h,humansarever
yrecentarri
val
s.Li
feori
ginat
edabout3500
mil
l
ionyear
sago,butourownspeci
esaroseonl
yali
ttl
eov er100000yearsago.I
nit
ial
l
y,human
act
ivi
ti
eshadl i
ttl
eimpactontheenvi
ronment.Foronethi
ng,duri
ngearl
yhuman‘ prehi
stor
y’,
popul
ationnumber swerelow.Homosapienswerearather‘
str
uggli
ng’speci
es,
li
v i
ngamong
manyv erysuccessful
ones.Atthi
sst
age,survi
valmusthavebeenav er
ychancyaffair
.

Thefirstsi
gnif
icanti
ncreaseinthehumanpopul ationoccurr
edwi t
hthedev el
opmentofset t
led
agri
cultur
e–achanget hatbeganinthef ert
il
ecr escentint
heMi ddl
eEastabout10000y ears
ago.Thecur r
enthumanpopul ati
onexpl osi
onbeganataboutt hebeginningoftheIndust
ri
al
Revoluti
on,ar
ound200y ear
sago, anditcontinuest oday
.Noonei scertainwhentherateof
populati
ongrowt hwi
llslowdown, asitsurel
ymust .

Whenwepl otworl
dhumanpopul ationagai nstti
meweseeast eeply-ri
singJ-
shapedcurv
e.Our
populationgrowthappearstobei nan‘ exponential(l
og)phase’ ofgr owth.Thi
sisduetohigh
bir
thrat esandlowerdeathrates,leadingt orisi
ngl i
feexpectancy( peopleareli
vingver
ymuch
l
onger ).Todaytheimpactofhumansont heenv i
ronmenti sver ygreatindeed–t her
eisvi
rtual
l
y
nopar tofthebiospher
ewhi chhasnotcomeunderhumani nfluenceandbeenchangedt osome
extent.Manyoft hesechangest hreatent hebiodiversi
tyi
nall ecosy stems.

OnlyapartofplanetEarth,i
tsland, oceansandat mospherear einhabi
ted.Livi
ngthingsinhabi
t
anarrowbelt,f
rom uppersoiltothel owerat mosphere,or,i
fmar i
ne,mostoccurneart heocean
surf
ace.Thisrest
rictedzoneiscalledt hebiosphere.Thedistr
ibuti
onpatternsofli
vingthings
wit
hinthebiosphereshowl arge,stableveget at
ionzones.Thesezonesar ecalledecosystems.
Examplesincl
udet ropi
calrai
nforestandgr assland.Herecommuni t
iestypi
call
yextend
unbrokenoverthousandsofsquar eki l
omet res.

Quest
ion

11Whati
sthechi
efecosy
stem i
nthecount
rywher
eyoul
i
ve?

TheI
UCNRedLi
stofThr
eat
enedSpeci
es

Currently,therateofext inctionsi sexcept i

onal l
yhigh.Env i
ronmentalist
sseekt hesurvi
v alof
endanger edspeci esbyi nitiati
ngandmai ntai
ni nglocal,
nationalandinternat
ionalacti
on.For
exampl e,theInternational Unionf ortheConser vat
ionofNat ure(I
UCN) ,worki
ngwi t
h
appropriatelocal or
gani sations, publ
ishesaser i
esofRegi onalRedLi st
s.Theseassesst heri
sk
ofextinctiontospeci eswi thincount ri
esandr egions.Thelistsarebaseduponcr it
eriarelevant
toallspeci esandal lregionsoft hewor l
d( Figur e18.24).Theyconv eytheurgencyof
conser v
at i
onissuest ot hei nternati
onal communi t
yandt opol i
cymaker s.Theaimi sto
sti
mul ateact i
ont ocombatl ossofendanger edspeci esandoft hehabitatst
hatsupportt hem.
Wel ooki ntothisissueagai nlaterinthist opic.
Thebi
odi
ver
sit
ycr
isi
sandt
hev
ani
shi
ngr
ainf
orest
s

Rainf
orest
scoveralmost2percentoft heEarth’sl
andsur face,buttheypr ovi
dehabi tatsto
almost50percentofal
l l
iv
ingspecies.I
thasbeenpr edict
edt hatifallthenon-vert
ebr ates
occurr
ingi
nasi ngl
ecubicmet r
eoftropical
rai
nf or
estsoilwer ecoll
ectedf ori
dentif
ication,t
her
e
wouldbeatleastoneprevi
ouslyunknownspeci espresent.Iti
st hecaset hattr
opical
rai
nfor
estscontai
nthegreatestdi
versi
tyofli
feofanyoft hewor l
d’ster
restri
alecosy stems.

Sadly,t
ropicalr
ainforestsarebeingr apidlydestroyed.Satellit
eimagi ngoftheEar t
h’ssurf
ace
provi
dest heevidencet hi
si sso–i fandwher enoot herreliablesour cesofinfor
mat i
onare
avail
able.Thewor l
d’sthreer emainingtropicalforestsofreal sizearei nSouthAmer i
ca(around
theAmazonBasi n),i
nWestAf ri
ca( aroundt heCongoBasi n)andi nt heFarEast(part
icul
arl
ybut
notexclusivel
yont heislandsofIndonesi a).Thecur rentrateofdest ructi
onisest i
matedtobe
aboutonehect are(100m ×100m, alit
tlelargerthanaf oot bal
l pi
tch)everysecond.Thismeans
thateachy earanareal argerthan31mi l
lionhectaresiscl eared.

Whyi
sthi
ssodev
ast
ati
ngf
orbi
odi
ver
sit
y?

Whent hedist r
ibuti
onofl i
vi
ngst hingsacrosstheEar t
h’ssurf
acei si nvest
igatedwef indt hat
mostspeciesar enotdistr
ibutedwi del
yatall(
Figure18.25).Instead, ver
ymanyar er estrictedto
anarrowrangeoft heEart
h’ssurface.Consequently,whentropicalrainforest
saredest r
oy ed,
theonlyhabitatsofahuger angeofpl antsi
slost,andwi t
hthem v erymanyoft hev ertebrates
andnon-vertebr at
esdependentont hem, t
oo.Thisisonemaj orr easonwhyt hefateoft he
remaini
ngrai nforestissuchanur gentissue.Wewi l
l r
eturntodef orestati
onandi t
s
consequencesf ortheconservati
onoft heAfri
canel ephantandt heor angutansofAsi a,later.

Quest
ions

12Thinkaboutandresearchtwoway
sinwhi
cht
hehumanpopul
ati
onexpl
osi
onr
epr
esent
sa
thr
eattotheEar
th’
swi l
dli
fe.

