Activity

"What is the importance of biodiversity to ecosystems?"

Objectives:

After performing this activity, you should be able to:

1. differentiate low from high biodiversity,
2. give advantages of high over low biodiversity,
3. identify ecosystems with low and high biodiversity, and
4. predict what will happen to an ecosystem with low biodiversity.

Materials Needed:

 photos of different ecosystems

 pencil/ballpen

Procedure:

1. Get photos of various ecosystems from your teacher.

2. Together with your groupmates, identify which of them have high or low biodiversity.

Q69. Which ecosystem/s have high biodiversity? low biodiversity?

3. Study the photo below.

Photo by MD Sebastian Figure 27. A banana plantation.

Q70. Does it have a high or low biodiversity?

Q71. What will happen if a pest will attack banana plants?

Q72. What will happen if a strong typhoon comes and heavy flooding occurs?

Q73. How will this affect the helpers and owner of the plantation?

4. Examine the photo below.

(Source: Philippines. Department of Education. (2009).

Science and Technology II. Textbook (Rev. ed.). Pasig City: Instructional Materials Development
Corporation. p. 339).

Figure 28. A coral reef ecosystem.

Q74. What biotic components are present in this ecosystem?

Q75. Describe some relationships and interactions that occur among these biotic components.

Q76. Predict the effect of the presence of many crowns of thorns sea star to the ecosystem and its
biotic components.

Q77. Why is high biodiversity advantageous over low biodiversity?

Q78. What is the importance of biodiversity to ecosystems?

Q79. Give other examples of familiar ecosystems with low biodiversity.