1. Biological Diversity
biodiversity refers to all the different kinds of life (or different species) on Earth
there are over 3 million species on Earth… but half a million have not been classified
species is a group of similar organisms that can reproduce together to produce viable offspring
there is variation within species though…
e.g. different hair or eye color, height…
variation improves survivability

2. Classifying Biological Diversity
5 Kindoms
(bacteria)
(mostly single-cell organisms)
Related species can have the same genus
name but not the same species name:
e.g Canis lupus (wolf) and Canis familiaris (dog)

3. Distribution of Biodiversity
The greatest species diversity is found in tropical regions – especially rain forests.
Coral reefs have been called the “amazons of the oceans” because of the richness of their species diversity.

4. Ecosystems
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the whole Earth’s surface consists of a series of interconnected ecosystems
an ecosystem is an area where climate, landscape, plants and animals all interact together in a unique way
ecosystems consist of 2 components
abiotic: non living features of the area
biotic: living organisms in the area

5. Broad Niche (Generalists) Narrow Niche (Specialists)
Generalists can use a wide variety of environmental conditions and make use of a variety of different resources.
A specialist thrives only in a narrow range of conditions, and has a limited diet.

6. Resource Partitioning
Three warbler species feed on spruce budworm.
The tree is the habitat.
Each has a unique niche where they prefer to gather food.
There is some overlap of niche

7. Populations & Communities
a population is all the members of a species that are living in the same area and sharing resources
a community is populations of different species that share a common area
6:40

8. Competition and Sharing
species are continuously interacting with each other within their environments
food chains represent this interaction
most interactions between species are brief… generally for the purpose of getting food
but some species have longer term relationships → these are called symbiotic relationships

9. Symbiotic Relationships
Commensalism
The anemonefish lives among the forest of poisonous, stinging tentacles of an anemone which protect it from non-immune predators. The anemonefish is protected by a substance contained in the mucous on its skin.
The Cattle Egret forages in pastures and fields among livestock such as cattle and horses, feeding on the insects stirred up by the movement of the grazing animals.
Barnacles attach to whales and other marine organisms to essentially “hitch” a ride to nutrient –rich waters.

10. Mutualism
Pollination of flowers by insects is the classic example – insect gets food, and transports pollen for flower.
Seeds transported by birds an other organisms is another common example.
A bird called a Water Dikkop lives with crocodiles… they even lay their eggs in the same place. The birds help the crocodile by eating bothersome insects. The crocodiles don’t harm them and essentially protect their eggs.
Tiny worms often fasten themselves to a fish and make sores on its body. When this happens the fish goes to a coral reef where a wrasse lives. The small fish called a wrasse crawls all over the bigger fish eating the worms… and gets a delivered meal!
Lichen is actually fungi which keeps the organism from getting dehydrated, and algae which produces food.

11. Parasitism parasite & host Lamprey – on fish (like leaches) Lice
Worms (tape worm)
Mosquito
Cowbird puts its eggs into the nest of another bird… who then feeds the cowbird chicks.
Dwarf Mistletoe gets so big and heavy it often causes the host tree to fall down… or limbs to break off.