What is Biodiversity?
What is biodiversity? E.O. Wilson, an ecologist who specializes in ants, coined the term in 1988. You may have heard about E.O. Wilson and the NOVA special, named "Lord of the Ants" a televsion speicla describing evidence about biodiversity. There are four types of biodiversity. The term biodiversity signifies the number and variety of living organisms. Biodiversity can be measured on a small scale (assessing genetic diversity of a species) or a large scale (assessing diversity of the planet's ecosystem).
Ecological Diversity: The variety of ecosystems that exist in terrestrial and aquatic habitats such as rainforests, grasslands, wetlands, and marshes.
- Public domain, USGS
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Genetic Diversity: Within a species or within a specific population there exist gentic material that varies from one organism to another. This allows for differences within a species of population. Click the image below to see causes for loss of biodiversity.
- Global environmental problems. Biodiversiry loss infographic. Plants and animals destruction.
Bosnoc, iStock / Getty Images Plus.
Species Diversity: This is the number and types of species living in a community.
Group of pets posing around a border collie; dog, cat, ferret, rabbit, bird, fish, rodent.
GlobalP, iStock / Getty Images Plus.
Functional Diversity: This is the flow of energy through a system through biological and chemical processes.
Sample Food Pyramid
Value of Biodiversity
What benefits do you derive from biodiversity? Why is it important in your life? Use the images below to explore the values of biodiversity.
Threats to Biodiversity
To read about the importance of biodiversity from the world-renowned expert, read this article by E.O. Wilson. E.O. Wilson also helped set up the Encyclopedia of Life, an online database that collects information and images of life on earth. Check out the wild variety of plants and animals that have already been cataloged in the Encyclopedia of Life!
E.O. Wilson has worked tirelessly to bring awareness to the importance of biodiversity, and to help preserve biodiversity hotspots. There are many threats to biodiversity that E.O. Wilson has tried to combat and has suggested some solutions. Wilson is actively campaigning to raise money and political will to form nature reserves in many of the world's biodiversity hotspots. One of his suggestions is to encourage industrialized nations to subsidize developing countries' designation of wilderness preserves in these biodiversity hotspots. Wilson points out that every person on earth feels that by taking "just a little bit" they are not damaging the ecosystem. However, if everyone takes "just a little bit," eventually it adds up and does considerable damage to the planet. This is an example of "tragedy of the commons" thinking.
Biodiversity is threatened by human activities and developments, including logging, mining, agriculture, ranching, and urban development. While many of these activities are associated with affluence, Wilson also highlights the difficult situation of what he calls "ecological refugees" – people forced by poverty or other circumstances to degrade natural resources in order to survive.
yuelen, iStock / Getty Images Plus
Evidence for Evolution
Let's suppose that you came upon the fossils below while out on a hike. You have the benefit of knowing a bit about evolution, so you'd probably have a pretty good idea of how to explain them. But what if you lived in Darwin's time? How could you possibly explain these strange bones?
People in Darwin's time struggled to explain fossils like these, but Darwin was able to take the creative leaps towards understanding that these fossils held clues to the origin of species. Take a look at the video below to find out how we know that evolution exists. Use the video guide to help you take notes as you watch.
Click the link to watch the PBS videoEvolving Ideas: How Do We Know Evolution Happens?
How Does it Work?
Evolution of species occurs through the action of natural selection. Natural selection involves changes in a populations' genetic make-up over multiple generations through four major processes. To find out how evolution works, use your webquest worksheet as a guide and work through section 3 "Mechanisms: The Processes of Evolution" on the Understanding Evolution website.
Project: Natural Selection Simulation
Now that you have reviewed the concepts of evolution, let's see the process of natural selection in action! Use the Natural Selection interactive simulation below (from the University of Colorado at Boulder). Use the project worksheet to follow the sample experiments and then design one on your own. Submit your completed project to the Project: Natural Selection Simulation assignment link for a grade.
Click the image below or got to go directly to http://phet.colorado.edu/en/simulation/natural-selection.
