Chapter 5 Biodiversity & Conservation

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Chapter 5Biodiversity Conservation
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• Biodiversity is the variety of life in an area
  that is determined by the total number of
  different species.
• A lot of different species means a lot of
• biodiversity.
• Biodiversity is good for the environment
• An ecosystem with biodiversity is a healthy one
• because it means that it is in balance and can
  support a lot of different organism
• The two areas with the greatest biodiversity are
  the rainforest coral reefs.

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• Biodiversity is good for humans because we get
  many different products from many different
  organisms.
• Food meat, eggs, milk, veggies
• Medicine penicillin
• Clothing cotton hemp
• Wood lumber paper
• Oxygen from plants
• Protection erosion, floods, good soil
• Balanced ecosystems with biodiversity
  looks nice!

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• Extinction (when a species is eliminated) ?
  causes a decrease in biodiversity.
• Organisms have always naturally gone extinct BUT
  humans are causing them to go extinct MUCH faster
  by destroying the habitats organism live in
• Bulldozing land to make houses, roads buildings
• Polluting the land, water and air
• Chopping down forests for wood paper
• Poaching animals

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LOSS OF BIODIVERSITY

• EXTINCT the disappearance of a species when
  the last member dies
• ENDANGERED when numbers of a species become so
  low that extinction is possible.

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• THREATENED when a species is likely to become
  endangered
• threatened ? endangered ? extinct

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Threats to Biodiversity

• Habitat destruction / loss ?
• One of the biggest threats!
• Ex. clearing the Amazonian rainforest for farming
  and for firewood
• Habitat fragmentation ?
• The separation of wilderness areas from other
  wilderness areas
• This creates islands of habitat

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Habitat degradation ?

• Damage to a habitat caused by
  air, water, or land pollution
• Ex. Air pollution causes acid rain

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• Ex. Air pollution has damaged the ozone layer,
  which blocks UV radiation
• leads to more skin cancer

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• Ex. Air pollution causes the Greenhouse Effect,
  which leads to global warming