SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

D life more and more

UNIT V : BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
MODULE 10

LESSON LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

At the end of this lesson, you will be able to:
A. comprehend the ideas and principles surrounding science, technology and society;
B. Demonstrate the steps of scientific method in practical activities and researches;
C. Be involved in upholding our society from the advancements of science and technology.

BIODIVERSITY
- The variety of life on earth and the natural patterns it forms.
- The variability among living organisms from all sources including aerial, terrestrial and aquatic
ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part: this includes diversity within
species, between species and of ecosystems.
- Includes all ecosystems –managed and unmanaged.
- Some biodiversity is presumed to be relevant feature of only unmanaged ecosystems, such as
wild lands, nature preserves, or national parks. This is incorrect, managed system be they
plantation, farms, croplands, aqualculture sites, rangelands, or even urban parks and urban
ecosystems have their own biodiversity.
- Is the foundation of ecosystem services to which human well-being is intimately linked

THREE LEVELS OF BIODIVERSITY

1. species diversity- the number and variety of organisms an ecosystem contain

2. genetic diversity- the genetic variety within a species
3. ecosystem diversity- the variety of ecosystems found on earth

Extinction-the death of a species occurs when the last individual member of a species dies.
Endangered species- a species in imminent danger of extinction throughout all or a significant part of its
range.

Threatened species- a species likely to become endangered in the foreseeable future, throughout all or a
significant part of its range.

CHARACTERISTICS OF THREATENED AND ENDANGERED SPECIES

1. having an extremely (localized) range
2. requiring a large territory
3. living on islands
4. having low reproductive success
5. needing specialized breeding areas
6. possessing specialized feeding habits
WHY PROTECT BIODIVERSITY?
1. Aesthetic and Economics- source of beauty and pleasure; can provide economic benefits
2. Food, Pharmaceuticals, Scientific Information and Products
3. Protecting Free Services and Saving Money
- protecting natural systems helps preserve many ecological services such as flood
control and water pollution abatement

4. Ethics- Doing the Right Thing

CAUSES OF DECLINING BIODIVERSITY

1.Destruction or modification of habitat

- Habitat fragmentation- the breakup of large areas of habitat into small isolated segments
- Island- small patch of forest surrounded by agricultural and suburban land

2, Biotic pollution- the introduction of foreign species into an area where it is not native

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

1. Hunting
a. sport hunting
b. subsistence hunting
c. commercial hunting or harvesting
d. illegal hunting or poaching

2. Pollution
3. Population growth and over consumption
4. Climate change

INTERNATIONAL YEAR OF BIODIVERSITY- 2010

- focuses on boosting awareness of biodiversity’s importance by promoting actions to
foster biodiversity worldwide.

CONVENTION ON BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY

- an international legally-binding treaty with three main goals: conservation of
biodiversity; sustainable use of biodiversity; fair and equitable sharing of the benefits
arising from the use of genetic resources.

INTERNATIONAL UNION FOR CONSERVATION OF NATURE (IUCN)

- Its mission is to influence, encourage and assist global societies to conserve nature. To
ensure that any use of natural resources is equitable and ecologically sustainable.
- IUCN Red List of Threatened Species -provides scientifically based information on the
status of species and subspecies at a global level.

CONVENTION ON INTERNATIONAL TRADE IN ENDANGERED SPECIES (CITES)

- aims to ensure that the international trade of plants and animals does not threaten the
survival of the species in its natural habitat.

WILDLIFE RESOURCES CONSERVATION AND PROTECTION ACT (RA 9147)

- to conserve and protect wildlife species and their habitats to promote ecological balance
and enhance biological diversity;
- to regulate the collection and trade of wildlife;
- to pursue, with due regard to the national interest, the Philippine commitment to
international conventions, protection of wildlife and their habitats; and
- to initiate or support scientific studies on the conservation of biological diversity.
CHANGES IN BIODIVERSITY
Alteration in any system could bring varied effects, A change in biodiversity could have erratic
effects only in wildlife or marine life but also to human beings

THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
There are major threats to biodiversity that were identified by the United nations’ environment
Programme.

1. Habitat loss and destruction

2. Alteration in ecosystem composition
3. Over exploitation
4. Pollution and contamination
5. Global climate change

THE IMPACT OF BIODIVERSITY INTO THE SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY, AND SOCIETY

SCIENCE
- We are at a critical moment for the Earth’s biodiversity, as direct result of human pressure,
Overcoming challenges will call for improvements in our knowledge of the mechanisms
producing and sustaining biological diversity and predict how ecosystems will respond to

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

man-made global change. The science of biodiversity aims to be inclusive and

interdisciplinary, combining knowledge of natural history.
- In short, in order to be able to predict and attenuate the effect of global change on
biodiversity and ecosystem services, the challenges is to understand the structure and
functioning of natural systems on temporal and spatial scales never seen before, something
which calls for a high level of cohesion across the international scientific community. Given
the speed at which species are disappearing, new strategies and tools need to be developed
with which to conduct an urgent inventory of biodiversity, particularly in tropical regions,
and extreme or little explored environments. Systems to monitor biodiversity on different
scales and organizational levels are needed in order to understand the factors exploding
changes in biota and identity regions particularly vulnerable to biodiversity loss. Together
these efforts should enable us to improve models predicting biodiversity changes in response
to human pressure and to make reliable quantitative projections that are useful to
governments when making management decisions
TECHNOLOGY
Advances in brain mapping may eventually be applied to technologies that can determine how
species perceive their environment. Such information could help identify and ameliorate stressors that
could be impediments to reproduction or survival. Such technologies are now within reach .Robots or
perhaps even cyborg animals could be used to enter areas that either cannot or should not be accessed by
humans, and to limit unwanted contact between humans and species targeted by protection, although
there are ethical issues to be considered with this latter approach.
Monitoring reproductive status and other physiological parameters in the wild can be facilitated
by broader deployment of biotelemetry devices and the use of mobile communication networks.

