The document discusses the biosphere and biodiversity. The biosphere is composed of all living organisms found from below the ground to above it and in oceans. It includes biotic factors like plants and animals and abiotic factors like weather. Biotic and abiotic factors combine to create ecosystems. If any single factor in an ecosystem changes due to pollution or natural events, the whole system could be altered. Both human influences like farming and natural influences like volcanoes pose threats and can reduce biodiversity, with three species becoming extinct every hour.

1. Learning Goals:
• To understand what the biosphere and biodiversity
are
• To understand threats to the biosphere and
biodiversity

2. The biosphere is composed of
all living organisms.
Plants, animals, and one-celled
organisms are all part of the
biosphere.
Most of the planet's life is
found from three meters below
the ground to thirty meters
above it and in the top 200
meters of the oceans and seas.

3. • Living things interact with non
living things in the biosphere.
• Biotic factors: living
components in the biosphere.
e.g. Plants, animals, fungi,
protist and bacteria are all
living factors
• Abiotic factors: Non Living
components in the biosphere.
e.g. Habitat (pond, lake, ocean,
desert, mountain) or Weather
(temperature, rain, cloud cover,
snow etc.)

4. • Biotic and Abiotic Factors combine to create a system called an
ecosystem.
An Ecosystem is a
community of living
and non living things
working together in
their environment.

5. • If a single factor is changed
in an ecosystem, either by
pollution or natural
phenomenon, the whole
system could be altered:
• Human Influence: Farming
and irrigating,
deforrestation, pollution
(acid rain) etc.
• Natural Influence:
Earthquakes, volcanoes,
tsunami, landslide,
hurricanes etc.
Lake Mona 2011, Michigan

6. • Biodiversity is the variety of all life
forms on earth - the different
plants, animals and micro-organisms
and the ecosystems of which they
are a part.
• Three species on earth become
extinct every hour of every day.
More than 30 species become
extinct while you sleep at night.
More than 20,000 species become
extinct every year.