3 Nov 2024

Evolution:
Through Biodiversity
and Sustainability

MODULE 3

Biodiversity and
Evolution
LESSON 1

Module 3
Evolution: Through Biodiversity and Sustainability

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Learning Outcomes
 Differentiate the various types of biodiversity;
 Identify the factors that influence biodiversity;
 Explain the various threats to biodiversity; and
 Elaborate the theory of evolution and its
significance to biodiversity.

Motivation Question
 How have the root causes of environmental
problems compromised earth’s
biodiversity? How may they compromise
biodiversity in the next 50 years?

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Biodiversity
 Biodiversity refers to organisms living and
interacting in each environment.
 It encompasses genetic diversity, diverse
population and ecosystem systems.

Biodiversity
3 Types of Biodiversity
• Species diversity is the
number of different species
(see species richness) and
variations between and within
those species.
• Genetic diversity refers to
species gene variety
• Ecosystem diversity involves
different biological
communities, ecological
processes and habitats.

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Biodiversity
• Species diversity can be high, as with tropical
rainforests comprising 50% of the world's species.
• High-biodiversity regions are considered hotspots like
California it harbors biodiversity that is not found
anywhere in the world: Sequoias, Redwoods, Joshua
Trees, coastal sage scrub, chaparral
• Areas with low biodiversity are called dead zones
where water quality is so poor and concentrations of
oxygen are so low that only simple organisms like
microbes can grow.

Biodiversity

• Biodiversity is further characterized by species

richness and species abundance.
• Species richness refers to the total number of
species present in a given areas.
• Species abundance refers to the number of
species present in that area.

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Factors that Influence Biodiversity

• The ambient light hypothesis notes that the more ecosystem-
accessible sunlight becomes, the more efficient it becomes.
Functional in this sense means having many varied and unique
ecosystem functions (decomposition, photosynthesis, predation,
pollination, etc.).
• The more robust an ecosystem,
the more biodiversity it harbors,
the more it produces carbon, nitrogen,
and biomass.

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Factors that Influence

Biodiversity
• Tropical rainforests are
exceptionally old compared to
other Earth habitats. It can
also help explain its high
biodiversity. Hundred
thousand years ago, during a
period we call the Ice Age,
glaciers covered North
America. Glaciers gradually
receded, leaving in their wake
lakes, streams, hills, valleys
and new habitats.

Factors that Influence

Biodiversity
• Hot spots like tropical rainforests are also
huge. Broad land mass and large quantities of
biomass offer more habitats to survive and
adapt organisms.
• They also have hiding places from predators or
rivals. The effect is lower extinction

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Factors that Influence

Biodiversity
• There are areas on earth where evolution appears to
intensify, producing an abundance in biodiversity. In
such areas, organisms venture into new niches and
become specially adapted to each niche.
• For example, the finches Charles Darwin examined
while exploring the Galapagos Islands. He observed
numerous finches adapted to eat seeds, fruit, insects,
and plants.

Factors that Influence

Biodiversity
• Intermediate disturbance habitats tend to have high
biodiversity. An ecosystem with too much disturbance
makes it difficult, if not impossible, for organisms to
survive and adapt because they are constantly out of
their tolerance.
• Too little disturbance, on the other hand, also leads to
one single-dominant species becoming a superior
competitor to the detriment of other species and
biodiversity.

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Threats to Biodiversity

• Habitat Loss – Habitat loss is

the leading cause for
extinction. Our growing people
need homes, schools, paved
roads, and other services. This
includes building, logging,
mining, building dams, and
paving other species
populated land.

Threats to Biodiversity
• Invasive Species – Invasive
(sometimes called exotic) species
are species from other parts of the
world in a new habitat. These
transplanted species now lack their
natural predators, rivals, and other
controls.
• Introduction of invasive species is
a major cause of extinction of
native species.

Example: Mahogany tree is an invasive

plant .

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Threats to Biodiversity

• Population – All other ecological threats can be

attributed to overpopulation. With over 7 billion people
on earth, our resources are exhausted.

Threats to Biodiversity
• Pollution – We must
also remember plants
and animals that share
our soil, air and water as
well as pollution.

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Threats to Biodiversity
• Climate Change – Global temperatures rose 1°C in the last 100
years. This impacts biodiversity devastatingly.
• We undergo droughts and other extreme temperatures—causing
ecosystem collapse. The melting glaciers and ice caps leave polar
bears atop arctic glaciers while fishing, weakened by fatigue and
lack of food.

Threats to Biodiversity
• Overexploitation - Our
economy is based on
extraction—taking precious
products and energy from
earth. This leads to overuse
of essential goods and
resources taken from earth
faster than they can
naturally replenish.

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Evolution

• Characterized as changing a population's gene

frequency over time. It is important to remember that
populations, not individuals within a population,
evolve.
• In 1831, Charles Darwin, an English naturalist, boarded
the British ship H.M.S. Beagle to study South Pacific
Galapagos Islands biodiversity.

Evolution
• Darwin published his book The Origin of Species in 1859,
explaining the evolution of species by natural selection.
Darwin's theory of natural selection is based on many
observations:
 Variations are found in each species population,
 Within the population, certain species may have beneficial
differences that will ensure better survival probability.,
 People with beneficial variations will leave the most offspring, and
 The advantages are heritable and passed on to future generations.
(Colloquially, we call this mechanism the survival of the fittest.)

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Evolution
The Origin of Species also established that all species
came from a common ancestor through speciation.
• Allopatric speciation is speciation that occurs in the
presence of a physical barrier such as mountain range,
river, etc. that blocked gene flow and evolutionary
agents.
• Sympatric speciation is speciation without a physical
barrier. The reason people lack gene flow is always
behavioral. In plants, speciation can result from self- or
cross-pollination, as in plants..

Evolution
Adaptations are mechanisms
or habits that improve an
individual's livelihood or
health. Over time,
mechanisms and genetic
frequencies change so deeply
that a new species emerges.

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Evolution
Different anatomical structures and other observable
facts support Charles Darwin's theory of evolution by
descent from a common ancestor:
a. Homologous structures – organs or skeletal
components of animals and organisms indicating
their relation to a common ancestor because of their
resemblance. These structures need not look exactly
the same or have the same function.
b. Analogous structures – anatomical structures not
sharing an evolutionary history, but arising from
similar selective environmental pressures

Evolution
c. Vestigial structures – structures that have no
apparent function and appear to be residual parts from a
past ancestor.
d. Biochemical evidence – that all living organisms, from
bacterium to cow, share the same DNA molecules and
amino acid sequences to create proteins.
e. Fossil record – provides evidence that species
evolved, adapted or extinct, supporting Darwin's theory of
adaptation and descent from a common ancestor.

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