PRAYER

Lord, we offer to you our class today.

We pray that through your Divine Guidance,
we would learn how to listen attentively to the inputs of our teacher.
May we appreciate his effort in imparting his knowledge to us despite of the current situation.
May we participate actively in the discussions and activities, so we could learn more while having fun.
May we value each other’s contributions as a building block towards harmony and peace.
Grant that as we interact with one another, we recognize the fact that all our learning activities should be accomplished for your
greater glory.
Grant that we recognize YOU in each of our classmates and teachers.
As we leave for home, we pray that you keep us safe from harm and illnesses.
And we would be able to apply correctly what we have learned from school.
All these we ask in your powerful name.
Amen.
 \

BIODIVERSITY
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:

AT THE END OF THIS LESSON STUDENTS ARE EXPECTED TO:

1. UNDERSTAND WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY
2. EXPLAIN THE IMPORTANCE OF BIODIVERSITY IN THE ENVIRONMENT
INTRODUCTION:
•BIODIVERSITY IS THE VARIETY OF LIFE ON EARTH

•IT INCLUDES ALL LIFE FORMS-FROM THE UNICELLULAR FUNGI, PROTOZOA, AND BACTERIA TO
COMPLEX MULTI CELLULAR ORGANISMS SUCH AS PLANTS, BIRDS, FISHES AND ANIMALS

•BIODIVERSITY IS THE VARIETY OF FLORA AND FAUNA ON THIS PLANET EARTH

DEFINITION: (WORLD RESOURCES INSTITUTE)

•“BIODIVERSITY IS THE VARIETY OF THE WORLD’S

ORGANISMS, INCLUDING THEIR GENETIC DIVERSITY
AND THE ASSEMBLAGE THEY FORM”.
THE CONCEPT REFLECTS THE INTER-RELATEDNESS OF GENES,
SPECIES AND ECOSYSTEM
BECAUSE GENES ARE THE COMPONENTS OF SPECIES, AND
SPECIES ARE THE COMPONENTS OF ECOSYSTEMS. THEREFORE
ALTERING THE MAKE-UP OF ANY LEVEL OF THIS HIERARCHY
CAN CHANGE THE OTHERS-SPECIES AND ARE CENTRAL TO
CONCEPT OF BIODIVERSITY.
FROM THE DRIEST DESERTS TO THE DENSE TROPICAL
RAINFOREST AND FROM THE HIGH SNOW-CLAD MOUNTAIN
PEAKS TO THE DEEPEST OF OCEAN TRENCHES, LIFE OCCURS IN
MARVELOUS SPECTRUM OF FORMS, SIZE, COLOR AND SHAPE,
EACH WITH UNIQUE ECOLOGICAL INTER-RELATIONSHIPS.
GENETIC DIVERSITY
• IT REFERS TO THE TOTAL GENETIC INFORMATION CONTAINED IN THE GENES OF INDIVIDUALS OF
PLANTS, ANIMALS AND MICROORGANISMS.

• THE GENES FOUND IN ORGANISMS CAN FORM ENORMOUS NUMBER OF COMBINATIONS EACH OF WHICH
GIVES RISE TO SOME VARIABILITY.

• GENES ARE THE BASIC UNITS OF HEREDITARY INFORMATION TRANSMITTED FROM ONE GENERATION TO
OTHER.

• WHEN THE GENES WITHIN THE SAME SPECIES SHOW DIFFERENT VERSIONS DUE TO NEW
COMBINATIONS, IT IS CALLED GENETIC VARIABILITY.

• FOR EXAMPLE, ALL RICE VARIETIES BELONG TO THE SPECIES ORYZA SATIVA, BUT THERE ARE
THOUSANDS OF WILD AND CULTIVATED VARIETIES OF RICE WHICH SHOW VARIATIONS AT THE GENETIC
LEVEL AND DIFFER IN THEIR COLOR, SIZE, SHAPE, AROMA AND NUTRIENT CONTENT OF THE GRAIN.
THIS THE GENETIC DIVERSITY OF RICE
SPECIES DIVERSITY:
A SPECIES GENERALLY, CONSISTS OF ALL THE INDIVIDUAL ORGANISMS OF A NATURAL POPULATION WHICH ARE
ABLE TO INTERBREED, GENERALLY SHARING SIMILAR APPEARANCE, CHARACTERISTICS AND GENETICS DUE TO
HAVING RELATIVELY RECENT COMMON ANCESTORS.

