Senior Biology - Describing Biodiversity - For additional resources visit: http://www.iheartscience.net

1. Describing Biodiversity
Sarah Jones
wallwidehd.com

2. Observation and Inference
• Observations are things or events that you notice
i.e. see, smell, hear, touch or taste.
• An observation can allow you to make an inference.
• You can infer something when you use your
observations and your previous knowledge to explain
something.

3. Classification in Science
• Classifying things into groups make them easier to
remember, describe and identify again in the future.
• The science of classifying is called Taxonomy.
• There are almost 2 million classified organisms but
Scientists believe there could be as many as 10
million organisms on Earth.

5. The 5 Kingdoms
Biologist today have classified and divided all living
things into five groups they call Kingdoms. These
kingdoms are based on how living things are the same,
and how they are different.
• Monera
• Protists
• Fungi
• Plants
• Animals
academic.pgcc.edu

6. Divisions
• Kingdom
• Phylum
• Class
• Order
• Family
• Genus
• Species

7. Dichotomous Keys
• Dichotomous = ‘cutting in two’

11. Characteristics for classifying
• Size – microscopic/macroscopic
• Skeleton – internal/external
• Body Temperature – endotherm/ecthotherm
• Legs – jointed/not jointed
• Reproduction – internal/external
• Skin – moist/smooth/scaly
• Body covering – fur/shell

12. Invertebrates (95%)
External or no skeleton

13. Vertebrates (5%)
Internal skeleton or
backbone
en.wikipedia.org

14. Endoskeleton and Exoskeleton
• 75% of all animals have an exoskeleton –
skeleton on the outside of the body.
• Enodskeleton is a skeleton on
the inside of the body.
• No skeleton

15. 7 Subgroups of Vertebrates
• Mammals
• Aves (Birds)
• Reptiles
• Amphibians
• Fish (with a
cartilaginous skeleton)
• Fish (with a bony
skeleton)
• Jawless fish

16. Endothermic and Ectothermic
Endothermic animals can maintain a constant
body temperature and are called warm blooded.
The body temperature of ectothermic animals
changes depending on their surrounding
environment.

17. Types of mammals
Placental Mammals
– Very well developed when they are born
– Grow inside the body
– Attached by a cord to the placenta
– Feed on milk

18. Marsupials
– give birth when their young are at a very early stage
of development and the mother provides milk
– Almost all marsupials have a pouch
– Include – kangaroos, koalas, possums and wombats

19. Monotremes
– Only found in Australia and some nearby islands
– Only two are the platypus and the echidna
– They lay leathery-shelled eggs and after hatching
the feed on milk.
en.wikipedia.org

20. Classifying plants
• Bryophytes – mosses and liverworts
• Gymnosperms – conifers
• Angiosperms – flowering plants
• Pteridophytes – ferns

21. Environment
The environment of an
organism is its
surroundings, both living
and non-living.

22. Ecosystems
An ecosystem is a part of
the environment containing
living organisms interacting
with each other and the
non-living parts of the
environment.

23. Ecology
Ecology is the study of relationships living
organisms have with each other and their
environment.

24. Biodiversity
“Biological diversity – or biodiversity – is the
term given to the variety of life on Earth. It is the
variety within and between all species of plants,
animals and micro-organisms and the
ecosystems within which they live and interact.”
http://www.wwf.org.au/our_work/saving_the_natural_world/what_is_biodiversity/

25. Biodiversity comprises all the millions of
different species that live on our planet, as well
as the genetic differences within species. It also
refers to the multitude of different ecosystems
in which species form unique communities,
interacting with one another and the air, water
and soil.
http://www.wwf.org.au/our_work/saving_the_natural_world/what_is_biodiversity/

26. Genetic Diversity
Genetic diversity refers to the variety of genes
within a species. Each species is made up of
individuals that have their own particular
genetic composition. Within a species there may
also be discrete populations with distinctive
genes.
http://www.wwf.org.au/our_work/saving_the_natural_world/what_is_biodiversity/
news.nationalgeographic.com

27. Species Diversity
• Species diversity refers to the variety of
species within a region.
• Species diversity is not evenly distributed
around the world or across continents. Thirty-four
biodiversity hotspots have been
identified globally.
www.bioedonline.org

28. These hotspots collectively comprise just 2.3%
of the Earth’s land surface yet hold especially
high numbers of species that occur nowhere
else – half the world’s plant species and 42% of
all terrestrial vertebrate species.
http://www.wwf.org.au/our_work/saving_the_natural_world/what_is_biodiversity/
constructingwild.blogspot.com

29. Ecosystem Diversity
Ecosystem diversity refers to the variety of
ecosystems in a given place. Within any broader
landscape there is a mosaic of interconnected
ecosystems.
facultylounge.whfreeman.com

30. Ecosystems

31. Aquatic
Ecosystems

32. Saltwater - open seas, estuaries and saltwater lakes.
Approximately 65% of the Earth's surface is covered
by oceans. Tides, currents, waves and wind
continuously move the water in the surface layers.
Freshwater - includes still water such as lakes and
ponds, swamps, and moving water such as springs
creeks and rivers.

