The document defines biodiversity as the variety of life on Earth, including genetic, population, species, and ecosystem diversity. It then lists the three main types of biodiversity as genetic, species, and ecosystem diversity. Finally, it proposes that biodiversity needs to be protected for moral, economic, and ecological reasons, including maintaining ecosystem health and services.

2. Objectives
 Define biodiversity
 List types of biodiversity
 Propose why there is a need to protect
biodiversity.

3. •The term Biodiversity was first coined by Walter G. Rosen in 1986.
•At least 10 million kinds of organisms inhabit the Earth but
less than one third of these have been studied and
catalogued (put in record) by biologists.
•We see that all organisms share many biological
characteristics. Five principal groups of organisms are
prokaryotes, protists, fungi, plants, and animals.
INTRODUCTION;

4. Introduction
 The term BIODIVERSITY was first coined by
the entomologist E.O. Wilson in 1986.
 Biodiversity is the heritage of million of years
of evolution.
 Diversity is a basic property of life.
 The striking feature of Earth is the existence
of Life and the striking feature of Life is its
Diversity.

5. Bio =
BioBiodiversitydiversity
What does “Bio” mean?

6. BioBiodiversitydiversity
Diversity = Variety
What does “Diversity” mean?

7. What is biodiversity?
 Biodiversity includes diversity within species,
between species and among ecosystems.

8. DEFINATION:
 “Diversity” means variety within a species
and among species. Biodiversity is a
measure of the variety of organisms present
in different ecosystems.


9. What is biodiversity?
The spectrum of life on earth,
in terms of variation in
genes,
populations,
species,
ecosystems,
interactions among them.

10. Biological diversity organization

11. Biological Diversity
Genetic diversity – the genetic variation
among individuals in a species
Species diversity – the number of different
species in a given area
Ecosystem (Habitat) diversity – the variety
of interactions among organisms in a
community (or the variety of ecosystems on
Earth)

12. • Ecological diversity
• Species diversity
 Genetic diversity

13. Levels of genetic organization
Gene Text sequence
Chromosome Chapter
Genome
Gene pool

14. Why protect biodiversity ?
MORAL
 right to exist, heritage
 unnecessary waste immoral
ECONOMIC
 valuable resources now and in the future
ECOLOGICAL
 maintain local to global ecosystem health
LEGAL
 have to by law

15. Origin of Biodiversity:
 Biodiversity found on Earth today is the
result of 4 billion years of evolution.
 The origin of life is not well known to science,
though limited evidence suggests that until
600 million years ago, all life consisted of
bacteria and similar unicellular organisms.

16. Plants begin
invading
land
Evolution and expansion of
life
First fossil
record of
animals
Plants invade
the land
Age of reptiles
Age of
mammals
Insects and amphibians
invade the land
Modern humans
(Homo sapiens)
appear about
2 seconds
before midnight
Recorded human
history begins
1/4 second
before midnight
Origin of life
(3.6–3.8 billion
years ago)
noon
midnight

17. Biodiversity depends on;
 Flora and fauna diversity
depends on-
 Climate
 Altitude
 Soils
 Presence of other species

18. DISTRIBUTION OF BIODIVERSITY
Biodiversity is not
distributed evenly on
Earth.
 It is richest in the
tropics. Temperate
regions also have many
species
while there are fewer
species in the polar
regions.

20.  Temperate zone: the climate is mild, generally ranging
from warm to cool. The four annual seasons, Spring,
Summer, Autumn and Winter, occur in these areas.
 Polar zone: the coldest parts of the earth,
and is generally covered with ice and snow.
 Tropical zone: is warm or hot and humid year
round. The seasons there don't change very much.
Summer and winter are almost the same. The
Earth's tropical rain forests are found in this zone

23. Significance of biodiversity
 Biodiversity provides food for humans.
 A significant proportion of drugs are derived, directly or
indirectly, from biological sources. A wide range of industrial
materials e.g. building materials, fibres, dyes, resins, gums,
adhesives, rubber and oil are derived directly from plants.
 Biodiversity plays important role in making and maintaining
ecosystems.
 It plays a part in regulating the chemistry of our atmosphere
and water supply. Biodiversity is directly involved in
recycling nutrients and providing fertile soils.