Thebi
odi
ver
sit
ycr
isi
sandcor
alecosy
stems

Coralsarecoloniesofsmal l
animalsembeddedi nacal cium carbonat eshellt
hattheysecret
e
aroundthemsel v
es.Theyf orm underwaterstr
uct ur
esknownascor alreef
s.Theseform mainl
y
i
nwar m, shal
lowwat erwheresunl i
ghtpenetratesandt hatisclearofsedi ments.Theanimal
concernedissimi l
ari
nstructur
et oaseaanemone.Howev er,withinitsbodiesmanyt i
ny
photosynthet
iccells,
cal
ledzooxant hell
ae,l
iv
e, shel
teredandpr ot ected.Therel
ati
onshipisone
ofmut ualadvantage(aform ofsymbi osi
scalledmut uali
sm) ,f
ort hecor alget
supt o90per
centofi
tsor
gani
cnut
ri
ent
sfr
om t
heseor
gani
sms.

Coralreefsar ethe‘ rainforestsoftheoceans’ ,

becauset heyar et hemostdi verseoft he
ecosystemsknown.Al thought heyoccupyl essthan0. 1percentoft heareaoft heoceans, cor
al
reefsarehomet oabout25percentofal lmarinespeci es.Today ,coralr
eef sar edyingall
aroundthewor ld.Thei rexistenceist hr
eatenedbycor almi ning,andpol l
utionf rom run-of
fwater
from agri
cultural l
and( r
ichinor ganicandinorgani cmol ecules).Risingseat emper aturesand
ri
singseal evels( duet oglobal war ming)
,andaci difi
cationoft heoceansduet ori
singlevelsof
atmospher iccar bondi oxidear ealsomaj orthr
eat s.About60percentoft hewor l
d’sreefsareat
ri
skduet ohuman- relatedact i
viti
es.Thethreatsar egreatesti nSout heastAsi a.

Thei
mpor
tanceofbi
odi
ver
sit
y

Theecologi
cali
mpor t
anceofdi
versi
tyhasbeendi
scussedabove.Theneedtomai
ntai
n
bi
odiver
sit
yisalsobasedupongeneti
c,economi
candecologi
calpri
nci
ples,
aswel
lasupon
et
hicali
ssues.

Genet
icdi
ver
sit
yandt
heev
olut
ionofnewspeci
es

Howdi v
ersi
tywithi
naspeci
esari
sesviamutat
ions(page124)anddur
ingmei
osi
sand
f
ert
il
isati
on(pages348–9)hasal
readybeendi
scussed.

I
napopul at
ion,
agroupofindiv
idualsofaspeci
eslivi
ngclosetogetherandablet
oi nt
erbr
eed,
theallel
esofthegeneslocat
edi ntherepr
oduct
ivecel
lsofthoseindivi
dualsmakeupagene
pool.Asampl eoft
heallel
esoft hegenepoolwil
lcontr
ibut
etof or
mt hegenomes( genesetsof
i
ndividual
s)ofthenextgener
ation,andsoon,fr
om generati
ontogener at
ion.

Quest
ions

13Desi
gnaf l
owchar
tthatrecor
dsinsequencethesourcesofvar
iat
iont
hatmayari
se,st
art
ing
wit
hthegenoty
peofaparentandleadi
ngtothedist
inct
ivephenot
ypeofoneofi
tsof
fspri
ng.

Thesizeofani nterbr
eedingpopul at
ionhasadi rectimpactont hegenet i
cdi v
ersityofthe
i
ndivi
duals.Av er ysmallpopulati
oncanbedescr ibedasani nbreedinggroup–t heindi
v i
dualar
e
cl
oselyrelated.Infact,t
hesmal l
erthepopul at
iont hemor ecloselyrelat
edt heoffspri
ngwi l
lbe.
Theimpor tantgenet i
cconsequenceofi nbreedingisthatitl
eadst ohomozy gosity–thereis
progr
essivelylessv ari
ati
onint hepopulationast henumberofl ociatwhi chthereare
homozy gousal lel
esincreases.Whi l
sttheindividualsofthatpopulationmayi nit
iall
ybewel l
adapted,i
nt hef aceofenv i
ronment alchangest heyar el
essabl etoadapt .Wecansayt hatthe
‘
geneticfi
tness’ ofthepopulati
oni scompr omised.

I
nthecaseofsmal
l
,isol
atedpopul
ati
ons,
genet
icv
ari
abi
l
ityi
smostcr
it
ical
.Forexampl
e,i
n
populati
onsofspeciesthatbecomeendanger ed,itisaquestionwhethert heypossessuf fi
cient
geneticdiver
sit
ytobeabletoadapttof uturechangesi ntheenv i
ronment .Ift
heydonot ,their
survival
isunli
kely
.Thi
sisapr act
icalproblem facingmoder nzoosattempt i
ngcapt i
vebreeding
programmes( page445).Iti
salsoani ssueforot herattemptstoprotectendanger edorganisms
i
nt hewi l
dwherepopulati
onnumber shav ebeenr educedtosmall,i
solatedgr oupsinformer
strongholds.

Genet
icdi
ver
sit
yast
her
eser
voi
rofessent
ial
genesf
oragr
icul
tur
e

Ourdomest icat
edani malsandcul ti
v atedplantswer ederivedori
ginallyfr
om wildspecies.This
i
st heori
ginofmanyoft heor ganismst hatprovideourfood,fuel,
timberandphar maceutical
chemicals.Consequent l
y,t
hewi ldrelativesofdomest icatedspeciesar eacontinuingsourceof
genesforresistancetopest sanddi seases, andalsotoov ercomest ressesduet odrought ,
ri
singsali
nit
yandext remet emper atures.Forexampl e,somemoder ncropshav ehadr esi
stance
topathogensaddedbyt heintroductionofgenesf rom ‘wil
d’rel
ati
ves.Thel ossofpr i
mitiv
e
vari
eti
esmeanst helossoft hegenet icv ar
iati
onsessent i
alforsustainedcropandher d
i
mpr ovement .I
fgeneticdiversi
tyofaspeci esbecomesl ow,thespeci esi
satr i
sk,becauseonce
geneti
cv ari
antsarelosttheycannotber ecovered.

Bi
odi
ver
sit
yandt
heor
igi
nofnewdr
ugs

Manynewdr ugsandot hernatural

pr oducts,insomeform oranother
,areext
ractedfrom
substancesmanuf actur
edbypl ants.Thedi scover
yofnew, usef
ulsubst
ancesoftenst ar
tswi
th
rar
e,exoticorrecent l
ydiscoveredspecies.Thewhol erangeofli
vingthi
ngsisfuncti
onall
ya
genepool resource,andwhenaspeci esbecomesext i
nctit
sgenesar epermanentl
ylost.

