1. SPI
BIODIVERSITY

2. BELL WORK (get textbook):
Grab “Biodiversity” notes off of the front table.
Put your animal drawing/project in the basket. Make sure your name is on it.
Copy objective at the top of your notes: Identify several reasons of the importance of maintaining the earth’s biodiversity.

4. Biodiversity
Biodiversity refers to the variety of life in an ecosystem.
A forest contains more species than a wheat field does.

5. Measuring Biodiversity
The common measure of biodiversity is the number of species that live in an area.
For example, a coral reef can be home to thousands of species including corals, fish, algae, sponges, crabs, and worms.

6. Differences in Biodiversity
Biodiversity tends to increase as you move toward the equator because temperatures tend to be warmer.
Ecosystems with the highest biodiversity usually have warm, damp climates.

7. Why is biodiversity important?
Human needs: food, materials, medicines, fibers for clothing, stability in an ecosystem, etc.
Eating a variety of foods is a good way to stay healthy.
Hundreds of species help feed the human population all around the world.

9. Materials & Medicine
Furniture and buildings are made from wood and bamboo.
Fibers from cotton, flax, and wool are woven into clothing.
Most of the medicines used today originally came from wild plants.

10. What reduces biodiversity?
An extinct species is a species that was once present on Earth but has died out.
Extinctions can be caused by competition from other species or by changes in the environment.
Today, the rate of extinctions appears to be rising.
Human activities probably contributed to most of these extinctions.

11. Tasmanian Tiger
The animal looked like something of a cross between a tiger (due to its stripes) and a dog (in terms of its build). However, it was in fact a carnivorous marsupial, complete with pouch.
Their heavy-handed hunting, prompted in part by farmers' protection of their livestock, brought the animal to minimalist numbers by the early 20th century.

12. Endangered Species
A species in danger of becoming extinct is classified as an endangered species.
The African black rhinoceros is endangered.
For centuries, humans have considered rhinoceros horns to be a rare treasure.

13. Threatened Species
If a species is likely to become endangered in the near future, it is classified as a threatened species.
The Australian koala is threatened.
By the year 2000, nearly two-thirds of the koala’s habitat had been lost to logging, agriculture, cities, and roads.

14. Habitat Loss
When people alter an ecosystem, the habitats of some species may become smaller or disappear completely (building neighborhoods, businesses, farms, etc.)

15. Divided Habitats
Biodiversity can be reduced when a habitat is divided by roads, cities, or farms.

16. Introduced Species
An introduced species (INVASIVE SPECIES) is a species that moves into an ecosystem as a result of human actions.
Introduced species often have no competitors or predators in the new area, so their populations grow rapidly.

17. Introduced species can crowd out or consume native species.

18. How Do Invasive Species Get Here?
A majority of the most likely pathways involve humans.
“Stowaway” organisms arrive here inside packing materials.
Microscopic creatures are dumped from ships' ballast water tanks.
Many plants and animals enter the U.S. as part of the booming trade in exotic pets or exotic foods.

19. The Asian Longhorned Beetle
Many imported goods are packed on wood pallets. The wood may contain insects and plant diseases harmful to trees in the U.S.
The Asian Longhorned Beetle is believed to have entered the U.S. in wood pallets from China.

20. The Asian Longhorned Beetle has the ability to destroy most hardwood tree species, such as maple and poplar.
Timber, shade trees, and maple syrup production are all at risk.

21. Ship Ballast Tanks
After crossing an ocean and nearing a U.S. port, ships may release ballast water that has been carried to keep the ship at the maximum performance and safety level. A large ship may release millions of gallons of water along with species of plant and animal life not native to that port.

22. Invasive Species Released via Ballast Water
Zebra Mussels can have great impacts on lake & ocean ecosystem.
Eat large portions of the microscopic plants and animals which form the base of the food chain.
Over time, Zebra Mussels feeding behavior can affect a lake's entire ecological balance, causing significant changes in native species populations.

23. Zebra Mussel Impact Clog water and drain pipes
Cost $5 billion in control efforts
Displaced native freshwater mussels and drastically alter the food web.
Their population continues to grow and no immediate end is foreseen.

24. Release of Exotic Species into the Wild
Burmese pythons are popular, and legal, pet snakes.
Adult snakes – 15 ft. long
Some owners get rid of their pets by dumping them in the forest.
"All of the Burmese pythons that we see in the park are a product of the international pet trade," said Skip Snow, a wildlife biologist at Everglades National Park.
A 10-foot, 3-inch Burmese python captured on an access road to Florida's Everglades National Park

25. Plants can be Invasive Species
Kudzu first arrived here in 1876 as part of the Japanese display garden at the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, PA.
Owners of a Florida nursery found that animals liked to eat kudzu, so in the 1920’s they advertised and sold kudzu as a forage crop.
During the 1930’s, kudzu was recommended to control erosion.

26. So what was the problem? Kudzu grows almost too well.
During warm summer months, kudzu can grow 1-2 feet each day!
A kudzu plant, in optimal growing conditions, can grow 60+ feet per year.
Kudzu rapidly spread and covered trees, power poles, buildings, etc., destroying plants, causing electrical outages, and becoming an enormous nuisance.

27. Pollution
Biodiversity also is affected by pollution of land, water, or air.
Soil that is contaminated with oil, chemicals, or other pollutants can harm plants or limit plant growth.

28. Water Pollution
Water-dwelling organisms are easily harmed by pesticides, chemicals, oil, and
other pollutants that contaminate
the water.
Water pollutants often come from factories, ships, or runoff from roads, lawns, and farms.

29. Air Pollution
Acid rain forms when sulfur dioxide and nitrogen oxide released by industries and automobiles combine with water vapor in the air.
Acid rain can have serious effects on trees.

30. Climate Change
Carbon dioxide gas (CO2) is released into the atmosphere when wood, coal, gas, or any other fuel is burned.
An increase in CO2 could raise Earth’s average temperature by a few degrees.

31. Ozone Depletion
Scientists have discovered that the ozone layer is gradually becoming thinner, a process called ozone depletion.

32. OBJECTIVE:
Identify several reasons of the importance of maintaining the earth’s biodiversity.

33. GET OUT YOUR TEXTBOOK Turn to page 156. (Chapter 6 Section 1)
This assignment is due tomorrow.
It covers both Chapter 6 Sections 1 and 2.
At the top of the first page write pg. 156
At the top of the second page write pg. 162.

34. 1.
What is biodiversity?

35. 2.
Name 3 reasons why biodiversity is crucial for human beings’ survival.

36. 3.
What is the difference between a threatened species and an endangered species?

37. 4.
What is the # 1 reason for biodiversity being reduced on Earth?

38. 5.
How do invasive species reduce biodiversity?