BAGAIMANA SPESIES BAHARU MUNCUL?

Apa asal usul biodiversiti sekarang ?

biodiversiti hasil proses evolusi dan speciasi

HOW we define species also has a massive impact on our view of 'biodiversity - the study of TAXONOMY

 spesies berubah setiap masa dan kita perlu menyiasat proses dengan melihat spesies yang ada

Dilwynnia sp.

 kita boleh melihat perbezaan paten variasi spesies dan cuba memahami bagaimana ia berlaku

Darwin explains evolution.. Those animals that survive and reproduce . are those animals

that survive
and reproduce.

Proses Asas.
tumbuhan dan haiwan menghasilkan banyak anak untuk pengekalan populasi biasanya berlaku persaingan untuk mandiri kerana sumber terhad anak- anak mempunyai ciri-ciri berbeza Individu akan cuba menyesuaikan diri dengan persekitaran.

 Individu yang dapat menyesuaikan diri dengan persekitaran akan dapat hidup daripada yang tidak dapat menyesuaikan diri

individu ini akan membiak dan memindahkan sifat-sifatnya kepada generasi seterusnya.
and so on.

Andaian proses yang berlaku

kebanyakan speciasi di kawasan terasing (geografi)

speciasi berlaku di mana desakan untuk pemilihan adalah tinggi (ie .hanya beberapa individu hidup- individu dengan variasi memberi kelebihan persaingan

Ini berlaku apabila sumber (air, nutrien ?) terhad Individu yang hidup merupakan pengasas kepada generasi seterusnya kumpulan baru akan terpisah secara genetik, (terutamanya terasing secara geografi) dan tidak boleh membiak antara satu sama lain akan membentuk spesies baru

Bagaimana ini berlaku dan bolehkah kita lihat kesannya?

PATEN pada ARAS SPESIES

komuniti hutan hujan mempunyai kepelbagaian pada aras FAMILI tetapi beberapa spesies dalam setiap famili Jadi komuniti hutan hujan mempunyai banyak spesies, kebanyakan tidak berkaitan antara satu sama lain dan datang daripada famili berbeza.

Hutan hujan

di kawasan tanah lapang, vegetasi mempunyai kepelbagaian SPECIES yang tinggi tetapi hanya beberapa famili yang ada eg in W.A. 89 families

5 families = 56% of species

eg Proteaceae (Grevillea, Banksia ) Myrtaceae (Eucalyptus, Leptospermum) Mimosaceae (Acacia )

 on the sand plain north of Perth at Eneabba

in a 1m X 1m quadrat can get 48 species in a 10m X 10m quadrat can get 110 species

Sand Plain north of Perth

DIVERSITY PATTERNS

- alpha diversity
- species richness within a habitat

- species richness within forest, or swamp etc

- beta diversity
- species difference between habitats nearby quadrats might have only 60% species in common - species difference between swamp area and adjacent forest

DIVERSITY PATTERNS

- gamma diversity
- difference within habitats between regions difference within rainforest habitat between Otway rainforest and East Gippsland rainforest

DIVERSITY PATTERNS

Case Study: the Western Australian flora

south west Western Australia has a remarkable number of species in a small area high levels of species richness and endemism > 8,000 species, 75% endemic the Fitzgerald River area alone has more plant species than the whole of the British Isles

Fitzgerald River NP

Royal Hakea

GENUS Acacia Eucalyptus Grevillea Stylidium Melaleuca Hakea Caladenia

NUMBER of SPECIES 400+ 300+ 200+ 150+ 150+ 100+ 100+

there are some 'centres of diversity or diversity hot spots

Fitzgerald River 1750+ species

Mt Leseur 820+ species

Stirling Range

Murchison Gorge

plant diversity hot spots

Eucalyptus

often have large or showy fruits

Banksia

26

21

Verticordia

Acacia

In W.A. there is high '-diversity' (gammadiversity)

ie variation ACROSS the landscape even relatively close areas have different suites of species

how did this diversity arise ?

EXPLAINING DIVERSITY vegetation types

arid zone

forest

divide W.A. into three rainfall zones

HIGH (800 - 1500 mm)

TRANSITIONAL (300 - 800 mm) ARID (< 300 mm)

decreasing rainfall

forest

Arid Zone

 the landscape has barely changed since the Permian nutrient poor soils
these are some of the least fertile soils in the world (low P) plants have evolved many adaptations to be able to compete proteoid roots, symbiotic relationships

 erosion of laterites resulted in mosaic of soil types

typically laterite 'islands' in a sea of saline valley floors

 adaptation to these nutrient poor soils has resulted in 'adaptive radiation' (each species adopts a different survival strategy which reduces direct competition) some individuals have shallow extensive roots

some have deep roots

some exploit the surface to target brief rainfall events

some have both deep roots and extensive shallow roots

reduces direct competition

plants growing together have different survival strategies

 in the Transitional Rainfall Zone climatic change resulted in significant rainfall fluctuations high
rainfall

mean ! low rainfall

year

 FREQUENT and UNPREDICTABLE environmental stresses for a long period variable climatic conditions result in strong selection pressure strong selection pressure results in high levels of speciation

 following a fire

CONDITIONS SEEDLING SURVIVAL Drought 780 seedlings nearly zero Artificial watering 90% survival Wet depressions 90% survival 'Good' year 40% survival
strong selection acting on populations isolated by soil type (island effect) results in different species on different soil islands

SUMMARY
factors contributing to the development of high diversity in W.A. are: nutrient scarcity result of long period of environmental stability and leaching geographic isolation (eg by arid Nullarbor Plain) mosaic of landforms and soils (small scale isolation and island effect)

 cycles of strong selection pressure following disturbances such as drought, fire 'flush-crash' cycles

 so we can see that many of our ideas about speciation are supported by this case study

read about some other well known example such as Darwins finches in the references !!

 many species are now at risk of extinction due to fragmented habitat

composition of roadside patches is very variable

 if we know that our biodiversity is distributed across the landscape, no single reserve can conserve all of the species present in the region every patch has a different suite of species how many patches can we protect ? with limited resources which patches will we choose to protect ?

....see the prac exercises !!!!