Biodiversity

L. Rayner
 The diversity of life

Figure 1.1
The Royal Menagerie (an early form of the zoo), Tower of London, 1816.
Biodiversity in Australia
Biodiversity of Australia

Landscape and the types of plants and

animals, including marsupials.
1 million species of plants, animals
and insects

Figure 1.6 The Great Barrier Reef from

the air
Describing biodiversity
1 A species is most often
defined as a group of
morphologically similar
What is organisms that is capable
biodivers of interbreeding to
ity? produce fertile offspring.

2 An ecosystem is an
interacting community of
populations of organisms
and the physical
environment in which they
 The variety and abundance
of life and its ecological
context, including:
Different kinds of organisms
Numbers of species
Variations in genes
What is
biodivers Complexity of ecological
ity? condition
It is the sum of all biotic
variation from the level of
genes to ecosystems
It is dependent on size and
abiotic and biotic factors
Describing biodiversity

Diversi 1 What is a species?

ty of 2 The biological species
species concept
3 Limitations of the
biological species model
4 Other species concepts
 A species is a group of
organisms that breed only
amongst themselves and
produce offspring that are
also capable of reproducing
Species diversity looks at
Species richness of species - How
diversity many of each species do we
have in a given area
A diversity of ecosystems
When does one ecosystem
start and one end?
Development of
the ecosystem . Life on Earth is connected
concept still a through the cycling of
work in
progress! nutrients and the
transformation of energy
through food webs.

. Ecosystems are generally

homogeneous, but some
regions within an ecosystem
may vary.
 Ecosystem diversity refers to the
diversity at the ecosystem level (a
number of different species)
Not all ecosystems are the same.
E.g. Rainforests, deserts and scrub
plains
We refer to the ecosystem diversity
of a certain area. For example if we
Ecosyste look at global biodiversity we could
m focus on the biodiversity of
diversity Australia in comparison to New
Zealand
Biodiversity is not distributed
evenly on Earth
Ecosystem diversity is based on the
interactions of communities in a
particular area between
themselves and their environment
 Genetic diversity is the
diversity of genes within
a species
High genetic diversity is
Genetic
crucial in order to
diversity
survive catastrophic
events or a change of
living conditions
Complete Act 178, 180
and 276
 Biodiversity is very important
to ensure survival via resilience
Survival is a species primary
goal. If you survive you are
able to reproduce. By surviving
Why is you are able to pass on
biodiver favourable traits to the next
generation.
sity
importa It is important to support our
life on earth. Maintaining and
nt? regulating fresh water supply,
purifying the atmosphere as
well as economic services.
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=N5ssjM2Fjuc
 Species richness
(number of different
species)
Species evenness
(distribution of different
How do species)
we Biodiversity index
measure calculations (E.g.
biodivers Simpsons diversity
ity? Index)
 Measures of biodiversity rely on
classifications of organisms
We need to know what defines a
species in order to know how
many different species we have
How do in a given area
we Classifications can use spatial
measure and temporal scales
biodivers Spatial scales refer to
ity? geographical locations, habitats
(terrestrial and aquatic) and
climatic regions
Temporal scales refer to
geological time. For example pre
or post industrial or colonisation
 We are lucky to live in such a
beautiful and diverse country
Being so isolated, much of our
flora and fauna is unique
(endemic) to our land
The South West of W.A is the only
biodiversity hot spot in Australia!!
Our
3 reasons why our W.A
beautiful
environment is unique and
country interesting:
High diversity of species and
communities
High endemism
Unique adaptations to the
environment
 We have a biodiversity hotspot right on
our doorstep. But what does this
mean?
Biodiversity hotspots are areas that
support natural ecosystems that are
largely intact and where native species
and communities associated with these
What is ecosystems are well represented.
a They are also areas with a high
diversity of locally endemic species,
biodiver which are species that are not found or
sity are rarely found outside the hotspot.
hotspot? To qualify as a hotspot, a region must
meet strict criteria: it must contain at
least 1,500 species of vascular (higher
order) plants (> 0.5% of the worlds
total) as endemics, have a high
diversity of local endemic species and it
has to have lost at least 70% of its
original habitat.
 Global biodiversity hotspots
are the richest and most
threatened reservoirs of plant
and animal life on Earth
The South West is one of 34
The hotspots in the world
South Not only is it Australias only
West hotspot; it is also one of the few
found in a developed country

Eucalyptus erythronema flowers, Southwest

Australia Ecoregion
Our
beautiful
country

Complete Act 275, 177

and 180
 Complete the Pre Video
Worksheet
Watch the click view
Watch!
video An Introduction to
Biodiversity (24 mins)
Complete the During
the Video Worksheet
 Loss of biodiversity
Why reduces the stability
should and resilience of
we natural ecosystems
conserve Complete Act 277
biodivers
ity?
 World Heritage Areas
Complete Scientific Literacy: The
Great Barrier Reef Page 7 Nelson
Conservation
Complete Act 278
How can
International Agreements
we
conserve For example: International
biodivers Migration Routes
ity? Bonn Convention - the entire
population or any geographically
separate part of the population of
any species or lower taxon of wild
animals, a significant proportion of
whose members cyclically and
predictably cross one or more