Presentation plan - Thursday

Chapter Week Keywords Detail title Group Note

3 6 Ecosystem 1 1 group
4, 5 7 Biodiversity 3 1 group
6 11 Rapid population growth 2 1 group
10 1 group
10 13 Food security 9 1 group
11 14 Water resources 8 1 group
15 Water pollution 5 1 group
13 16 Energy (fossil fuels) 11 1 group
Energy (renewables) 12 1 group
15 17 Air pollution 6 1 group
4 1 group
Climate change 7 1 group
17 Sustainable development 13 1 group
TOTAL 13 groups
 Group presentation
üFormat: power point (no submission is needed)
üContent: Do not present the theory but link with the theory!!
Please focus on the case study – answer WH questions:
-What is the problem
-Why it happened, when, where
-How to solve the problem (review and propose solutions)
-What are challenges of the solutions, lesson-learned for Vietnam
-etc.
üStructure: Name and ID at the beginning, main content in the
middle, and credit/references at the end
üDuration: 15-20 mins. presentation + 5-10 mins. for Q&A
üAll members must present!!!
 Chapter 4
Biodiversity and Evolution
- Diversity
- Evolution
- Adaptation
- Isolation
- Extinction
- Niche
- Species in different roles
Section 4-1

WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY AND

WHY IS IT IMPORTANT?
 Biodiversity is a crucial part of
the Earth’s natural capital
• The biodiversity found in genes, species,
ecosystems, and the ecosystem processes of
energy flow and nutrient cycling that sustain all
life.
– Genetic diversity, which is the variety of genes found in a
population or in a species.
– Species diversity, or the number and variety of the species
present in any biological community.
– Ecosystem diversity refers to the earth’s variety of deserts,
grasslands, forests, mountains, oceans, lakes, rivers, and
wetlands.
– Functional diversity includes a variety of processes such as
energy flow and matter cycling occurring within ecosystems.
Functional Diversity The biological and Ecological Diversity
chemical processes such as energy flow and The variety of terrestrial and
matter recycling needed for the survival of aquatic ecosystems found
species, communities, and ecosystems. in an area or on the earth.

Solar
Chemical
nutrients
energy
Heat (carbon dioxide,
oxygen,
nitrogen,
minerals)

Heat Heat

Decomposers Producers
(bacteria, fungi) (plants)

Consumers
(plant eaters,
Heat meat eaters) Heat

Genetic Diversity The variety Species Diversity The number

of genetic material within a and abundance of species
species or a population. present in different communities. Fig. 4-2, p. 63
Section 4-2

HOW DOES THE EARTH’S LIFE

CHANGE OVER TIME?
 Biological evolution by natural selection
explains how life changes over time
• Biological evolution is the process whereby Earth’s
life changes over time through changes in the
genes of populations in succeeding generations.
• The theory of evolution by natural selection is a
scientific explanation of how the process of evolution
takes place.
• Natural selection is the process in which individuals
with certain traits are more likely to survive and
reproduce under a particular set of environmental
conditions than those without the traits.
 Mutations and changes in the genetic
makeup of populations lead to biological
evolution by natural deflection
• Genetic variability occurs through
mutations, which are random changes
in the DNA molecules of a gene in any
cell.
• An adaptation, or an adaptive trait, is
any heritable trait that improves the
ability of an individual organism to
survive and to reproduce at a higher
rate than other individuals in a
population under prevailing
environmental conditions.
 Mutations and changes in the genetic
makeup of populations lead to biological
evolution by natural deflection
• Natural selection can result in the evolution of
genetic resistance, the ability of one or more
organisms in a population to tolerate a chemical
designed to kill the population.
 Adaptation through natural
selection has limits
• Organisms can adapt to a change in
environmental conditions only if the necessary
genetic traits are already present in a
population’s gene pool.
• Another limit is that even if a beneficial
heritable trait is present in a population, the
population’s ability to adapt may be limited by
its reproductive capacity.
 There are three incorrect ideas about
evolution through natural selection

• “Survival of the fittest” meaning “survival of the

strongest”. Adaptability
• Organisms develop certain traits because they
need them. Already existed

• Evolution by natural selection involves some

grand plan of nature in which species become
more perfectly adapted.
No plan, depending on the
change of the environment
Section 4-4

HOW DO SPECIATION,
EXTINCTION, AND HUMAN
ACTIVITIES AFFECT
BIODIVERSITY?
 Movement of Earth’s Tectonic Plates

• Changing the earth’s surface

• Geologic isolation of populations
• Affects climate and thus species distribution
• Spread and evolution of species
• Volcanic eruptions can destroy habitats and reduce,
isolate, or wipe out populations of species
 Movement of Earth’s Tectonic Plates