Bi
odi
ver
sit
yandecot
our
ism

Responsi bl
et r
aveltonat ur
al areaswhi chconserv estheenv i
r onmentandi mprov est hewel f
are
ofthelocal peopleisreferr
edt oasecot our
ism.Theecot ouristseekst oobser vewi ldlif
eand
habit
atst hatmaybeunf ami l
iartothem aswel l
asbei ngf r
agi l
eand( hopef ull
y)pr i
stine, f
or
exampl e.Usually
,thisinvol
vesv i
sit
st onati
onal parksorspeci alr
eserveswher ethedi verse,
l
ocal plantsandani malsareal readyconser vedinasnat uralanenv i
ronmentaspossi bl
e.The
aimist olearnaboutecol ogyanddi versi
tywithmi nimum disr upti
onordest r
uction,andt o
empowerl ocalandnat i
onal communi t
ies.Thismaybebyai dinglocal developmentf undsand
resourcesf ort
heirfi
ghtagai nstpov ertyanddisease.Ecot ourism aimst osuppor tsust ainable
developmentbyempower i
ngt helocal communi tyeconomi cal l
yandsoci ally.

Thecl
i
mat
icandsci
ent
if
ici
mpor
tanceofbi
odi
ver
sit
y

Asthehumanpopul at
ionexpandsandext endsitsimpactont henat uralwor
ld,thet
hreat
i
mposedondi v
ersehabi t
atsincreases.Yetnaturalhabit
atsarecrit
icallyi
mportant‘
outdoor
l
aborat
ori
es’wherewel earnaboutt herangeoflifethathasevolvedandhowi thasevolved.I
n
somehabit
ats,i
ncludi
ngi ntr
opicalrainf
orests,
themaj ori
tyoforgani smspresentar
easy et
unknown.Fur t
hermore,autot
rophicorganismseverywher e(algaeintheseas, grassesonthe
pl
ainsandpr air
iesandforestandwoodl andtr
ees)ar eal
l carbondioxidesinksthathelpreduce
cl
imatechange, tovar
yingextents.Changeinglobalpatternsofr ai
nfall
resultfr
om
defor
estat
ion,justaschangesinwi ndandseacur rentpatternsleadtoextremeorunusual
weather
.

Theet
hical
andaest
het
icbasi
sformai
ntai
ningbi
odi
ver
sit
y

Adi v
ersi
tyofhabit
atsandthewi l
dli
fetheysustainaremor ethanjustexhi
lar
ati
ngvenuesto
visi
tandbeinspir
edby.Theyar epartoftheinheri
tanceoffuturegenerati
onswhichshoul
dbe
securedforf
uturepeopl
e’senjoyment,too.Thereisamor alobli
gati
ononhumanst opassont
o
futur
egenerat
ionsthediv
ersit
ywehav einheri
tedandenjoyed.

Somehabi tat
sar ealsothehomeofpeopl eswhohav eavoided‘devel
opment ’.Theseplacesand
thepeopl ewhoi nhabitthem hav ear ightt
ot hei
rtraditi
onalway sofli
fe.Theirli
veli
hoodsand
homesar edependentupont hebi odiversi
tytheyhav eevolvedamongandwi th.Simi l
arl
y,many
highermammal s, i
ncludi
ngr elat
ivel
ycl oserelat
ivesofHomo, li
veexclusiv
elyinsomeoft hese
habitats.Theneedsofal lpr
imatesmustber espected,asindeedshoul dtheneedsoft heplant
s
andani mal saroundt hem.Damaget omar i
neenv ir
onment s,especial
l
yt ocoral r
eefs,has
resultedfrom ov erfi
shingandpol lution.Marinefoodchai nssustainbiodi
versity,
aswel lasthe
fi
shingi ndustr
yandt ourism, onwhi chmanyhumancommuni ti
esdepend.

Met
hodsofpr
otect
ingendanger
edspeci
es

Conser
vat
ionbypr
omot
ionofnat
urer
eser
ves

Naturereservesar
ecaref
ull
yselect
edlandareassetasideforrest
ri
ctedaccessandcontrol
l
ed
use,toall
owt hemaint
enanceofbiodi
versi
tyl
ocally
.Thisisnotanewi dea;
theNewFor esti
n
southernBri
tainwassetasi
deforhunti
ngbyr oyal
tyover900yearsago.Anincident
aleff
ect
wast hati
tfuncti
onedasasanctuaryf
orwildl
ife!

Today,thissoluti
ontoext i
nctionpr essuresonwildl
ifeincludesthesett
ingupandmai ntenance
ofareasofspeci alsci
entif
icinterestasnat ur
ereserves,ofnationalpar
ks(thef
ir
stnationalpark
wasYellowst one,setupinNor t
hAmer i
cain1872) ,
andoft heAfri
cangameparkswhi chhav e
beenmor erecentl
yestabli
shed.I ntotal,
thesesit
esr epresenthabit
atsofmanydiff
erent
descri
ptions,inmanycount ri
esar oundt hewor l
d.Someoft heconservati
onworktheyachieve
maybecar ri
edoutbyv olunteers.

Whatbi
ogeogr
aphi
cal
feat
uresofar
eser
vebestpr
omot
econser
vat
ion?

I
nanat urereser
vet heareaencl
osedisimportant–ati
nyareamaybetoosmallt
obeeffect
ive.
Theactualdimensionsofanef f
ect
ivereser
vev ar
ywit
hspeciessi
zeandt
heli
fest
yleoft
he
major
it
yoft hethreatenedspeci
esiti
sdesignedtoprot
ect
.
Also,
ther
eisanedgeeffect.Acompactreservewithmi ni
malperimeteri
slesseff
ectiv
et han
onewithanext
ensivei
nterf
acewithi
tssurroundings.Theuseoft hesurr
oundingareais
i
mpor t
ant,
too;
ifi
tismanagedsy mpathet
ical
lyitmayi ndi
rect
lysupportt
hereserve’
swildli
fe.

Anot herfeatureisgeographicali
solat
ion–reservessit
uatedatagr eaterdistancef r
om other
protectedareasar elesseffecti
vethanreserv
esthatareclosertogether.Also,ithasbeenf ound
thatconnect ingcorr
idorsoflandareadv ant
ageous.Inagri
cult
uralareasthesemaysi mplytake
thefor m ofhedgerowspr otectedfr
om contactwithpesti
cidet
reatment sthatnear bycrops
receive.

