Importance of biodiversity

• Biodiversity - the measure of species richness and population size (and genetic variation)
• Biological resources:

  • food
  • biomimetics
  • medicines
  • physiological research
  • pest control species
  • genetic resources
  • ecosystem services
  • interspecies relationships
• Food:

  • food sources change over time
  • indigenous species are usually better adapted to the habitat than introduced species
  • selective breeding (genetic modification) has enhanced desirable characteristics and eliminated undesirable ones

  If we lose biodiversity we may lose species we may depend on/exploit for food in the future
• New food species:

  • North American bison - eats low quality grass - can be kept in areas of drought
  • Insects - mealworms, crickets, grasshoppers - space efficient, energy efficient and water efficient - they are high in protein and low in fat
  • Potato bean - high in protein - when people become malnourished, protein is the first nutrient that is lacked - high protein is life saving after drought
  • Fruit of Yehab tree - Somalia - fruit produced all year round and has high nutrition - drought resistant
• Biomimetics:

  • using the knowledge of adaptations of other species to improve the designs of manufactured items e.g. form, shape, structure, processes
• Biomimetics ex:

  transport

  • Owl - serrated and curved feathers for silent flight - bullet train
  • Kingfisher - beak creates very little splash - bullet train shape

  Infection control

  • Sharks - scales are ridged to reduce friction - bacteria resistant hospital surfaces

  Architecture

  • Prairie dogs - burrows self ventilate - self ventilating building
  • Termite - mounds self ventilate to regulate humidity

  Adhesion

  • Burdock plant - seeds have hairs with hooks - hook and loop, velcro

  Materials

  • spider - silk - air bags and kevlar high tensile strength to mass
• Medicines:

  • If biodiversity is lost, future medicines could be lost
  • many medicines are inspired by chemical properties of organisms - their chemical structure can be made artificially
  • E.g.
  • Willow tree - bark contains aspirin - painkiller
  • Poppies - opioid drugs - codeine - painkiller in hospitals
  • Sponge in coral reefs - AZT - treats HIV
• Physiological research:

  • researching different species helps us learn how the human body works
  • Squid - giant nerve cells which are almost identical to humans - almost all our knowledge of the nervous system comes from squids. Their nerve cells are 100 times larger than human nerve cells
  • Dolphins - use sound to see, communicate and hunt. We studied their use of echolocation to create ultrasound scans. This helps us study internal organs.
  • Purple sea urchin - embryo studied to learn how embryos develop. Drugs are tested on them. The first 100 divisions are the same as human embryos
• Pest control species:

  • species that get rid of a pest (an organism that is unwanted and annoying to humans)
  • Carnivorous control:
  • Aphids eat crops - Ladybirds eat aphids
  • Herbivorous control
  • Prickly pear is invasive in Australia, so no native species can eat it. - Cactoblastic cactorum moth caterpillars eat the prickly pear
  • Predatory control
  • White fly eat off tomatoes in greenhouses, they are very small so hard to remove - Encarsia formosa is a parasitic wasp that lays eggs inside the fly eggs which kills the flies.
• Genetic resources:

  Selective breeding of crops and domestic animals has shrunk their gene pools. Genes such as disease resistance could be lost that are still found in wild populations. These genes can be added to the domesticated gene pool.

  Crop Wild Relatives are used for interbreeding with commercial crops t improve them.

  • Gene pool problems:
  • small gene pools are vulnerable to environment changes and disease.
  • In the wild some organisms of the species still have genes resistant to pests so they live.
  • If we lose biodiversity we may lose genes that are beneficial to us
• Genetic resources example:

  • Banana sweets don't taste like current bananas because they were made in 1950 based on Cavandish bananas. These got wiped out by disease due to their small gene pool.
  • Now we eat Gros Michael
• Vavilov centres - areas of ancient civilisations where they began using selective breeding

  • pineapples - genes found for sweetness and yellow colour
  • Palm oil - rainforests cut down for palm oil plantations. They are cheap and low effort to grow and have a high yield from wild genes
• Ecosystem services:

  • any benefit from an ecosystem that makes a human life possible and worth living

  Examples:

  • Photosynthesis - releases oxygen used in aerobic respiration
  • Tourism = money
  • Building materials
  • Recreation
  • Pets and entertainment
  • homes - indigenous communities
  • biogeochemical cycles
  • soil maintenance - agriculture
  • Atmosphere composition - carbon sequestration
  • Hydrological cycle - evapotranspiration
• Ecosystem services:

  Interspecies relationships

  • Food web - all heterotrophs rely on other organisms for food. Something may be a food source for a species that is important for humans
  • Pollination - fruit, cereal, grain, nuts.
  • Specific plant adaptions for specific pollinators e.g. Darwin's orchid and sphinx moth
  • If one species dies the other species also dies because nothing will pollinate it or it won't have any food
• Ecosystem services:

  Interspecies relationships

  • Seed dispersal - seeds need to go far from the parent plant so they don't compete.
  • Some seeds have specific dispersers so they may be resistant to digestive enzymes
  • Avocado and giant ground sloth (extinct). Avocados didn't go extinct as well only because humans started farming them
  • Habitat provision - forests, providing materials for nests, or as a defense