3. What is species?
• A set of individuals having the same distinct
characteristics and able to mate and produce fertile
offspring.
4. Species Diversity
• The number and variety of life
forms present in a biological
community
• About 8.7 million organism in our
diversity
Species Richness – is the number of
different kinds of species in a
particular are.
Species evenness- is the abundance of
the individual members within a
particular species
5. Types of Species Based on General Ecological
Niche
Ecological Niche- is the sum total of
the way of life of a species including
its survival, feeding, and
reproductive abilities.
Generalist Species- have broad way of
life, can live in a variety of
environments, eat many kinds of
different foods, often can tolerate a
wide range of environmental
conditions and produce more
young.
Ex. Cockroaches, rats and man
6. Specialist species- live in a narrow
niche
- They are able to live in one habitat,
eat a specific food, sensitive to
changes in the environment and
usually produce new offspring
Ex. Panda bears- which eats only
specific bamboo plant in china
Flamingo- which eat a specific
crustacean
• These species are more vulnerable
to extinction because of its limited
survival characteristics
7. Types of Species Based on Specific Ecological
niche
Native species- endemic or local
- Are organisms that can only be
found in one place and
nowhere else
Ex. Philippine tamaraw (Bubalus
mindorensis)
Philippine Tarsier- the smallest
primate in the world (Tarsius
syrichta)
Philippine bamboo bat- the
smallest bat in the world
(Tylonycteris pachypus)
8. Nonnative species- exotic, invasive or alien
-are species that migrates either
accidentally or deliberately introduced
into a new ecosystem
Ex. Golden Apple Snail or Golden Kuhol
(Pomacea canaliculata) – was
introduced deliberately in the
Philippines as an additional income to
farmers.
- Today the Golden Kuhol is one of
perennial pests in our rice paddies
Tilapia- is in fact not native to the
Philippines but rather originated from
Africa
9. Indicator Species- are species that act as biological smoke
alarms because they give out warningsignals to other
species of some damage to an ecosystem.
Ex. Birds and frog are excellent indicator species
• Approximately 70% of the 10,000 known bird species of
the worlds are declining due to human activities.
• A recent decline in frog population has been suspected
due to Global warming
10. Keystone Species- Exist only in limited numbers but
their effect on the environment is great.
- They perform roles such as controlling the
population of other species by eating sick and the
old members
Ex. Sharks and alligators
11. Foundation Species- are organisms that helps create
and reshape habitats and ecosystems.
Ex. Beaver makes dams as a protected area where it
lives but the newly formed habitat also house other
organisms such as birds, fish and insect