33. Terrestrial
Ecosystems

34. Terrestrial environments vary as a result of
topography, climate, availability of water, and
human activity.
Examples: rainforest, open forests, mountain
tops, deserts, grasslands, farms and cities.

35. Population
A group of living organisms of the same kind
living in the same place at the same time.

36. Community
Organisms living together in a particular place.

37. Habitat
The habitat of an organism is the place where it lives.
These can vary in size e.g. desert, under tree bark,
within the digestive system of another organism.

38. Ecosystems will fail if they do not remain in
balance.
No community can carry more organisms than
its food, water and shelter can accommodate.
Food and territory are often balanced by
natural phenomena such as fire, disease, and
the number of predators.

39. Abiotic Factors of Ecosystems

40. Light
Wind
Rainfall
Temperature (daily and seasonal)
Topography (altitude and depth)
Tides, currents and waves
Water (salinity, pH and availability)
Substrate (surface on which an organism grows or is
attached)
Space and shelter
Oxygen

41. Biotic Factors of Ecosystems

42. Availability of food
Number of competitors
Availability of mates
Number of predators
Disease causing organisms
Limiting factors - anything that makes it
difficult for a species to live and grow, or
reproduce in its environment.

43. Food Chains and Food Webs

44. Organisms have roles in ecosystems:
Producers - organisms that make their own food
using the energy of sunlight - plants.

45. Consumers - obtain their food by consuming other
creatures - if they consume a producer then they are
primary consumers or herbivores - if they consume
herbivores they are secondary consumers or carnivores.

46. If they consume carnivores they are tertiary consumers or
carnivores. Some species eat both producers and other
consumers and they are called omnivores. Some
creatures eat dead producers or consumers and are called
detritivores.

47. Decomposers
Bacteria and fungi that
break down dead organic
material. Decomposers
have an important role in
ecosystems - they absorb
nutrients from dead
organisms or waste
materials and return
organic matter to the soil.

48. Food chains are simple ways of representing
feeding relationships among organisms.
Grass > insect > spider > bird
Food webs show the feeding relationship of all
organisms in a particular location (food web = many
food chains intertwined together).

51. Energy

53. Photosynthesis
Photosynthesis is the process by which plant cells
capture energy from sunlight and use it to combine
carbon dioxide and water to make sugars and oxygen.
Six molecules of water plus six molecules of carbon
dioxide produce one molecule of sugar plus six
molecules of oxygen.

54. All living things ultimately depend on this process -
photosynthesis.
Organisms that consume the plants gain nutrients
and energy, animals that eat the plant-eaters gain
energy from them, therefore the energy is passed on.

55. Respiration
Respiration is the process by
which cells obtain energy.
Organic molecules (particularly
sugars) are broken down to
produce carbon dioxide and
water, and energy is released.

56. Biomass and Energy Pyramids

61. Relationships

62. Predation
This is a feeding relationship
in which one animal
(predator) obtains its food by
killing another animal (prey).
This relationship increases
the predators chance of
survival and reproduction at
the expense of the preys.

63. Allelopathy
The production by a plant of specific chemicals that can
be detrimental or beneficial to another plant.
These chemicals influence the growth and development
of neighboring plants by repelling predators and
parasites, or poisoning competitors.
E.g. Camphor produced in
leaves of the camphor
laurel tree accumulates in
the soil, preventing
germination or growth of
seedlings around each
established group.

64. Parasitism
A parasite obtains its food from a host. Although the host
is harmed in some way, it does not necessarily die. Most
free-living organisms have parasites. Many bacteria,
viruses and fungi which cause diseases are parasites.
Other relationships involve ticks, fleas and tapeworms.

65. Symbiosis
A type of interaction between organisms where two
different species live together in a close association.
The association benefits at least one of them, and
the other is not disadvantaged. The two types of
symbiosis are commensalism and mutualism.

66. Mutualism
If two organisms are more
closely associated so that
both benefit.
Commensalism
A relationship that benefits one species and does not
harm the other. The organisms are not dependent on
this type of relationship: they could survive without each
other.

67. Competition

68. Competition is the struggle between organisms for the
same resource.
A particular ecosystem can support only a certain
number of each type of species. Competition may be
between members of the same species, or between
members of different species.

69. Short term - competition reduces the chance of
survival and restricts the abundance of all of the
competitors.

70. Long term - one of the competitors will usually be
more successful and drive out or reduce the numbers
of other competitors.

71. Adaptations

72. Adaptation - a feature of an organism that makes it
well suited to its environment and lifestyle.

73. Structural Adaptions
A physical characteristic relating to the structure of an
organisms body.

74. Physiological Adaptation
Related to the way the organism functions e.g.
Poisonous frogs

75. Behavioural Adaptation
How an organism responds to its environment e.g.
Bird migration