Chapter 11, Problem 17STP

Summary Introduction

To describe:

An example of species diversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity

Introduction:

Biodiversity is a variety of life in an area that is determined by the number of species living in that area. It helps in maintaining a healthy biosphere and provides direct and indirect value to humans. Biodiversity increases the stability of an ecosystem. There are three types of biodiversity: species diversity, genetic diversity and ecosystem diversity.

Answer to Problem 17STP

Species diversity- Many species of organisms gathering at a water hole is an example of species diversity.

Genetic diversity- Asian ladybird beetles show genetic diversity because of their different colors. Ladybird beetles have the same body structure but exhibits colors that differ in each beetle.

Ecosystem diversity- The ecosystems such as forests, grasslands, desert, marine, wetlands, aquatic is an example of ecosystem diversity.

Explanation of Solution

Species diversity- The number of different species and their relative abundance in a biological community is called species diversity. Many species gathering at a water hole is an example of species diversity. The watering hole becomes a habitat rich in species diversity. Species diversity is not evenly distributed over the biosphere. It increases as we move from poles to equator.

Genetic diversity- The variety of genes or inheritable characteristics that are present in a population makes up its genetic diversity. Asian ladybirds show genetic diversity because of their different colors. Ladybird beetles have the same body structure but exhibits some other characteristics that differ in each beetle. These may include resistance to a particular disease, or ability to recover from a disease, or ability to obtain nutrients from a new food source etc. Their ability to show variety of colors is a more apparent example of genetic diversity as it is visible. Genetic diversity increases the chances of survival of some species during an outbreak of disease or during adverse conditions.

Ecosystem diversity- The biosphere contains many ecosystems with diverse abiotic factors that support a variety of organisms. The variety of ecosystems in a biosphere is called ecosystem diversity. The interactions among the populations and the abiotic factors stabilize the ecosystem. Different ecosystems have different set of abiotic factors that support different types of life. Example: aquatic ecosystem, ecosystem of Central America, forests, grasslands, desert, marine etc.

Within each ecosystem diversity, there is a large variety of species and genetic diversity.