Ther
eser
veorpar
kisbestmanagedt
otheadv
ant
ageofwi
l
dli
feby
:

•theempl oymentofl
ocal peopl
east rainedwar
densandranger
s,whopatrolt
heareat
oensur
e
peoplecomplywithl
ocalregulat
ions.Theynotethecondi
ti
onofthewil
dli
fe,r
ecor
dthe
changingpopul
ati
onsizesandpr otectthewil
dli
fewheret
heneedari
ses

•thesuper
visi
onofagr
icul
tur
alandhunti
ngact
ivi
ti
es,
mai
ntai
ningt
heemphasi
sont
radi
ti
onal
pr
acti
cesappli
edtomodestormini
mal l
evel
s

•thecont
rolofper
mit
tedi
ndust
ri
alacti
vi
ti
es,typi
cal
lymini
ngorquarry
ing,
loggi
ng,
andf
ishi
ng
i
nmar i
nereser
ves,
andoft
heassociat
edtranspor
tinfr
astr
uct
uresneeded.

Forv
isi
tor
sandecot
our
ist
s:

•visi
torcentr
esar
epr
ovi
dedandst
aff
edt
oeducat
eandi
nfor
m ont
hel
ocal
issuesof
conserv
ation

•accessi
scontrol
l
edandr
est
ri
ctedt
ospeci
fi
cfoot
pat
hs,
tracksandr
oadst
oav
oidcr
it
ical
wi
ldl
if
ehabit
ats.

Tabl
e18.
5Whatact
ivemanagementofnat
urer
eser
vesi
nvol
ves–asummar
y

Conti
nuousmonit
ori
ngofther eser
vesothatcausesofchangeareunderst
ood,changemaybe
anti
ci
patedandmeasurestakenearl
yenoughtoadjustcondi
ti
onswithoutdi
srupt
ion,shoul
d
thi
sbenecessar
y.Forexample,cor
alreef
srequi
remonitori
ngfort
heimpactofecot our
ism.

Maint
enanceofeffecti
v eboundari
esandt heli
mitati
onofunhel
pfulhumanint
erf
erence.The
ent
husiast
icinv
olvementoft helocalhumancommuni t
ycommuni cat
esthemessagesofthe
pur
posesofconser v
ation( al
ocal‘educat
ion’
programme,ineff
ect)andt
hatever
yonehasa
par
ttoplayinconservation.

Also,
protecti
onofmajormigrat
ionr
outesofl
argeher
dsofher
biv
oresandt
hebi
gpr
edat
ors
thatf
oll
owt hem,asi
nAf r
icaandNorthAmeri
ca.

Measur
est
ofacil
i
tat
ethesuccessf
ulcompl
eti
onofl
ifecy
clesofanyendangeredspeci
esfor
whi
chther
eser
veishome,t
ogetherwit
hsuppor
ti
vecondit
ionsf
orvulner
ableandrarespeci
es.
Restockingandreint
roducti
onsofoncecommonspeci esfrom st
ocksproducedbycaptive
breedi
ngpr ogr
ammesatzool ogicalandbotani
calgardens.Thi
smakespossi bl
ereint
roducti
on
ofspecies(usuall
ypredator
s)hunt edalmosttoexti
ncti
oninfarmingareas,i
ncl
udingwolvesin
Europeandi nthenorther
nnat i
onal par
ksintheUSA.

Quest
ion

14Whataret
hepar
ti
cul
archal
l
engesi
nthemanagementofanat
urer
eser
vei
nyourl
ocal
i
tyor
count
ry?

Zool
ogi
cal
gar
densandt
hei
rcapt
ivebr
eedi
ngpr
ogr
ammes

Endanger edspeci est ypicallyhav ev eryl

owpopul ationnumber sandar einser iousdangerof
becomi ngext inct.Forsomespeci eswhosenumber shav edeclineddrasticall
y, captivebr eeding
maybet heirlasthopeofsur vi
val.Today ,manyzooscooper atet omanagei ndiv i
dualsoft he
samespeci eshel di ndi fferentzoosasasi nglepopul ati
on.A‘ studbook’ –acomput erised
databaseofgenet i
canddemogr aphicdata–hasbeencompi ledf ormanyoft hesespeci es.
Thispr ov i
dest hebasi sf ort her ecommendat ionandconductofcr ossesdesi gnedt opr eser v
e
thegenepool andav oidt hepr obl emsofi nbreeding.Animal smaybeshi ppedbet weenz oosor
thetechni queofar ti
ficialinsemi nationmaybeusedi nstead.Somespeci escanbev eryhar dto
breedincapt i
vity,forexampl e,duet othest r
essesofcapt ivi
tywhi chmaydi sruptt heirbreeding
cycles.Wi thot herst her ehasbeenahi ghsuccessr ate.Captivebr eedi
ngper mitst hemoni tori
ng
ofthemot herandherf etusdur ingknownpr egnanci es.Tobr i
ngaboutpr egnanci est hatar e
otherwiseoccur ri
ngatl owf requencies,banksofeggsandsper m canbest oredf r
ozen.Thi s
all
owst heuseofar t
ificialinsemi nationandev enin-vi
trofert
il
isationtechniques( Figure18. 28)
andt hei mpl ant at
ionofembr yosi nsurrogatemot hers.

Quest
ions

15Whati
smeantbyi
nvi
tr
oandi
nvi
vo?

16Outli
netwowaysi
nwhichcapt
ivebr
eedi
nghasmadeanef
fect
ivecont
ri
but
iont
othesur
viv
al
ofendanger
edani
malspeci
es.

Asuccessfuloutcomeiswheni ndivi
dual
sbr edi
ncaptivi
tyarerel
easedandhav esurvi
vedint
he
wil
d.Examplesincluder
edwolv es,Andeancondors,BaldEaglesandGoldenLionTamar i
ns.
However,t
her el
easeofcapt
ive-bredorganismsisnotalway sasuccess.Thedestr
ucti
onof
nat
uralhabit
atsmaybeapr oblem –f orexample,nat
uralfoodsourcesmaybel i
mited.Ani
mals
rearedincaptiv
itymaynotadaptt ounf amili
arsurroundingsandmayeasi lyfallpreyt o
predators.Theymayexper iencediff
icultyinintegr
atingwi thr
emai ningwildindi
v i
dual sthrough
fai
luretocommuni cate.Anot hercri
ti
cism oft heprocessi ncl
udest hefearthatgenet icdiversi
ty
mayhav esodecl inedal r
eadyt hataspeci escannotber egenerated.Also,becauset hewor k
concentratesonaf ew, highlyattr
acti
vespeci esandt hecostishigh, f
undsar edivertedf r
om
mor eeffecti
vehabitatconser vati
onandi tgivesaf alsesenset hatextinct
ionprobl emsar e
beingsolved.

