BI266 Lecture Notes - Lecture 16: Golden Lion Tamarin, Habitat Destruction, Local Extinction
Document Summary
The most prominent and readily recognizable form of biodiversity, thus most commonly used. The genetic variation between and within species. Genetic variation is necessary for populations to evolve in response to environmental change: ecological and functional diversity. These measures take into account adaptations that determine what organisms do and how they respond to the environment: endemism species whose distributions are limited to small areas. How many species are there: about 1. 8 million have been described, but there are an estimated 10-100 million out there. 408 new mammal species have been found in last 15 yrs. About 60% of these are reproductively isolated but have similar morphology but the rest are large and distinctive. Most have been found in previously poorly surveyed regions. Threats to biodiversity: habitat loss and fragmentation (i) Thought to be the chief cause of loss of genetic, population and species diversity.
