Ecosystem Biodiversity

• Biodiversity is a measure of how many different species live in an ecosystem.
• Biodiversity is a term that describes how diverse living things are in a specific area.
• Organisms such plants and animals, small or big, are part of biodiversity.
• “Organisms are economically and ecologically valuable”
• Ecosystem Stability refers to the capability of a natural system to apply self-regulating mechanisms to return to a steady state after an outside disturbance.
• Organisms are important because…

  • Their product are source of food, medicine, clothing, shelter, and energy.
  • They maintain balance in the ecosystem by performing their specific roles.
  • Some maintain the quality of bodies of water.
  • Prevent soil erosion and floods, cycle minerals in the soil and absorb pollutants.
  • Others feed on insects and pests which control the population of organisms in a certain environment.
• The value of species can be divided into 3 categories:

  Direct Economic Value

  Indirect Economic Value

  Aesthetic Value
• Direct Economic Value


  The benefit derived from the goods provided by biodiversity.
• Indirect Economic Value


  The benefits produced by the organisms without using them.
• Aesthetic Value


  The act of appreciating and feeling beauty through the observation of a species, an assemblage of species or an ecosystem.
• IEV - Plants absorbing carbon dioxide and produces oxygen.

  DEV - Waste of animals turn into biogas.

  DEV - Woods turn into furniture.

  IEV - Fishes maintaining the pH level of bodies of water.

  AV - Plants used in parks.

  DEV - Eggs, milk and meat from poultry animals.

  DEV - Rubber trees to make shoes.

  IEV - Phytoplankton helping in fixing the earth’s ozone layer.

  DEV - Carabao helping farmers in plowing the fields.

  AV - Flower orchids use to make leis for visitors.
• Types of Diversity

  • Genetic Diversity
  • Species Diversity
  • Ecosystem Diversity
  • Functional Diversity
• Genetic Diversity is the variety of genetic material within a species or a population.
• Species Diversity is the number and abundance of species present in different communities.
• There are two constituents of Species Diversity:

  Species Richness:

  Number of different species present in an ecosystem.

  Species Evenness:

  Relative abundance of individuals of each of those species.
• In a forest, there may have a large number of different species but have only a few members of each species.
• In a forest, there may be only a few plant species but a large number of each species.
• Ecosystem Diversity is the variety of terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems found in an area or on the earth.
• Functional Diversity is the biological and chemical processes such as energy flow and matter recycling needed for the survival of species, communities, and ecosystems.
• Ecosystems with high biodiversity have many different species of organisms.
• Ecosystems with low biodiversity do not have many different species of organisms.
• Ecosystem Stability

  The higher the biodiversity, the more stable the ecosystem

  (stable= stays the same)
• An ecosystem with high biodiversity does not change easily; it is

  stable.
• An ecosystem with low biodiversity is unstable.
• One small change could cause many species to die
• Biodiversity and Extinction

  Environmental change in an ecosystem with low biodiversity can even cause extinction of a species.
• Species with specialized diets (low surrounding biodiversity) and specific habitats are more likely to become extinct than species with diverse diets and a wide range of habitats.
• Invasive species are non-native species of organisms in an ecosystem that reproduce quickly and have few natural predators.
• Invasive species decrease biodiversity in an ecosystem by

  taking over food and space from native species.
• Invasive species are very harmful to ecosystems that already have low biodiversity.
• Population is a group of organisms of the same species that live in a certain area or community.
• An increase or decrease in population of organisms can

  be indicators of potential problems in organism’s environment.
• Population Density refers to the number of organisms per unit

  area.
• Carrying Capacity is the maximum population size of the species that the environment can sustain.