module 5

• Biodiversity


  The variety of life that can be found on Earth, composed of ecosystems, species, and genetic diversity that includes all levels of biological organization
• Ecosystem


  A geographic region where plants, animals, and other species work together to form a framework of life, including the weather and landscape
• Components of an ecosystem

  • Biotic (living)
  • Abiotic (non-living)
• High biodiversity


  • Great range of organisms interacting differently
  • Large number of animals
  • Diverse food webs
  • Range of natural habitats
  • Increased genetic diversity
  • Rich resources
• Ecosystems with high biodiversity

  • Rainforest
  • Aquatic ecosystem
• Low biodiversity


  • Minimum interactions between and among organisms
  • Habitat loss
  • Inadequate food supply
  • High temperature
  • Scarcity of water sources
• Ecosystems with low biodiversity

  • Desert
  • Tundra
• Importance of biodiversity


  • Economic - supplies raw materials
  • Ecological - provides ecosystem services
  • Intrinsic value - each species has a right to live
• Causes of species decline (HIPPO)


  • Habitat destruction
  • Invasion of introduced species
  • Population increase
  • Pollution
  • Overcollection/overharvesting of resources
• Biotic factors include plants, animals, and decaying organisms. Abiotic factors include rocks, temperature and humidity.
• Rainforest and aquatic ecosystem have the highest biodiversity, meaning they have the greatest number of species living in them.
• A good way to remember the causes of species decline is through the acronym HIPPO: Habitat destruction, Invasion of introduced species, Population increase, Pollution, Overcollection/overharvesting of resources.
• Biodiversity


  The variety of living species within a given ecosystem
• High biodiversity is present in tropical rainforests
• Low biodiversity is present in the desert ecosystem and the tundra ecosystem
• HIPPO


  Acronym to remember the causes of species decline: Habitat destruction, Invasion of introduced species, Population increase, Pollution, Overcollection/overharvesting of resources
• An ecosystem is a geographic region where plants, animals, and other species work together to form a life framework
• An ecosystem includes the biotic parts or living components, as well as the abiotic or non-living components
• Organisms in an ecosystem based on nutrition

  • Producers (Autotrophs)
  • Consumers (Heterotrophs)
  • Decomposers
• Producers (Autotrophs)


  • Can manufacture their own food, including chlorophyll-bearing plants, photoautotrophs (obtain energy from sunlight), and chemoautotrophs (obtain energy from chemical compounds)
• Consumers (Heterotrophs)


  • Depend on other living forms for nutrition, including herbivores, carnivores, and omnivores
• Decomposers


  • Obtain nutrition or energy from the breakdown of dead organic matter, including scavengers, detritivores, and saprotrophs
• Food chain


  A single pathway through which energy and matter flow through an ecosystem, showing who eats whom
• Food web


  An interlocking configuration of food chains, showing that most organisms eat and are eaten by more than one species
• Trophic levels


  • 1st Trophic Level: Producers
  • 2nd Trophic Level: Primary Consumers
  • 3rd Trophic Level: Secondary Consumers
  • 4th Trophic Level: Tertiary Consumers
• Higher trophic levels have less energy and biomass, with fewer but larger species
• Ecosystems need constant inputs of energy from sunlight or chemicals