BIODIVERSITY

Biodiversity
What does “Bio” means?

Bio =
QUESTIONS TO PONDER:
1.What are the three levels of
biodiversity?
2.Differentiate each level of
biodiversity.
3.What makes an ecosystem strong?
Weak?
4.What do we mean when we say “key
stone specie?”
5.Cite at least a word to describe
 There are three types of biodiversity
•Species diversity- the number of different
species that constitute the entire biological
spectrum on earth.
•Ecosystem diversity- diversity of
ecological complexes or biotic
communities in a given area.
•Genetic diversity- variation of
genes within species.
HIGH BIODIVERSITY- many
species present, is good. It usually means
that an ecosystem is healthy and
relatively undisturbed by humans.
ADVANTAGES OF HIGH BIODIVERSITY:
• By having more biodiversity the
environment can be conserved and
will more easily recover from
disturbances of ecosystem.
More plants means the better
environment and lesser effect of
green house gasses or temperature
rising.
The biodiversity helps to maintain
the food web circle, while
disturbing it can result in the
scarcity of food.
DISADVANTAGES OF HIGH BIODIVERSITY
More biodiversity means more animals
and plants hence the population living of
humans can be restricted.
Excess of wild animals can harm the
humans or each other. There will be more
conflicts over territory or water.
The establishment of the forest or an
acceptable environment for so many
different animals may be costly.
EXAMPLE OF HIGH BIODIVERSITY
• CORAL REEFS - Coral reefs are made up of the
skeletons of tiny marine animals called polyps, or corals.
Coral comes in many brilliant colours . This coral near
Australia is part of the Great Barrier Reef, the world’s
largest coral reef.
• AMAZON RAIN FOREST - Rain forests
are home to an incredible number of different
plant and animal species. The Amazon rain
forest is the world’s largest tropical rain
forest
• LOW BIODIVERSITY- characteristic of
an unhealthy or degraded environment. A
mown lawn city park is an example of low
biodiversity.
ADVANTAGES OF LOW BIODIVERSITY:
• More cost efficient for humans, such as
monoculture.
DISADVANTAGES OF LOW BIODIVERSITY:
• If a natural disaster were to occur, the
whole population could be wiped out.
EXAMPLE OF LOW BIODIVERSITY

Pictures above show practices such as

cutting Logs from the Rain Forest – huge
areas of the world’s rain forests are cut
down every year. The area shown here
used to be part of the amazon rain forest in
Brazil. Scientists fear that many kinds of
animals and plants are becoming extinct of
this destruction, on the right is a picture of
tea plantation.
 THREATS TO BIODIVERSITY
Natural causes:
 Narrow geographical area
 Low population
 Low breeding rate
 Natural disasters
Anthropogenic causes:
 Habitat modification
 Overexploitation of
selected species
 Innovation by exotic
species
 Pollution
 Hunting
 Global warming and climate
change
 Agriculture
 Domino effect
 CONSERVATION OF BIODIVERSITY
 Biodiversity inventories
 Conserving Biodiversity in
protected Habitats
 Seed Bank, Gene Bank, Pollen Bank, DNA
Bank
zoo

Gene Bank Bandhavgarh National Park

Restoration of Biodiversity
Imparting Environmental Education
Enacting, strengthening and enforcing
Environmental Legislation
Population Control
Reviewing the agriculture practice
Controlling Urbanization
Conservation through Biotechnology