Themai
ntenanceofbot
ani
cgar
densandofseedbanks

Aseedi stheproductofsexualr
eproductioninfl
oweringplants.Itcontai
nsanembr yoni
cplant
andaf oodstorewithi
napr ot
ecti
vestructure.Manyseedsnat urall
yenteraperiodofdor
mancy
onreleasefr
om theparentplant
.Thedor mancyper i
odsarev ari
able,butinmanyplants,
seeds
arecapableofremaini
ngdor mantbutv i
ableformanyy ear
s.Thi slatt
erfeat
ureoftheseedis
expl
oitedinseedbankswher econdit
ionst hatwi
llext
enddor mancyar ecreatedandmaintai
ned.

Stor
ingseedsinseedbanksisarel
ati
vel
yinexpensi
veandspace- eff
ici
entmethodof
conservat
ion.Her
e,nat
uraldor
mantseedsarekeptvi
ableforlongper i
ods,t
ypical
l
yin
condit
ionsoflowhumidit
yandlowtemperat
ure.Thesteps,f
ollowingcoll
ecti
onandprepar
ati
on
are:

•seeddr
ying(
tobel
ow7percentwat
er)

•packagi
ng(
inmoi
stur
e-pr
oofcont
ainer
s)

•st
orage(
atat
emper
atur
eof−18°
C)

•per
iodi
cger
minat
iont
est
s

•r
e-st
orageorr
epl
acement
.

Sampl esofindi
vi
dual speciesofseedst ypi
call
yt akeupv eryli
tt
lespace,soeachsampl e
(consi
stingofmanyseeds)canr epresental ar
gegenepool thatisbeingpreserv
ed.Atr egul
ar
i
ntervalssamplesareger minatedandt heplantsgr owninthefacili
ti
esofabot anicgardenso
thatfr
eshseedsar eav ai
labletor epl
enishthest ores.Seedsareeasilyexchangedbet ween
botanicgardensint
ernati
onal l
y,too.Thepossi bil
ityofthereint
roducti
onofendanger edspecies
ofplantstothei
rnaturalhabitatsisapossi bleout come.

Seedswi
thveryl
imit
edlongevi
tyarenotst
ored.Typi
cal
l
ysuchspeciesmustbemai
ntai
nedas
growi
ngpl
antsinbotani
cgardens.Cocoa,
coconutandrubberar
eexampl
es.

Quest
ions

17Thesur
viv
alofendanger
edspeci
esi
ssuppor
tedbynat
urer
eser
vesandbycapt
ivebr
eedi
ng
programmesatzoosandseedbanksatbotani
cal
gardens.Bymeansofat
abl
e,cont
rastt
hese
approaches,
ident
if
yingpar
ti
cul
arst
rengt
hsandpossi
bledrawbacks.

18Whydot
heseedsi
nlong-
ter
m st
oragei
nseedbankshav
etobeger
minat
edandnewones
st
ored?

Newdev
elopment
sinconser
vat
ion

Usi
ngassi
stedr
epr
oduct
ion

Theintr
oduct
ionofcapt
ivebr
eedingprogr
ammeswasdiscussedonpage445.Techniques
devel
opedinmodernrepr
oducti
vetechnol
ogyhav
ebeenadaptedforusei
ntheseprogrammes
(Fi
gure18.
28).

Representat
iveendangeredspeciesofmammal s,hel
di nzoos,maybeef fect
ivel
yconserv
edby
theprocessoffert
il
isati
onofeggsout sidethebody(in-vi
tr
oferti
l
isation–IVF).Thekeystepi
n
I
VFi sthesuccessfulremovalofsuff
icienteggsfr
om t heovari
es.Toachievethis,nor
mal
menstrualacti
vi
tyistemporari
lysuspendedwi t
hhor mone-baseddr ugs.

Thentheovari
esarei
nducedt
oproducealar
genumberofeggssi
mult
aneousl
y,atat
ime
cont
roll
edbytheteam ofz
oovet
s.I
nthiswaythecor
rectmomentt
ocoll
ectt
heeggscanbe
knownaccurat
ely
.

Eggcell
saret heni
sol
atedfrom surroundi
ngfoll
i
clecell
sandmi xedwithsperm.Vi
abl
esperms
maybehel dinsper
m banksi nafrozenstate,
andtherefor
ecanbef rom maleani
malshel
din
zoosel
sewher eint
hewor l
d.Inthi
sway ,t
hegenepool ofendanger
edspeciesissi
gni
fi
cant
ly
l
essrestr
icted.

I
ffer
ti
li
sat
ionoccurs,
thefert
il
isedeggcell
sarei
ncubat
edsot hatembry
osatthe8-cel
lst
age
maybeplacedi
nt heuter
us.I
fone( ormore)i
mbedther
e,thenanormalpregnancymayfol
low.
Spar
eembr y
oscanalsobef r
ozen,andtheytoocanbesharedwithot
herzoos.

They oungmammalscreat
edinthi
swaymaybeexchangedtoo,andsur
rogat
emother
smaybe
used.Thestepst
oIVFasil
lust
rat
edarer
out
inei
npri
ncipl
e,buti
nmanyendanger
edspeci
est
he
successrat
ehasbeenli
mited,
sofar.

Al
i
enandi
nvasi
vespeci
es–cul
l
ingandcont
rol

Ali
enspeciesareint
roducedpl
antsandani mal
sthathavebeenacci
dent
all
yordeli
berat
ely
tr
ansf
erredf r
om habi
tatswher
etheyl i
ve,
tonewenv i
ronmentswher
etheabiot
iccondit
ionsar
e
al
sosuit
abl efort
hem.Iftheal
i
ent akesoverl
ocalecosyst
emsinanaggressi
veway,
detr
imental
tot
hef
oodchainsofthei
rnewhabit
at,
itspr
esencel
eadst
othedecl
i
neofnat
ive
speci
es.Theal
i
eni
sthendescri
bedasaninvasi
vespeci
es.

Thesuccessoft heAmer icanGreysqui

rrel
(Sciur
uscar ol
inensi
s)inBri
tainattheexpenseofthe
redsquirr
el(Fi
gure18.29)isagoodexampl e.Thegreysqui r
relwasaccident
allyi
ntr
oducedhere
i
nt heninet
eenthcentury.Theredsquir
reli
snowr estr
ictedtojusttwolocati
onsintheUK,
havingoncebeenwi despreadovermuchoft hecountry.Thegreysquir
relhasspreadrapidl
y,
chiefl
ybecause:

•Iti
sabletoconsumeawi derrangeofl
ocall
ygrowingnuts(
incl
udingthever
ycommon
woodlandoaktr
ee’sacor
nt hatt
hegreycandigest,
butwhi
chtheredsquirr
elcannot
),t
oget
her
wi
ththehazelnutsandpinecones,t
heli
miteddietoft
heredsquir
rel.

