ENVIRON 201 Lecture 5: ENVIRON 201 Lecture 5
Document Summary
Environ 201 lecture 5 biodiversity and conservation. Natural selection and evolution: competitive advantages, niche realization, adaption or extinction. Interactions of organisms with living and non-living things: biogeochemical cycles, ecosystem services main topic. Different levels: ecosystem diversity, species diversity. The number or variety of species in a particular region. Evenness (relative abundance): similarity in numbers between species. Greater number of species interactions often leads to greater ecosystem resilience. If a species can be functionally replaced by others, it may make little difference: loss of keystone species, ecosystem engineers, or top predators causes other species to decline or disappear. Important: detritivores (worms, ants, maggots), decomposers (bacteria and fungi: genetic diversity. Encompasses the differences in dna among individuals. Raw material for adaptation to local conditions. Populations with higher genetic diversity are more resilient. Populations with low genetic diversity are vulnerable to environmental change or disease. Inbreeding depression: genetically similar parents mate and produce inferior offspring: example: wolves on isle royale.
