Week 14-15

• Biological diversity comprises the variety of all life on earth
• It also pertains to the relative abundance and richness of the different traits, species, and ecosystems in a particular area or region.

  Biological Diversity
•  Three Types of Biological Diversity

  1. Genetic
  2. Species
  3. Ecosystem/Ecological
• It refers to the variations among the genetic resources of the organisms.

  Genetic diversity
• A unit of hereditary information consisting of a specific nucleotide sequence in DNA

  Gene
• Refers to the variety of different types of species found in a particular area.

  Species diversity
• Refers to the variety of different types of species found in a particular area. It includes terrestrial, marine and freshwater ecosystems.

  Ecosystem/Ecological diversity
• Indicates populations that can more easily adapt to changing situations and environments, and also greater assortment of materials than can be found, increasing the chances of finding a useful compound (Bernhardt, 1999).

  High genetic diversity
•  Is the unit of interaction between the biotic community and its physical environment in a given area

  Ecosystem
• It is a self-contained community of microorganisms, animals and plants that interact with each other and with their physical environment

  Ecosystem
•  Habitat is a place in which a particular species of organism lives
• The Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR 2009) claims that in terms of biodiversity, the Philippine was 5th in the world.
• Rafflesia manillana, the world’s largest flower
• Vanda sanderiana (waling-waling), one of the world’s largest orchid species.
• Pithecophaga jefferyi (monkey -eating eagle), the largest bird
• Rhyncodon typus, the largest fish
• Tridacna gigas (giant clam), the largest seashell
• Pandaka pygmea (dwarf goby), the smallest freshwater fish
• Tarsius syrichta (tarsier), the smallest primate
• Tragalus nigricans, the smallest hoofed mammal
• Tylonycteris pachpus (bamboo bat), the smallest bat
• Pisidum, the tiniest shell in the world
• Connus gloriamaris, one of the most expensive shells in the world
• Cervus alfredi, the most endangered deer
• Bubalus mindorensis (tamarau or dwarf water buffalo), one of the top ten most endangered species in the world and the largest endangered animal.
• In the 2000 Red List of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature and Natural resources (IUCN), of the 52,177 species in the Philippines, 418 were listed as threatened
• The Philippine Biodiversity Conservation Priority-setting Program (PBCPP) described the 121 endemic mammals as critically endangered. The Bird Life International listed 116 of species of birds in the country are threatened or near threatened.
• According to the Department of Environment and Natural Resources report (2010), out of 584 wildlife in the country, 72% are already threatened with extinction. Several species of plants, frogs, reptiles and insects remain to be documented. Unfortunately, several species were believed to have vanished without being identified.
• Threats to Biodiversity

  1. Environmental Pollution
  2. Over-exploitation/Over-hunting/Over-harvesting/Over-fishing
  3. Habitat Loss/Habitat Destruction/Habitat Alteration
  4. Climate Change
  5. Invasive species or non-native species
• Domestic agriculture and industrial wastes are poorly treated and are often discharged into the sea, and to other bodies of water, such as rivers and lakes. Pollution can lead to diseases and pollution stresses, such as coral bleaching on reefs.


  Environmental Pollution
• Commercial logging, community logging, timber poaching, and kaingin (slash and burn agriculture). In mangrove ecosystem, the extraction of fuel and construction

  Over-exploitation/Over-hunting/Over-harvesting/Over-fishing
• In coral reefs, coastal development, aquaculture, agriculture, and land-cover change increasing sediments and nutrients outflow onto reefs, and the muro-ami fishing technique. The development of fishponds (aquaculture) in mangrove forest.

  Habitat Loss/Habitat destruction/Habitat alteration
• Drastic changes in the atmosphere can have catastrophic effects such as increase concentration of greenhouse gases and destruction of forest.

  Climate Change
• Invasive species are greater threat to native biodiversity than pollution, harvest, and disease combined (Simberloff, 2000).
• It can cause alterations either within species groups or within the environment

  Invasive species
• The first commercially available GM food was called the Flavr Savr tomato that had an antisense gene that increased its shelf life and delayed ripening (Bruening and Lyons, 2000)
• Monsanto is the leading company in genetically modified crop based on revenue
• Are organisms whose genetic material has been altered using genetic engineering techniques, which is a direct manipulation of an organisms genome

  GMOs or Genetically Modified Organism
• The development of GMOs was perceived to help in the advancement of technology for the benefit of humans in different industries like agriculture and medicine
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO,2004) GMOs are organisms, either plant or animal or microorganism in which the genetic material ( DNA) has been altered in a way that does not occur naturally by mating or natural recombination.