Prepared by Dakota Joiner & Lindsey bat Joseph for
Alexander College Writing and Learning Centre, April 2015.
Research source: Krebs, Charles J. Ecology, 6th ed.
Pearson: San Francisco, 2009.
• Biodiversity is the scientific term coined to describe the
variety and diversity of organisms in a given ecosystem.
• There are many different kinds of biological organisms in different
ecosystems.
• E.g., a tropical rainforest ecosystem may contain thousands of
different species of animals, plants, insects, bacteria, etc.
• This idea generally refers to richness of species within a
community.
Source: Walter Jetz Lab, Yale University, adapted from Jetz et al. 2007, 2008.
Why do you think southern countries have more species than
northern countries?
• Biodiversity is also used to describe taxonomical diversity,
ecological diversity, genetic diversity, and molecular
diversity.
Figure 1. A phylogenetic tree
showing basic taxonomic
divisions
Source: Adl, Sina M.; Simpson, Alastair G. B.; et al. (2006). "Toward Automatic
Reconstruction of a Highly Resolved Tree of Life". Science 311 (5765): 1283–1287.
• A community is a group of organisms living in the same habitat
that are connected to each other by interactions, such as
feeding or energy flow.
Source: Google Images
This is an example of the Antarctic community of organisms showing
feeding relationships.
• Biodiversity is stratified in a latitudinal manner. This
is referred to as latitudinal species gradient.
Figure 1.
A graph demonstrating the
latitudinal species gradient
in terms of different numbers
of species of fish found in
different latitudes.
Something to Think About:
Why do you think fish biodiversity is highest
around the equator?
• The factors primarily affecting organismal
diversity and distribution are:
•
•
•
•
•
•
Temperature
Precipitation
Altitude
Soils
Geography
The presence of other species.
Something to Think About:
Why do you think biodiversity is highest, both on
land and in the seas, around the equator?
Images from: http://www.talesmaze.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/
Pistol Shrimp
Yeti Crab
Nembrotha-cristata
Promachoteuthis-sulcus
Orcinus orca – Killer Whale
Red Cap Gold Fish
Alarm Jellyfish
Frilled Shark
Lion’s Mane
Jellyfish: Jellyfish
are invertebrates
The Mexican Walking Fish is
actually a type of salamander
Crocodile Fish
Purple Frogs
They have many
different
characteristics.
Amazon Milk Frog
Indian Bull Frog
Glass Frogs
Hermit Crab
Leatherback Sea Turtle
This is a rare,
recessive gene that
produces some very
unique and rare
animals. Humans can
exhibit traits of
albinism too.
Cardinal Gynandromorph –
this isn’t a different species of
bird – it’s a cardinal that is
displaying characteristics of
male and female genders.
Blue Footed Booby
These unique
creatures have
evolved with many
different
characteristics.
Something to Think
About:
What do you think that
the booby’s bright blue
feet are for?
King of Saxony Bird of Paradise
See the video about the Cornell University’s project on the Birds
of Paradise: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTR21os8gTA
See the video about the Cornell University’s project on the
Birds of Paradise:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YTR21os8gTA
• Consult an ecology textbook to go further in
depth.
• See our school librarians for help finding books about
ecology.
• Also, David Attenborough’s natural productions
with the BBC (such as Blue Planet and Planet
Earth) are rich in portraying species diversity.
• This is an excellent way to see the different types of
animals and plants around the world.