SOCIETY
“Loss of biological diversity due to species extinction is going to have major impacts on our
planet, and we better prepare ourselves to deal with them,” more biologically diverse ecosystems are
more productive. As a result, there has been growing concern that the very high rates of modern
extinctions-due to habitat loss, overharvesting and other human-caused environmental changes-could
reduce nature’s ability to provide goods and services like food, clean water and stable climate.

GREENHOUSE EFFECT AND GLOBAL WARMING

GREENHOUSE EFFECT
- discovered by French mathematician Joseph Fourier in 1824; experimented on by Irish
physicist John Tyndall in 1858; and reported by Swedish scientist Svante Arrhenius 1896
quantitatively
- a naturally occurring process by which thermal radiation from a planetary earth’s surface is
absorbed by atmospheric greenhouse gases, and is re-radiated in all directions

GREENHOUSE GASES
- make up only about 1 % of the Earth's atmosphere, which regulate our climate by trapping
heat and holding it in a kind of warm-air blanket that surrounds the planet
- concentrations is determined by the balance between sources and sinks

MAIN GREENHOUSE GASES

1. Carbon dioxide (CO2) - product of the oxidation of carbon in organic matter, either through
combustion of carbon-based fuels or the decay of biomass.

2. Methane (CH4) - produced by anaerobic decay of organic material in landfills, wetlands, and rice
fields; enteric fermentation in the digestive tracts of ruminant animals such as cattle, goats, and
sheep; manure management; waste water treatment; fossil fuel combustion; and leaks from
natural gas transportation and distribution systems and abandoned coal mines.

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

3. Nitrous oxide (N2O) - produced by fertilizer use, animal waste management, fossil fuel
combustion, and industrial activities.

4. Hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) and perfluorocarbons (PFCs) - synthetic chemicals that are used in a
variety of industrial production processes such as semiconductor manufacturing. HFCs and PFCs
are replacing CFCs in applications such as refrigeration and foam-blowing for insulation.

5. Water vapor - most abundant greenhouse gas in the atmosphere. The surface warming caused by
human production of other greenhouse gases leads to an increase in atmospheric water vapor
because warmer temperatures make it easier for water to evaporate and stay in the air in vapor
form. This creates a positive “feedback loop” in which warming leads to more warming.

USES OF GREENHOUSE EFFECT

1. Burning of fossil fuel

2. Deforestation
3. Industries
- industry creates chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) and other halocarbons for use in various
products
- producing lime (calcium oxide) to make cement accounts for 2.5% of CO2 emissions from
industrial sources
4. Domestication of animals and rice cultivation
- most livestock-related methane emissions are produced by "enteric fermentation" of food by
bacteria and other microbes in the animals' digestive tracts; another source is the
decomposition of animal manure.
- livestock account for about one-quarter of the methane emissions from human activities,
totalling some 100 million tonnes a year.
- the nitrogen contained in many fertilizers enhances the natural processes of nitrification and
denitrification that are carried out by bacteria and other microbes in the soil.

CONSEQUENCES/IMPACTS OF GREENHOUSE EFFECT

1. Increase in average temperature
- Global warming refers to the increase in average temperature of the atmosphere. It is
caused by an increase in greenhouse gases in the atmosphere.
2. Increase in sea level
- Due to increase in temperature and excess of heat, melting of snow and ice takes place
which ultimately increase the level of seas and oceans.
5. Change in rainfall patterns
- The differential heating of layer in the atmosphere i s the main cause of pressure
difference, which govern the rainfall system and it`s quantity. The air moves from high
pressure to low pressure region, when it crosses the water body it become the source of
rain and vice versa. The increase of average temperature substantially affect pressure
region and so the wind direction and ultimately affect the rainfall pattern.
1. Changes in Seasonal Characters
- -Due to change in air temperature and rainfall patterns, it is observed that the seasonal
characters have been substantial changing/shifting a lot throughout the globe. At many
places the duration of winter has extended and at some place summer along with more
severity.
5. Expansion of Disease Carriers
- There would be expansion in the territory of diseases, either by moving to higher
elevations in mountainous areas or by expanding their territory farther from the equator.
6. Destruction of coral reefs
- As global temperatures rise, so too do average sea surface temperatures. These elevated
temperatures cause long-term damage to coral reefs.
6. Increase pressure on ground water supplies
- The resulting dry conditions will increase the pressure on groundwater supplies as more
is pumped to meet demand even as less precipitation falls to replenish it.

7. Disruption of food supplies

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SCIENCE 100: SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY and SOCIETY

- Rising temperatures and the accompanying impacts of global warming including more
frequent heat waves, heavier precipitation in some regions, and more severe droughts in
others has significant implications for crop and meat production.

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