24. Regulating
Benefits obtained from
regulation of
ecosystem processes
• climate regulation
• disease regulation
• flood regulation
Provisioning
Goods produced or
provided by
ecosystems
• food
• fresh water
• fuel wood
• genetic resources
Cultural
Non-material benefits
from ecosystems
• spiritual
• recreational
• aesthetic
• inspirational
• educational
Supporting
Services necessary for production of other ecosystem services
• Soil formation
• Nutrient cycling
• Primary production

25. BENEFITS OF BIODIVERSITY
Consumptive value:
Food/Drink
Fuel
Medicine
Batter crop varieties
Industrial Material
Non-Consumptive Value:
Recreation
Education and Research
Traditional value

26. Ecological services:
Balance of nature
Biological productivity
Regulation of climate
Degradation of waste
Cleaning of air and water
Cycling of nutrients
Control of potential pest and disease causing species
Detoxification of soil and sediments
Stabilization of land against erosion
Carbon sequestration and global climate change
Maintenance of Soil fertility

27. A B
Which do you like better?

28. A B
Which do you like better?

29. A B
Which do you like better?

30. Biological Diversity

31. Biodiversity: # of species estimates
 Most estimates of the
total number of species
on Earth lie between
5 million and 30 million.
 Of this total, roughly 2
million species have
been formally described;
the remainder are
unknown or unnamed.

32. Biodiversity is dynamic
Biodiversity is not
static, but constantly
changing.
Biodiversity is
increased by genetic
change and
evolutionary processes
and reduced by
processes such as
habitat degradation,
population decline, and
extinction.

33. Endangered and Extinct Species
 Extinction, the elimination of a species from
Earth, occurs when the last individual of a
particular species dies.
 Extinction is a natural process – 99.95% of all
the species that have ever lived on Earth are
extinct today.
 However, human activities can speed the
process - extinctions today are occurring at 100
to 1000 times faster than the natural rate.

34. Endangered and Extinct
Species
 Endangered species are in imminent danger
of extinction throughout all or part of their
range.
 Threatened species have low population sizes
and are likely to become endangered in the
near future.

35. Characteristics of Endangered
Species
Endangered species have one or more
of these characteristics that make
them vulnerable to extinction:
 limited natural range
 low reproductive success
 specialized feeding requirements
 large territory requirement

37. Extinctions can be caused
by:
 ·natural processes (e.g. fires, hurricanes,
droughts);
 excessive harvesting of particular species
of economic value;
 impacts of alien invasive species including
diseases;
 the impacts of various environmental
pollutants;
 changes in climate;
 knock-on effects from extinction of
essential companion species (e.g.
pollinators, fruit or seed dispersers,

39. IMPACT OF HUMAN BEINGS
ON BIODIVERSITY

40. Human activities threatening
biological diversity:
Habitat destruction
 Invasive species
Overexploitation(hunting)

41. Habitat destruction
 Acid deposition
Global warming
Toxic chemicals
Plastics

42. Overexploitation(hunting)
Over-hunting – unregulated hunting
Poaching – illegal hunting
Over-fishing – harvesting faster than
the stocks can replace themselves
Over-collecting – collecting live
organisms for zoos, pet stores, research etc.

43. http://www.oceansatlas.org/
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/
Molles 2007
Global changes
 Climatic
change
Land use change
- type
- intensity
Species invasions
Loss of biodiversity
 Pollution
Over-harvest
http://www.ourworldfoundation.org.uk/polar.jpg
http://library.thinkquest.org
/

44. Percentage of birds, mammals, fishes and plants/ Total
number of species disappearing
(after Pimms et al., 1995 in Chapin et al., 2000)

45. Biodiversity and Sustainability
 The biodiversity of an ecosystem contributes to the
sustainability of that ecosystem.
 Higher/more biodiversity = more sustainable.
 Lower/less biodiversity = less sustainable.
 High biodiversity in an ecosystem means that there
is a great variety of genes and species in that
ecosystem.

46. Preserving Earth’s
Biological Diversity

47. Ex-situ Conservation
 Ex-situ conservation means “off-site” conservation.
 The species of plants and animals to be protected
are removed from the natural habitats and are
placed in the safer areas under the control of man.
 Botanical gardens, zoos and the arboreta are the
traditional methods of ex-situ conservation.
 Germ plasm banks or Seed banks (also Gene
banks) are some other methods of ex-situ
conservation.

48. In-situ Conservation
 In-situ conservation means “on-site”
conservation i.e. protection of species within
the natural habitat of the species of animals
and plants.
 It includes protection in the wildlife
sanctuaries, national parks and biosphere
reserves etc. that have been formed to
protect threatened and even rare species.

50. Biological Diversity

51. Biological Diversity

52. We remember we
depend on each
other,
live and let live.