Biodiversity

• Biodiversity


  All the variation that exists within and between all forms of life
• Levels of biodiversity


  • Number and range of different ecosystems and habitats
  • Number of species and their relative abundance
  • Genetic variation within each species
• Importance of biodiversity


  • It allows ecosystems to resist changes in the environment
• Ecosystem or habitat diversity


  The range of different ecosystems or habitats within a particular area or region
• High ecosystem diversity


  • Coral reef
• Low ecosystem diversity


  • Large sandy deserts
• Species diversity


  Includes the number of different species in an ecosystem, and also the evenness of abundance across the different species present
• Ecosystems with high species diversity


  • Usually more stable than those with lower species diversity as they are more resilient to environmental changes
• Low species diversity


  • Pine forests of Florida dominated by one or two tree species
• Genetic diversity


  The diversity of alleles and genes in the genome of a species
• Genetic diversity can be observed between and within populations of the same species
• Importance of genetic diversity

  • It can help a population adapt to and survive changes in the environment
• Genetic diversity is limited in populations that are very small or isolated
• Inbreeding in small, isolated populations leads to a high proportion of individuals being homozygous, resulting in lower genetic diversity
• Genetic diseases caused by recessive alleles can become more common in small, isolated populations with low genetic diversity