•Theaggr essiv
eandnimbl
egreysqui
rr
eli
saf ai
rmatchforl
ocalpr
edator
sandl
ackssome
naturalpredators–al
i
enspeci
esarefr
equent
lyint
roducedwi
thfewifanyoft
hei
rnat
ural
predators.

•Thegreysqui
rr
elscar
ryt
he‘squi
rrel
pox’v
iruswhichkil
l
smanyr edsquir
relswit
houtcausi
ng
anysy
mpt omsi
nt hegr
eysqui
rrel
(andthenichesofthetwospeciesover
lap).

Gr
eysqui
rr
els–acont
rol
measur
e

Inwoodl andswher ethegreysqui rr

elhasbecomesuchanaggr essi
v epestt hatitser
iously
damagesy oungtrees,f
orestershav edeployedachemi cal methodofcont rol.Bait
,consist
ingof
maizeseedsi mpr egnat
edwi thahi ghdoseofoestr ogenicchemi cals,hasbeeni nt
roducedinto
woodl anddur ingthesquir
rel’
sbr eedingseason.Thebai tisprotectedindi spensersthatonlythe
squir
rel haseasyaccesst o( Fi
gur e18.30).Theoutcomei st hatthef er
til
it
yoft hesquirrel
sis
compr omi sedandt helocalpopul ati
onsarenotmai ntai
ned–atl eastf oranumberofy ears.
Thisis,inef f
ect,anexampl eof‘culli
ng’bycontr
acept i
on.

Ther
abbi
t–abi
ologi
cal
cont
rol
measur
e

Anotherex ampl eofanal ienspeci est hathasbecome‘ i

nvasive’i
sther abbit(Or yct
olagussp.)
,
whichwasdel iberatelyi
ntroducedf rom Eur opei
ntoAust r
ali
ain1859.Thi sv oraciousherbiv
ore
spreadr api
dl y
.Nonat ur
al pr
edat orspr esentwereaneffecti
vethreat(int
erspeci fi
ccompet i
ti
on
fail
ed),andr abbit
squi ckl
yov erranlargepar tsoftheconti
nent.Grassland,av ai
labletoherdsof
herbiv
or es,pri
ncipallycowsandsheep, wasseri
ouslydamaged.Agr icult
uralpr oducti
onwas
plungedi nt
oacr i
sis.Thiscontinues, ev ennow,withvar
yingdegreesofsev erit
y .

I
ndesper
ati
on,andasabiol
ogicalcontr
olmeasur
e,myxomavir
ust hathadbeendiscov
eredi
n
Sout
hAmericanrabbi
ts(
adi
fferentspeci
esfr
om theEur
opeanrabbit
),wasint
roducedi
n1950.
My xomav i
ruscausesapar asit
icdiseaseofrabbits,myxamatosis,butonit
s‘home’ conti
nent
i
tsef fectsweremi ld.Thechangi ngef f
ect
soft hi
sv i
rusonrabbitmor t
ali
ty(
1950–1956)ar e
showni nFi
gur e18.31, asi
st heresulti
ngchangeinv i
rul
enceoft hevir
us.Wemayassumet hat
i
nitial
ly,asmal lnumberoft hehugepopul ati
onofr abbit
shadi mmuni t
y.Asthei
rvulnerable
rel
at i
veswer ekill
edof ftheimmuner abbi
tsprosperedfrom t
hedi mini
shedcompetitionfor
grass.Rapidly,thebulkoft hepopulationwereimmune, andanyt hatfai
ledtodevel
opi mmuni t
y
wer equickl
yt akenout .

Intheirori
ginalhabi
tatan‘al
ien’
specieswil
lhav
eev olvedi
nthecompanyofnat
uralpar
asi
tes
andpr edators–andcomet oexisti
nbalancewit
hot heror
gani
smsofthecommunity.I
nanew
habitattheali
en’snatur
alenemiesmaybeabsent ,sotheygrowatt
heexpenseofnati
ve
species,crowdingthem out.

Japaneseknot
weed

Amostunfort
unat
eexampleoft
hisisJapaneseknot
weed(Fal
l
opi
ajaponi
ca),
del
iberat
ely
i
ntr
oducedint
onort
hernEur
opei
nt heearl
yninet
eent
hcent
uryasanornament
alplantf
or
gar
denpondsandlakes.

Theadv anceofJapaneseknot weedi nt heUKisanexampl eofthespreadofani nvasive

speciesdev oidoft heusual l
imit i
ngf actorst
hatkeepi tundercontr
ol i
nitsnativ
eJapan( Fi
gure
18.32).Here, knotweedpl antsgr owi ntodense,submer gedthi
cketsthatov er
shadowandcr owd
outnat i
vewat erplant
s, bl
ockwat erwaysandpubl i
caccesst ostream banks.InJapan, theplant
growsi nabal ancedr elati
onshipwi thot herwat
erplant sandcausesnosi gnif
icantpr oblems.
Meanwhi le,inBr i
tain,
thechemi calsintheplant
’sleavesandr ootsdiscouragepredat ionby
l
ocal l
eafbr owser sorr ootparasites.InJapan,predatorshaveev ol
vedthatcancopewi ththese
defencemechani sms.Farmer s,gardener sandlocalcouncil
sfacehugeandi ncreasingbi ll
sto
suppresst hisr ampanti nv
asivespeci es.

Ther
olesofnon-
gov
ernment
alor
gani
sat
ionsi
nconser
vat
ion

Wor
ldWi
deFundf
orNat
ure(
WWF)

TheWWFi saninter
nati
onalorganisati
onwit
hover5mi ll
ionsuppor t
ersworl
dwide,
locat
edin
morethan100count ri
es.Conservati
onandenvir
onment alpr
ojectsaresupport
ed,wit
hthe
l
argestshareofit
sfundingcomingf rom i
ndi
vi
duals.Theaimist o‘buil
dafut
ureinwhich
humansliveinharmonywi t
hnature’.

Intheareasofbot
hglobal
andlocalconserv
at i
onthefocusisonmai
ntai
ningbi
odiv
ersi
ty,
especi
allyi
noceansandcoast
,for
ests,andfreshwaterecosyst
ems,
bysupport
ingpart
icul
ar
i
niti
ati
ves.
Youcanr
eadmor
eaboutt
hewor
koft
heWWFat
:www.
wor
ldwi
l
dli
fe.
org.

