ENV ch 11

• The largest cat in the world
• The Russian Far East mountains house the last remaining tigers
• Nearly became extinct due to hunting, poaching and habitat destruction
• International conservation groups saved the species from extinction
• Research, education, zoos, and captive breeding programs

• sum total of all organisms in an area
• Genetic Diversity
• Ecosystem Diversity
• Species Diversity

the number or variety of species in the world or in a particular region

the number of species

extent to which numbers of individuals of different species are equal or skewed

related species are grouped together

groups of genera

populations of species that occur in different areas and differ slightly from each other

• -Divergence stops short of separating the species
• -Subspecies are denoted with a third part of the scientific
• name

Encompasses the differences in DNA among individuals within species and populations

genetically similar parents mate and produce inferior offspring

• the number and variety of ecosystems
• •Also encompasses differing communities and habitats
• •Rapid vegetation change and varying landscapes within an ecosystem promote higher levels of biodiversity

-Many remote spots on Earth remain unexplored

-Small organisms are easily overlooked

-Many species look identical until thoroughly examined

found 163 different beetles on one tree

species richness increases towards the equator

the disappearance of a particular population from a given area, but not the entire species globally

• Ordovician period
• Devonian period
• Permo-triassic period
• end triassic period
• cretacious-tertiary period

an updated list of species facing high risks of extinctions

• Habitat alteration
• Invasive species
• Pollution
• Overharvesting

• Turkey’s wheat crops received $50 billion worth of disease resistance from wild wheat
• Wild strains provide disease resistance and have the ability to grow back year after year without being replanted

connections that humans subconsciously seek with life

alienation from the natural environment

devoted to understanding the factors that influence the loss, protection, and restoration of biodiversity

study genetic attributes of organisms to infer the status of their population

how small a population can become before it runs into problems

• a network of subpopulations
• Small populations are most vulnerable to extinction and need special attention

• explains how species come to be distributed among oceanic islands
• Also applies to “habitat islands” – patches of one habitat type isolated within a “sea” of others
• Explains how the number of species on an island results from an equilibrium between immigration and extirpation
• Predicts an island’s species richness based on the island’s size and distance from the mainland

• •Fewer species colonize an island far from the mainland
• • Large islands have higher immigration rates
• • Large islands have lower extinction rates

• individuals are bred and raised with the intent of reintroducing them into the wild
• Zoos and botanical gardens

helps protect less-charismatic animals that would not have generated public interest

large and charismatic species used as spearheads for biodiversity conservation

protects endangered species by banning international transport of their body parts

a conservation organization pays off a portion of a developing country’s international debt

conservation organizations pay nations to conserve, and not sell, resources