Chapter 5 Biodiversity and Conservation
Section 1: Biodiversity
Section 2: Threats to Biodiversity
Section 3: Conserving Biodiversity
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Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Biodiversity
What is biodiversity?
 Biodiversity is the variety of life in an area
that is determined by the number of different
species in that area.
 Biodiversity increases the stability of an
ecosystem and contributes to the health of
the biosphere.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Biodiversity
 The variety of genes or inheritable
characteristics that are present in a population
comprises its genetic diversity.
 Genetic diversity increases the chances that
some species will survive during changing
environmental conditions or during the
outbreak of disease.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Biodiversity
 The number of
different species
and the relative
abundance of each
species in a
biological
community is called
species diversity.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Biodiversity
 The variety of ecosystems that are present
in the biosphere is called ecosystem
diversity.
 An ecosystem is made up of interacting
populations and the abiotic factors that
support them.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Biodiversity
The Importance of Biodiversity
 Most of the world’s food crops
come from just a few species.
 Wild species serve as reservoirs
of desirable genetic
traits that might be
needed to improve
domestic crop
species.
Domestic corn plant
Teosinte plant
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Biodiversity
 Scientists continue
to find new extracts
from plants and
other organisms that
help in the treatment
of human diseases.
Madagascar periwinkle
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Biodiversity
 A healthy biosphere
provides many services
to humans and other
organisms that live
on Earth.
 Green plants provide
oxygen to the atmosphere and remove
carbon dioxide.
 Natural processes provide drinking water
that is safe for human use.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Extinction Rates
 The gradual process of species becoming
extinct is known as background extinction.
 Mass extinction is an event in which a large
percentage of all living species become
extinct in a relatively short period of time.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Factors that Threaten Biodiversity
 The current high rate of extinction is due to the
activities of a single species—Homo sapiens.
 Humans are changing conditions on Earth
faster than new traits can evolve to cope with
the new conditions.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Overexploitation
 Overexploitation, or excessive use, of species that
have economic value is a factor increasing the
current rate of extinction.
 Bison
 Passenger pigeons
 Ocelot
 Rhinoceros
Rhinoceros
Ocelot
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Habitat Loss
 If a habitat is destroyed or disrupted, the native
species might have to relocate or they will die.
Destruction of Habitat
 The destruction of habitat, such as the clearing
of tropical rain forests, has a direct impact on
global biodiversity.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Disruption of Habitat
 The declining
population of
one species
can affect an
entire
ecosystem.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Fragmentation of Habitat
 The separation of an ecosystem into small pieces
of land is called habitat fragmentation.
 The smaller the parcel of land, the fewer species it
can support.
 Fragmentation reduces the opportunities for
individuals in one area to reproduce with individuals
from another area.
 Carving the large ecosystem into small parcels
increases the number of edges—creating edge
effects.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Pollution
 Pollution and atmospheric
changes threaten biodiversity
and global stability.
 Biological magnification is the
increasing concentration of
toxic substances in organisms
as trophic levels increase in a
food chain or food web.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Acid Precipitation
 Sulfur and nitrogen compounds react with
water and other substances in the air to form
sulfuric acid and nitric acid.
 Acid precipitation removes calcium, potassium,
and other nutrients from the soil, depriving
plants of these nutrients.
Assessing
Water Quality
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Eutrophication
 Eutrophication occurs when substances rich
in nitrogen and phosphorus flow into
waterways, causing extensive algae growth.
 The algae use up the oxygen supply during
their rapid growth and after their deaths
during the decaying process.
 Other organisms in the water suffocate.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Threats to Biodiversity
Introduced Species
 Nonnative species that are either intentionally or
unintentionally
transported to a
new habitat are
known as
introduced
species.
 Introduced species often reproduce in large numbers
because of a lack of predators, and become invasive
species in their new habitat.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Conserving Biodiversity
Natural Resources
 The consumption
rate of natural
resources is not
evenly distributed.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Conserving Biodiversity
 Resources that are replaced by natural
processes faster than they are consumed
are called renewable resources.
 Resources that are found on Earth in limited
amounts or those that are replaced by natural
processes over extremely long periods of time
are called nonrenewable resources.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Conserving Biodiversity
 Sustainable use means using resources at a
rate in which they can be replaced or recycled
while preserving the long-term environmental
health of the biosphere.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Conserving Biodiversity
Protecting Biodiversity
 Currently, about seven percent of the world’s
land is set aside as some type of reserve.
 The United Nations supports a system of
Biosphere Reserves and World Heritage sites.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Conserving Biodiversity
Biodiversity Hotspots
 At least 1500 species of vascular plants are
endemic.
 The region must have lost at least 70 percent of its
original habitat.
 These hot spots originally covered 15.7 percent of
Earth’s surface, however, only about a tenth of that
habitat remains.
Visualizing
Biodiversity
Hot Spots
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Conserving Biodiversity
Corridors Between Habitat Fragments
 Improve the survival of biodiversity by providing
corridors, or passageways, between habitat
fragments
 Creates a larger piece of land that can sustain
a wider variety of species and a wider variety of
genetic variation
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Conserving Biodiversity
Restoring Ecosystems
 The larger the
affected area, the
longer it takes for the
biological community
to recover.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Conserving Biodiversity
Bioremediation
 The use of living
organisms, such as
prokaryotes, fungi, or
plants, to detoxify a polluted area is called
bioremediation.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Conserving Biodiversity
Biological Augmentation
 Adding natural predators to a degraded
ecosystem is called biological augmentation.