TheConv
ent
iononI
nter
nat
ional
Tradei
nEndanger
edSpeci
esofWi
l
dFaunaandFl
ora(
CITES)

TheConv entiononI nternat i

onalTradeinEndangeredSpecies( CITES),wassetupi nMarch
1973tor egulatewor l
dwi decommer ci
alt
radeinwil
danimal andpl antspeci
es.Itisoneofthe
l
argestandol destconser vati
onagr eementsinexi
stence.Theai m andgoalsofCI TESareto
ensurethatinternati
onal tradedoesnott hreat
enthesurvivalofanyspecies.Sinceitsi
ncepti
on,
thenumberofnat ionstat esthathav edecl
aredthei
rcommi t
mentt ot
heconventionhasreached
moret han170.Thoset hatpar ti
cipateinCITESareobli
gedt oimpl ementdeci
sionsi nt
heir
domest i
clegislati
onpr ogr ammes.

CITESclassi
fi
espl
ant
sandani
mal
saccor
dingt
othr
eecat
egor
ies,
basedonhowt
hreat
ened
theyar
e:

1Speci
esthatareindangerofext
inct
ion–t
hecommer
cial
tradeoft
hesepl
ant
sandani
mal
sis
pr
ohi
bit
edoutri
ght.

2Speciesthatarenotthr
eatenedwi
thext
inct
ionbutt
hatmightsuf
feraser
iousdecl
i
nei
n
numberift
radeisnotrest
rict
ed,sot
hei
rtr
adeisregul
atedbypermi
t.

3Speciesthatareprotect
edi
natleastonecountr
ythati
saCITESmemberandt
hathas
pet
it
ionedother
sf orhelpi
ncont
rol
li
nginter
nati
onalt
radei
nthatspeci
es.

Categories1and2areeff
ecti
veingl obalconser
vat
ion,
whereastheimpactofCat
egor
y3isin
l
ocal conserv
ati
on.I
nthefi
nalanal
y sis,
CITESisonl
yeffect
iveaslongasthemembercount
ri
es
genuinelyabi
debycoll
ect
ivedeci
sions.

Youcanr
eadmor
eaboutt
hewor
kofCI
TESat
:www.
cit
es.
org.

Rest
orat
ionofdegr
adedhabi
tat
s

Habit
atsbecomedegr adedbyindust
ri
alandrel
atedpoll
utantsi
nmanydiff
erentfor
ms.Soil
and
aquat
ichabit
atsareespecial
l
yv ul
ner
able.Ul
ti
mately
,degradedhabi
tat
srequi
rerestor
ati
onfor
themutualbenef
itofhumansandwi l
dli
fe.

Bact
eri
aandt
hebi
oremedi
ati
onoft
heenv
ironment

Bioremedi at
ioni
sthepr ocessofexploitingmicroorgani smsintheremoval ofpollut
ant sfr
om
theenv i
ronment.Forexampl e,
weseet hisact
ivi
tyint hespontaneousremov alofengi neoil
s
thatdri
pf rom machinesandengi nes,car sandotherv ehicl
es.Thesecommonl yseendeposi ts
accumul ateonnearbysur f
aces,butarenor mal
lyremov ed(al
mostunnoticedbyus) ,
duet otheir
degradationbynaturall
yoccurri
ng( chemohet erot
rophi c)bact
eri
a,provi
dedt hedeposi tsare
keptmoi stbyoccasionalrai
n.Awi der angeofnat urallyoccur
ri
ng,ubiqui
touspr okaryotesand
unicel
lul
areukaryotesareabletohy drolyseandoxi disemi ner
aloilt
ocarbondi oxide.
Whenamaj orspil
lfrom anoi l
tankeroccur s,
leadingtomassiveoilslickst hateventuall
yreach
seashorehabitats,i
thasbeenf oundthatabout80percentoft henon- v ol
atil
ecomponent sof
theoilmaybeoxi di
sedandr emov edwithinay earofthepoll
uti
onev ent .Whi l
stvastnumber sof
marineandlit
toralspeci esofnon- vert
ebratesaredestroyedbythehy dr ocarbonpollutantsin
theini
ti
aldi
saster,remov alofoilsli
cksmaybespeededbyspr ayi
ngt heoi l
withessent i
al
i
norganicnutri
ents,chieflyphosphat esandni t
rates,whichai
dthesapr otrophicbacteri
aand
thusspeedupbact eriologicaloxidati
on.

Bi
oremedi
ati
onofsoi
l
s

Pestici
desar eproductsoftheagrochemi
calindustr
ythatarewidelyusedtocont r
olharmful
organismst hatareadangertocropsorherds.Theiruseextendstothehor t
icul
tur
alindust
ri
es
thatarenot‘organical
l
y ’
ori
entat
ed,ofcour
se, andtheuseofpestici
deshasbeen
enthusiast
icall
yadoptedbymanypeopl ewhomai nt
aingardensindevelopedcountri
es.

Modernpest i
cidesar esubstancesdesi gnedtokil
lspeci
fi
ctypesofpest ,
includingpl antweeds
(byherbicides), insect
s( byi
nsectici
des) ,
fungi(
byfungici
des),andslugsandsnai l
s
(moll
usci cides).Pest i
cideshaveenor mouslyimprovedproductivi
tyi
nagricul
t ure,butthei
ruse
hasgener atedpr oblemsi nt
heenv i
ronment.Herbi
cidesarethemostwi delyusedgr oupof
pesti
cides, buti nsecti
cidesarealsowi delyusedandtheymaycauset hegreat erproblemsfor
humans.

Pestici
desareawi der
angeofdi f
fer
entcompounds.Manyoft hem areorganicmolecules
suit
ableascarbonsourcesandelectrondonorsforv ar
ioussoilmicroor
ganisms,butot hersare
not.Thosethatcanbebiodegradedareeventual
lyremov edfrom soils(
Table18.6),buttheir
breakdownmaynotbeent irel
yduetot heact
ivi
tyofmi croor
gani sms.Somesubst ancesl each
awayi nt
oundergroundwater,
andot hersmayspont aneousl
ydegr adewithtime.

