1. 3.3 BIODIVERSITY By: Lisa, Alex, Sebastian, Nidhi, and Ashley

2. THE VALUE OF BIODIVERSITY Biodiversity is the number of different species in an area Biodiversity has both economic value and ecological value with an ecosystem

3. ECONOMIC VALUE Ecosystems provide many things with economical value such as: Raw materials Food The ecosystem itself has economical value too Wildlife tours (ecotourism)

4. ECOLOGICAL VALUE Species are connected to each other and depend on each other for food and shelter. A Keystone species is a species that influences the survival of many other species in an eco-system. Ex. Sea otters control sea urchins from destroying the ecosystem. Sea urchins would overpopulate the habitat if sea otters didn’t prey on them

5. FACTORS AFFECTING BIODIVERSITY Area: Larger area will contain more species than a small area Ex. 10km squared would have more species than 1km squared

6. FACTORS AFFECTING BIODIVERSITY Climate: Places with constant temperatures will have more species. Plants would grow year-round, meaning that food would always be available for other organisms.

7. FACTORS AFFECTING BIODIVERSITY Niche Diversity: A reef supports many different niches for organisms that live under, on, and among the coral Coral reefs provide more shelter for different species to live in, compared to a sand covered flat area.

8. GENE POOL DIVERSITY Genes are the structures in an organism’s cells that carry its hereditary information. In a species, the organisms share many genes. Most of them are different from others, they make up a gene pool Species that aren’t as different in the gene pool are less able to adapt to changes in the environment.

9. EXTINCTION OF SPECIES Extinction is the disappearance of all members of a species form earth. Species that could become endangered in the future are called threatened species. Species that may become extinct are called endangered species.

10. CAUSES OF EXTINCTION Habitat Destruction: When a species loses their habitat Ex. When a forest is cleared to use the wood or to build a new town Fragmentation: When a species habitat is broken into smaller parts For example, when a road is built. It would cause less place for the species to live, and plants would be less likely to disperse their seeds Large species would need large areas to find enough food to survive, and a smaller space would make it harder

11. CAUSES OF EXTINCTION Poaching: Illegal killing or removing of wildlife from their habitats Endangered animals are hunted for: Skin, fur, teeth, horns, or claws People would do illegal things when they are desperate (ex. For money)

12. CAUSES OF EXTINCTION Pollution: Animals can drink pollutants in the river breathe pollutants Pollutants can also settle in the soil and be absorbed by plants and down the food chain Pollutants can kill or weaken organisms or cause birth defects

13. CAUSES OF EXTINCTION Exotic species: Introducing new species into an ecosystem can threaten biodiversity For example: Rats can escape from ships onto new islands and eat the organisms on the land, nene goose eggs. Without another predators they are the top of the chain. People brought mongooses to the land to eat the rats Although, mongooses liked to eat eggs more than rats Mongooses and rats together ate the eggs and the nene goose are now endangered

14. PROTECTING BIODIVERSITY Three successful approaches to protect biodiversity are captive breeding, laws and treaties, and habitat preservation. Captive breeding The mating of animals in zoos or wildlife preserves to increase the numbers of an species Laws and Treaties Protects species They prohibit products made from threatened or endangered species. Habitat Preservation National parks are built to protect to natural ecosystems to save the endangered or threatened species