A SPECIES IS A REPRODUCTIVELY ISOLATED POPULATION THAT SHARES A COMMON GENE POOL AND A COMMON
NICHE.

A SPECIES IS ONE OF THE BASIC UNITS OF BIODIVERSITY

ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY
THIS IS THE DIVERSITY OF ECOLOGICAL VARIATIONS
IN ECOLOGICAL NICHES, TROPHIC STRUCTURE, FOOD
WEBS, NUTRIENT CYCLING ETC.
THE ECOSYSTEMS ALSO SHOW VARIATIONS WITH
RESPECT TO PHYSICAL PARAMETERS LIKE MOISTURE,
TEMPERATURE, ALTITUDE, PRECIPITATION ETC.
THUS, THERE OCCURS TREMENDOUS DIVERSITY
WITHIN THE ECOSYSTEMS, ALONG THESE GRADIENTS.
THE ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY IS OF GREAT VALUE
THAT MUST BE KEPT INTACT.
THIS DIVERSITY HAS DEVELOPED OVER MILLIONS OF
YEARS OF EVOLUTION.
IF WE DESTROY THIS DIVERSITY, IT WOULD DISRUPT THE
ECOLOGICAL BALANCE
WE CANNOT EVEN REPLACE THE DIVERSITY OF ONE
ECOSYSTEM BY THAT OF ANOTHER
CONIFEROUS TREES OF BOREAL FORESTS CANNOT TAKE UP
THE FUNCTION OF THE TREES OF TROPICAL DECIDUOUS
FOREST LANDS AND VICE VERSA, BECAUSE ECOSYSTEM
DIVERSITY HAS EVOLVED WITH RESPECT TO THE
PREVAILING ENVIRONMENTAL CONDITIONS WITH WELL-
REGULATED ECOLOGICAL BALANCE
• A FUNDAMENTAL NICHE IS THE RESOURCES OF AN ORGANISM OR POPULATION IS
THEORETICALLY CAPABLE OF USING UNDER IDEAL CIRCUMSTANCES.

• THE ECOLOGICAL NICHE OF AN ORGANISM DEPENDS NOT ONLY ON WHERE IT

LIVES BUT ALSO ON WHAT IT DOES

• BY ANALOGY, IT MAY BE SAID THAT THE HABITAT IS THE ORGANISM’S

“ADDRESS”, AND THE NICHE IS ITS “PROFESSION”, BIOLOGICALLY SPEAKING.
MEASUREMENT OF BIODIVERSITY
• THERE ARE THREE OTHER INDICES WHICH ARE USED BY ECOLOGISTS:
ALPHA DIVERSITY REFERS TO DIVERSITY WITHIN A PARTICULAR AREA, COMMUNITY
OR ECOSYSTEM, AND IS MEASURED BY COUNTING THE NUMBER OF TAXA (E.G.
FAMILIES, GENERA, SPECIES)
BETA DIVERSITY IS SPECIES DIVERSITY BETWEEN ECOSYSTEMS; THIS INVOLVES
COMPARING THE NUMBER OF TAXA THAT ARE UNIQUE TO EACH OF THE ECOSYSTEMS.
IT IS THE RATE OF CHANGE IN SPECIES COMPOSITION CROSS HABITATS OR AMONG
COMMUNITIES THAT EXPERIENCE CHANGING ENVIRONMENT
GAMMA DIVERSITY IS A MEASURE OF THE OVERALL
DIVERSITY FOR DIFFERENT ECOSYSTEMS WITHIN A
REGION

IT REFERS TO THE TOTAL BIODIVERSITY OVER A LARGE

AREA OR REGION.