Tabl
e18.
6Per
sist
enceofasel
ect
ionofpest
ici
des

Subst
ance Ti
mef
ordi
sappear
ancef
rom soi
l

Her
bici
des

2,
4-D 4weeks

2,
4-T 20weeks

I
nsect
ici
de(
chl
ori
nat
edcompound)

DDT 4y
ear
s

Al
dri
n 3y
ear
s

I
nsect
ici
de(
organophosphat
ecompound)
Mal
athi
on 1week

Par
athi
on 1week

Industr
ialsolvents,nowwidelyusedindev el
opedcount ri
esatleast,
areorganiccompounds
suchasdi chloroethyl
ene,t
richl
oroet
hylene,chl
oroform andsomebr ominatedandfluor
inated
relat
edcompounds, t
onamebutaf ew.Thesetoxicsubst ances(somearealsosuspectedof
beingcarcinogens)ar ef
requentl
ydetectedasper si
stentcontaminantsofgroundwaters.Thi
s
i
sawel l
-document edproblem i
npar t
soft heUSA, f
orexampl e.

Av ar
ietyofdi
ffer
entbact
eriaar
eabl
etobreakdownt hesemol ecul
es,i
ncludi
ngtheremoval
of
thechlori
necomponent.Forexampl
e,t
hebacter
ium Dehalobacteri
um usesthecompound
dichl
oromethaneinit
smet abol
i
sm.Subst
rat
e-l
evelphosphoryl
ation(ADP+Pi → ATP)occur
sin
theprocess.

Inareaswher etheunder gr
oundwat er
sar eseri
ouslypollut
ed,theacti
vi
ti
esofnat ural
populationsofbi oremedialmicroorganismsmaybeenhancedi nsit
ubyt hedril
l
ingofwel l
sand
ventssot hatmi cronutr
ientsandsour cesofoxy gen(ascompr essedairorperoxidesolut
ions)
canbeaddedf ort hebenef i
tofthemi croorgani
sms.Thenat ur
alcl
ean-upreacti
onsar e
acceleratedinthisway ,alt
hought heprocessmayt akemont hsandyearstocompl ete.No
doubtthedi spersal oft
hepol l
utantsandt hedepthoft hegeologi
calstr
atatheyoccupyi sa
fact
or .

Summar
y

•Theprocessofcl
assif
icat
ioninv
olv
esnamingorgani
smsusingthebinomialsyst
em sothat
eachhasageneri
candaspeci f
icname.Gener
aarearr
angedinahier
archical
classi
fi
cat
ion,of
whicht
hekingdom i
sthelar
gestandmostincl
usi
vecategor
y.Ther
earef i
vekingdoms.

•ThePr okary
otae(prokary
otes)incl
udethebacteri
a,cy
anobacter
ia(phot
osyntheti
cfor
ms)and
archaebact
eri
a(extr
emophi l
es).Theyareuni
cell
ularorf
il
amentousprokaryot
icorgani
sms
consist
ingofverysmallcel
ls,1–5μm.Theirnutr
iti
onisheter
otr
ophicorautotr
ophic.

•ThePr otocti
sta(
prot
octi
sts)incl
udet
healgae(includi
ngthemult
icel
lularseaweeds)
, t
he
prot
ozoaandt hesli
memoul ds.Theyar
esingle-
celledeukar
yot
icor
gani smsor ,
ifmult
icel
lul
ar,
notdif
ferenti
atedi
ntot
issues.Thei
rnut
ri
ti
onishet erotr
ophi
coraut
otrophic.

•TheFungiincl
udethemoulds,yeasts,
mushroomsandbracketf
ungi.Theyaremult
icel
l
ular
eukar
yoti
corgani
sms(excepttheunicel
lul
ary
easts)
,notdi
ff
erent
iat
edintoti
ssuesandnon-
motil
e.Thei
rnutr
it
ioni
sheter
otrophic.

•ThePlantae(
thegr
eenplants)incl
udesthemosses,fer
ns,coni
fer
sandfl
oweringpl
ants
(
broad-
leav
edandthegrasses).Theyaremult
icel
l
ulareukar
yoti
corgani
sms,di
ff
erent
iat
edint
o
t
issues.Thepl
antsarenon-
motil
eorgani
sms,
butt
hemal
egamet
esofmossesandf
ernsar
e
motil
e.Thei
rnutr
it
ionisaut
otr
ophic.

•TheAni
mal i
a(Animals)incl
udest henon-
vertebrat
es,
suchaswor msandar t
hropods(whi
ch
i
ncl
udesthei
nsects),
andt hev ert
ebrat
es,whichincl
udethefi
sh,amphibi
ans,r
eptil
es,
bir
dsand
mammals.Theyaremul t
icell
ulareukar
yoti
cor gani
sms,di
ffer
ent
iat
edintoti
ssues.Manyare
moti
l
eorgani
sms.Thei rnutri
ti
onisheterot
rophic.

•Biodiv
ersit
yrefer
stot hev
astnumberofl ivi
ngthi
ngst hatexi
st.About1. 7mil
li
ondif
fer
ent
speci
esar eknown,butamuchlargernumberofor gani smsmayexi st
,undiscover
ed.Theneed
tomaintai
ndiversi
tyi
sbasedonecol ogicalar
gument s,butincl
udesdi versi
tyasthesour
ceof
genesforimprovementofagri
cult
uralcrops,asasour ceofnewdr ugs,toresi
stcli
matechange,
tosupportecotour
ism andf
orethi
cal andaesthet
icreasons.

•Aspeci
esisagr
oupofindi
vi
dualsofcommonancest
ryt
hatcl
osel
yr esembl
eeachot
herand
whi
charenor
mall
ycapabl
eofint
erbr
eedingt
opr
oducefer
ti
leof
fspr
ing.

•Theexponent ial
expansi
onoft hehumanpopulati
onisarel
ati
velyrecentphenomenon, butt
he
currentsizeoft
hehumanpopul ati
onresul
tsinhugedemandsont heEarth’sli
vi
ngspaceand
resources.Manyenvir
onmentsar ebei
ngdegradedandbiodi
ver
sit
yisbei ngreduced.Today,
speciesar ei
ndangerofext
inct
ionduet othel
ossofthei
rnatur
alhabitat
s,changesinthe
environmentorduetoover-
expl
oi t
ati
on.Thesecausesar
eallat
tri
butabletohumanact iv
ity
.

•Conservati
oni sthemanagementofr esour
cesandhabitatssoasmai ntai
ntheexisti
ngr ange
ofhabit
atsandt oattempttoprev
entfuturer
educt
ionsinbiodi
ver
sity.Thisi
ncludescaptiv
e
breedi
ngprogrammesandt heestabl
i
shmentandmai ntenanceofreservesandnationalparks,
wherethereissupervisedpr
otect
ionandanopportuni
tyforpeopl
et olearnaboutbiodi
versity
anditsconservati
on.