Week 15 Biodiversity

• Biodiversity


  Variability in life forms within and between species in an ecosystem such as animals, plants, fungi, and even microorganisms like bacteria that make up our natural world
• Levels of Biological Organization

  • Genetic Diversity
  • Species Diversity
  • Ecosystem Biodiversity
• Genetic Diversity


  Variety of genes within a species, every species is made up of individuals that have their own particular genetic composition, a species may have different populations, each having different genetic compositions, genes serve as basic units of all life on Earth, genes are responsible for both the similarities and the differences between organisms
• Species Diversity


  Variety of species within a habitat or a region such as rainforests and coral reefs, species are grouped together into families according to shared or similar characteristics
• Ecosystem Biodiversity


  Variety of ecosystems in a given place, ecosystem is a community of organisms and their physical environment interacting together such as whole forest, or a small area, such as a pond
• Two Major Ecosystems


  • Aquatic Ecosystems
  • Terrestrial Ecosystems
• The Philippines is considered as a megadiversity country in the world, it has diverse flora and fauna and high levels of endemics, it belongs to the World's Biologically Wealthiest Nations
• Factors affecting PH biodiversity

  • Archipelagic Nature
  • Mountainous Landscape
  • Diverse Habitats
  • Tropical Climate
  • Soil Types
• Mountainous Topography


  • Rugged topography supports numerous mountain ecosystems with stratified forest habitats, mountains are divided into montane and lowland forests, each habitat with a unique set of highland & lowland fauna
• Varied soil types dictate different forest habitats such as Limestone or Ultra-basic
• Tropical Climate Type


  Climate is a single best predictor of ecosystem structure and functioning, geographic distribution of climate (precipitation and temperature, NPP), temporal variation in climate depends on solar input, surface properties, and the capacity of the atmosphere to trap heat, spatial and temporal variation in climate used to predict many of the ecosystem patterns

  
• Diverse Habitat Types


  • Forest ecosystems such as the mossy forest, montane forest, dipterocarp forest and agroforest in protected areas
  • Disturbed areas like urban areas, residential areas and commercial areas
• Diverse Habitat Layers


  • Emergent layer
  • Upper canopy
  • Lower canopy
  • Understorey & middle layer
  • Undergrowth
  • Forest floor & ground cover
  • Leaf litter & Subterranean
• Ecological Relationships


  • Competition
  • Predation
  • Symbiosis
• Competition


  Interspecific competition is a community relationship in which organisms from different species rely on the same limiting resource in their ecosystem such as food, water, sunlight, or space, among others, basis of the competitive exclusion principle, which states that two different species cannot occupy the same niche in the same place for very long, likely to have one of two possible evolutionary outcomes: extinction of one species or the evolution of greater specialization in both species
• Predation


  Community relationship in which organisms in one species, called the predator, consume tissues of organisms in another species, called the prey, often this means killing the prey and eating all or most of the prey organism, prey species are not always killed by their predators, predators are often prey on their own
• Predator-Prey Population Dynamics


  Predator and prey populations are limiting factors on each other's growth, as prey population size increases, so does predator population size, however, when the predator population size is large enough, this causes the prey to decrease, as the prey population decreases, so does the predator population size
• Types of Symbiosis


  • Mutualism
  • Commensalism
  • Parasitism
• Parasitism


  Symbiotic relationship in which an organism from one species, called the parasite, benefits, while an organism from the other species, called the host, is harmed, many species of animals are parasites, at least during some stage of their life cycle, most species are also hosts to one or more parasites, some parasites live on the surface of their host and others live inside their host, may enter the host through a break in the skin or in food or water
• Food Chain


  The sequence of transfers of matter and energy in the form of food from organism to organism, intertwine locally into a food web because most organisms consume more than one type of animal or plant, plants, which convert solar energy to food by photosynthesis, are the primary food source, in a predator chain, a plant-eating animal is eaten by a flesh-eating animal
• Food Web


  Important conceptual tool for illustrating the feeding relationships among species within a community, revealing species interactions and community structure, and understanding the dynamics of energy transfer in an ecosystem, species in a community organized into food webs at various trophic levels
• Extent of Forest Cover Loss in the Philippines for the Last 100 Years
• Republic Act 9147 is an act providing for the conservation and protection of wildlife resources and their habitats, appropriating funds therefor and for other purposes
• Illegal Acts under RA 9147


  • Killing and destroying wildlife species
  • Inflicting injury which cripples and/or impairs the reproductive system of wildlife species
  • Effecting any of the following acts in critical habitat(s): dumping of waste products detrimental to wildlife, squatting or otherwise occupying any portion of the critical habitat, mineral exploration and/or extraction, burning, logging, and quarrying
  • Introduction, reintroduction, or restocking of wildlife resources
  • Trading of wildlife
  • Collecting, hunting, or possessing wildlife, their by-products and derivatives
  • Gathering or destroying of active nests, nest trees, host plants and the like
  • Maltreating and/or inflicting other injuries
  • Transporting of wildlife
• Ten Priority Protected Areas in the Philippines

  • Batanes Protected Land and Seascapes
  • Northern Sierra Madre Natural Park
  • Mangyan Heritage Natural Park
  • Apo Reef Marine Natural Park
  • Mt. Canlaon Natural Park (Negros Island)
  • Wildlife Sanctuary (Surigao del Norte)
  • Mt. Kitanglad Natural Park (Bukidnon)
  • Mt. Apo Natural Park
  • Agusan Marsh Wildlife Sanctuary
  • Turtle Island Marine Natural Park (Sulu)
• Prohibited Acts under RA 7586

  • Hunting, destroying, disturbing, or mere possession of any plants or animals or products derived therefrom without a permit from the Management Board
  • Dumping of any waste products detrimental to the protected area, or to the plants and animals or inhabitants therein
  • Use of any motorized equipment without a permit from the Management Board
  • Mutilating, defacing or destroying objects of natural beauty or objects of interest to cultural communities (of scenic value)
  • Damaging and leaving roads and trails in a damaged condition
  • Squatting, mineral locating, or otherwise occupying any land, constructing or maintaining any kind of structure, fences or enclosures, conducting any business enterprise without a permit
  • Leaving in exposed or unsanitary conditions refuse or debris, or depositing in ground or in bodies of water
  • Altering, removing destroying or defacing boundary marks or signs
• Protected Area Management Board (PAMB)

  Composed of the Regional Executive Director under whose jurisdiction the protected area is located, one (1) representative from the autonomous regional government, if applicable, the Provincial Development Officer, one (1) representative from the municipal government, one (1) representative from each barangay covering the protected area, one (1) representative from each tribal community, if applicable, and, at least three (3) representatives from nongovernment organizations/local community organizations, and if necessary, one (1) representative from other departments or national government agencies involved in protected area management