UNCG 301 Ecology UNIT 1

• There are 90 degrees of latitude from the equator to each of the poles, such as north and south.
• Biodiversity can have many different meanings and it's important to check to make sure you know which one is being discussed.
• Today, biodiversity is often referred to as richness, which is the number of species in a given area.
• About 1.7 million species have been identified and named, with E.O. Wilson (Harvard University) suggesting that closer to 10 million species actually live on Earth.
• Extinction happens all the time, but several mass extinctions have drastically changed Earth’s biodiversity in the past.
• There are approximately 1.7 million named species on Earth, with many more undescribed.
• The latitudinal biodiversity gradient is a major pattern across life on Earth, it is a negative relationship in most groups of organisms.
• Explaining patterns of biodiversity always depends on the spatial scale of analysis, the time scale of analysis, and the species examined.
• The latitudinal biodiversity gradient may be explained by abiotic or biotic factors, or a combination of both.
• Diversity on Earth is dynamic, changing over space and time.
• Biodiversity does change through time, with paleontologists studying the biodiversity of the past, ecologists studying diversity in different years or seasons, and conservation biologists identifying how biodiversity is being lost by global changes (including humans).
• Over evolutionary time, new species evolve while existing species become extinct.
• There are exceptions to latitudinal patterns of biodiversity.
• Abiotic explanations of biodiversity patterns include environmental stability and antiquity of the tropics and glacial fluxes.
• There is greater area in the tropics than in the arctic, which is another explanation for the latitudinal biodiversity gradient.
• Observed for all species combined and for individual taxa.
• Latitudinal patterns of biodiversity have changed over time.
• Biotic explanations of biodiversity patterns include habitat heterogeneity and productivity.
• Ancient patterns of biodiversity (over 100 million years old) with the signal getting stronger.
• The tropics are more environmentally stable, which is one explanation for the latitudinal biodiversity gradient.
• The northern latitudes were covered in glaciers more recently, which is another explanation for the latitudinal biodiversity gradient.
• Lots of research on the topic was among the top 25 key research themes for the future in 2005.
• The tropics have higher levels of plant productivity, which is another explanation for the latitudinal biodiversity gradient.
• There is an important difference between maintenance and creation in the explanation of biodiversity patterns.
• The explanation of biodiversity patterns may be different for different groups of species.
• Rapoport’s Rule is a combination of different processes acting at different scales.
• Global patterns, continental patterns, and patterns in your own state or county are different ways to study biodiversity change over space.
• Greensboro, North Carolina is located at latitude 40 ° N.
• The whole arctic has 280 species of bird, which is only 0.3% of all bird species.
• There is also a latitudinal biodiversity gradient in aquatic species, with more species in the tropics and fewer in the arctic.
• The latitudinal biodiversity gradient is widely recognized, frequently studied, and the causes are still debated.
• Pteridophytes are a type of vascular plant that were present during the Devonian and Silurian periods.
• The Amazon rainforest, located in the tropics, contains 1/3 of all bird species.
• The latitudinal biodiversity gradient, also known as the latitudinal Biodiversity Gradient, is a phenomenon where species diversity declines as you move northward and southward from the equator.
• The Devonian period saw the origins and extinctions of different groups, resulting in changes to the diversity of different groups through time.
• Angiosperms are a type of vascular plant that were present during the Devonian period.
• Latitude lines are parallel, that is they are the same distance
• Origins and extinctions mean that diversity of different groups changes through time
• Olinguito was discovered in South America
• Biodiversity deals with richness and the number of species in an given area