EASC-101 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Canis, Niche Differentiation, Parasitism
8 Apr 2016
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Document Summary
Biological diversity refers to the number and variety of species and ecosystems on the earth and the ecological processes of they are a part of. Interdependence of many different species stresses the need to protect what species we currently have on the earth. A species is a particular group of organisms that have the same structure and can reproduce with each other. Of the 30 100 million possible different species of living things, there are over 1. 5 million species of animals and 350. 000 species of plants that have been identified by biologists. The most successful life form seems to be the insect. There are many different species that can potentially help other species, like the pacific yew tree, by producing medicines. Biological diversity is important for the health and survival of natural communities. Taxol, found to be effective in controlling different types of cancers, is extracted from the bark of the pacific yew tree.