• Changing the earth’s surface

• Geologic isolation of populations
• Affects climate and thus species distribution
• Spread and evolution of species
• Volcanic eruptions can destroy habitats and reduce,
isolate, or wipe out populations of species
 How do new species evolve?
• Speciation is the process where one species
splits into two or more different species. 2 phases:
– Geographic isolation occurs when different
groups of the same population of a species
become physically isolated from one another
for a long period of time.
– Reproductive isolation occurs when mutation
and change by natural selection operate in the
gene pools of geographically isolated
populations.
Geographic Isolation
Reproductive Isolation
 Sooner or later all species
become extinct
• Biological extinction is the process by which an
entire species ceases to exist.
• Local extinction occurs when a population of a
species becomes extinct over a large region, but
not globally.
• Endemic species are found in only one area and
are thus especially vulnerable to extinction.
• Background extinction has occurred over most
of Earth’s history (disappeared at a low rate)
 There have been several mass
extinctions of life on the Earth
• Mass extinction is a significant rise in
extinction rates above the background level, in
which large groups of species are wiped out.
• Fossil and geological evidence indicate that
there have probably been five mass extinctions
during the past 500 million years (20-60 million
years apart).
http://www.bbc.co.uk/nature/extinction_events
 There have been several mass
extinctions of life on the Earth
• Mass extinctions have been followed by an
increase in species diversity as new species
have arisen to occupy new habitats or to
exploit newly available resources.
• There is growing evidence that we are
experiencing the beginning of a new mass
extinction, with much of the increase in
extinctions and loss of biodiversity due to
human activities.
Section 4-4

WHAT ROLES DO SPECIES

PLAY IN ECOSYSTEMS?
 Each species plays a role in its
ecosystem
• An ecological niche is a species’ way of life
in an ecosystem, everything that affects its
survival and reproduction.
• Niche (pattern of living: space, food,
temperature, etc.) is different from habitat
(place where an organism lives).
à Niche is used to classify species into
generalists or specialists
 Each species plays a role in its
ecosystem
• Generalist species have broad niches.
– They can live in many different places.
– They can eat a variety of foods and tolerate a wide range of
environments.
– Flies, cockroaches, rats and humans are generalists.
• Specialist species have narrow niches.
– They live only in very specific environments.
– This makes them more prone to extinction when
environmental conditions change.
– If the environment is constant, specialists have fewer
competitors.
– China’s giant panda is a specialist with a specialized diet of
mostly bamboo.
 Herring
gull is a
Brown pelican tireless Ruddy
dives for fish, Avocet sweeps bill scavenger. turnstone
which it locates through mud and searches
Dowitcher probes
Black skimmer from the air. under shells
surface water in deeply into mud in
seizes small fish and pebbles
search of small search of snails,
at water surface. for small
crustaceans, marine worms, and
invertebrates.
insects, and seeds. small crustaceans.

Flamingo Scaup and other Louisiana Oystercatcher feeds Knot (sandpiper) Piping plover
feeds on diving ducks heron wades on clams, mussels, picks up worms feeds on insects
minute feed on into water to and other shellfish and small and tiny
organisms mollusks, seize small into which it pries crustaceans left crustaceans on
in mud. crustaceans, fish. its narrow beak. by receding tide. sandy beaches.
and aquatic
vegetation.
Fig. 4-10, p. 72
 Species can play four major
roles within ecosystems
• Niches can be classified further in terms of specific
roles that certain species play within ecosystems. A
species can be described as native, nonnative,
indicator, or keystone.
1. Native species: normally live and thrive in a particular
ecosystem.
2. Nonnative species (also called invasive, alien, and
exotic): migrate into, or are deliberately or accidentally
introduced into, an ecosystem.
à Nonnative species can threaten native species
 Indicator species serve as
biological smoke alarms
3. Indicator species provide
early warnings of damage to a
community or an ecosystem.
– Birds are excellent biological
indicators because they are
found almost everywhere and
are affected quickly by
environmental changes, such
as loss or fragmentation of their
habitats and introduction of
chemical pesticides.
 Keystone species play critical
roles in their ecosystems
• Keystone species are
species whose roles
have a large effect on
the types and abundance
of other species in an
ecosystem, even though
they may exist in
relatively limited
numbers in their
ecosystems.
 Three Big Ideas
• Populations evolve when genes mutate and give
some individuals genetic traits that enhance their
abilities to survive and to produce offspring with these
traits (natural selection).
• Human activities are degrading the earth’s vital
biodiversity by causing the extinction of species and
by disrupting habitats needed for the development of
new species.
• Each species plays a specific ecological role in the
ecosystem where it is found.