Biodiversity:

Who cares?

A B

Which do you like better?Which do you like better?

What do you think biodiversity means?

Bio =

BioBiodiversitydiversity

What does “Bio” mean?

BioBiodiversitydiversity

Diversity = Variety

What does “Diversity” mean?

http://youtu.be/iThpkXWVeqE

Why is biodiversity important?Why is biodiversity important?• Human beings are dependent for their health, well-being

and enjoyment of life on basic biological systems and processes.

• People get food and many medicines and industrial products from the wild and domesticated components of biological diversity.

What is biodiversity

• Biodiversity is the variety of life in an area that is determined by the number of different species in that area.

• Biodiversity increases the stability of an ecosystem and contributes to the health of the biosphere.

Threats to biodiversity

Habitat Fragmentation

Pollution

Species Introductions

Global Climate Change

Exploitation

Habitat Fragmentation

• When habitats are destroyed or partially destroyed– Ex. Cutting down trees in forests to develop the

land

Pollution

When humans place synthetic materials into the ecosystem carelessly

Ex- throwing a plastic bag into to lake or trash onto the ground

Species Introductions

• Bringing a new species into an already established ecosystem. This could result in a predator-prey relationship– Ex: there was an Asian fish introduced into

Lakes in Chicago, this fish eats a tremendous amount of food, causing a depletion of resources available to other fish

Global Climate Change

When a change in temperature results in the destruction of habitats

ex- ice caps are melting due to global warming, causing polar bears to lose their environments (they are now endangered species)

Exploitation

• The over-usage of a species for unnecessary needs– Ex- fur coats require hundreds of animals to be

killed for a profit

– Ex- Elephants are currently endangered due to exploitation for their tusks made out of Ivory

Threats to Biodiversity• Extinction and

population reductions– Pollution

– Climate change

– Invasive species

16 June 2010 Biodiversity.ppt 14

Threats to Biodiversity

• Extinction is a process that happens when an entire species permanently disappears from the biosphere due to the death of the species’ last member.

• Endangered Species- any species who's numbers become so low that extinction is possible

Threats to Biodiversity

• Threatened species – when a population of a species is likely to become endangered.

• Threatened

• Endangered

• EXTINCT