Ladybugs help control aphid populations.
Photo courtesy of Nature’s Control
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter Resource Menu
Chapter Diagnostic Questions
Formative Test Questions
Chapter Assessment Questions
Standardized Test Practice
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Animation
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Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter Diagnostic
Questions
Which factor is most responsible for the
lack of plants in polar regions?
A. heavy grazing by herbivores
B. little precipitation
C. no soil for plants to take root
D. not enough sunlight
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter Diagnostic
Questions
What form of pollution is caused by
extensive algae growth in waterways?
A. acid precipitation
B. eutrophication
C. biological magnification
D. edge effects
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter Diagnostic
Questions
Which is not a renewable resource?
A. solar energy
B. fossil fuels
C. agricultural plants
D. clean water
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Formative
Questions
Which has indirect economic value?
A. ecosystems that decompose wastes
B. organisms that provide food and shelter
C. plants that contain medicinal substances
D. species that have desirable genetic traits
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Formative
Questions
True or False
It is likely that some of the world’s
unidentified species will have economic
value.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.1 Formative
Questions
When does the aesthetic value of an ecosystem
become most apparent?
A. when scientists begin to study the ecosystem
B. when the ecosystem has been destroyed
C. when the ecosystem is given economic value
D. when the ecosystem provides useful
services
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Formative
Questions
Which describes the current rate of species
disappearance?
A. background extinction
B. mass extinction
C. natural extinction
D. progressive extinction
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Formative
Questions
Where are most extinctions likely to occur
in the near future?
A. deserts
B. grasslands
C. tropical forests
D. temperate forests
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Formative
Questions
What is the primary factor that has endangered
the North American bison and the white
rhinoceros?
A. habitat loss
B. eutrophication
C. overexploitation
D. nonnative predators
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.2 Formative
Questions
What is the number one cause of species
extinction today?
A. habitat loss
B. human predators
C. transported diseases
D. background extermination
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Formative
Questions
Which resource is nonrenewable?
A. agricultural plants
B. clean water
C. forest timber
D. mineral deposits
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Formative
Questions
For which human activity is sustainable
use not possible?
A. farming
B. logging
C. oil drilling
D. commercial fishing
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
5.3 Formative
Questions
Which is an example of bioremediation?
A. replanting trees in an area affected by
acid rain
B. using microorganisms to detoxify an oil spill
C. enacting a law that protects endangered
amphibians
D. introducing natural predators to control
a crop pest
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter Assessment
Questions
Look at the following figure.
Name the process that is
occurring with the
increasing concentration
of DDT.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter Assessment
Questions
A. pollution
B. extinction
C. biological magnification
D. habitat fragmentation
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter Assessment
Questions
Use the graph to
determine the
approximate
recovery time for
a volcanic eruption.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter Assessment
Questions
A. 1-10 years
B. 10-100 years
C. 100-1000 years
D. 1000 years or
more
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Chapter Assessment
Questions
Explain how killer whales adapted to their
environment when their primary food source
began to disappear.
Answer: Killer whales started to prey on
sea otters instead of sea lions
and harbor seals.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Standardized Test
Practice
Which type of biodiversity increases as you
move geographically from the polar regions
to the equator?
A. ecosystem diversity
B. genetic diversity
C. social diversity
D. species diversity
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Standardized Test
Practice
How does genetic diversity increase a species’
chance of survival?
A. It increases the number of organisms that have
useful genes.
B. It increases the ability of a species to adapt to
environmental changes.
C. It produces a variety of species within a
biological community.
D. It randomly distributes members of a species
throughout an ecosystem.
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Standardized Test
Practice
If a toxic substance enters this food web, which
animals will have the highest concentration of
the toxic substance
in their tissues?
A. fishes
B. killer whales
C. sea otters
D. sea urchins
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Standardized Test
Practice
What type of substances causes
eutrophication of aquatic ecosystems?
A. acid rain
B. fertilizers
C. PCBs
D. pesticides
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Standardized Test
Practice
Which factor has the greatest impact on a
country’s rate of natural
resource consumption?
A. land area
B. population
C. industrialization
D. availability of
resources
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Standardized Test
Practice
Which event has the greatest potential to
cause irreversible
damage to biodiversity?
A. oil spill
B. urbanization
C. industrial pollution
D. modern agriculture
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Glencoe Biology Transparencies
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Image Bank
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Vocabulary
Section 1
extinction
biodiversity
genetic diversity
species diversity
ecosystem diversity
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Vocabulary
Section 2
background
extinction
mass extinction
edge effect
biological
magnification
natural resource
eutrophication
overexploitation
introduced species
habitat
fragmentation
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Vocabulary
Section 3
renewable resource
nonrenewable resource
sustainable use
endemic
bioremediation
biological augmentation
Chapter 5
Biodiversity and Conservation
Animation
 Visualizing Biodiversity Hot Spots