Tropical Biodiversity: Global Importance PDF

BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 1 1  Biological Diversity variety of existing life forms the ecological roles they perform the genetic diversity they contain BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 2 2  allows...

BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 1 1  Biological Diversity variety of existing life forms the ecological roles they perform the genetic diversity they contain BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 2 2  allows species to adapt continuously to changing environmental conditions and to contribute to the functioning of the ecosystem. maintains the potential for resources (food, medicine etc) breeding and improvement, in view of meeting human needs for goods and services. the concept of gene bank. BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 3 3 BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 4 4 BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 5 5 BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 6 6 BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 7 7 BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 8 8 BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 9 9 BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 10 10 BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 11 11  Protecting areas from soil erosion, floods and other harmful weather conditions Reducing the risk of local and global climate change Recycling nutrients Pollination and biological control Controlling pollutants Monitoring the health of the environment BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 12 12  Food Medicines Commercial uses Cultural and aesthetic values Intrinsic values BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 13 13  Many countries - no report on biological diversity. less knowledge on biological diversity in tropical forests South America - highest average number of native forest tree species per country. Brazil - highest number of forest trees in the world (7, 880), with high species diversity in the Amazon basin and in the Atlantic coastal forest (Mata Atlantica). High forest tree species richness in Central Africa, Central America, East Asia, Madagascar and South and Southeast Asia. BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 14 14  “Latitudinal diversity gradient” – species richness decline latitudinally away from Equator. dozens of different theories to explain the rich BioD of the tropics. the tropics is both a cradle (where new species originate), and a museum (where old species persist) of biodiversity. "The tropics are the engine of biodiversity. As the tropics are undermined or deteriorate for a whole variety of reasons, that actually undercuts evolutionary production on a global scale," David Jablonski, Professor in Geophysical Sciences in Chicago. BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 15 15  Evolutionary processes that influence species richness = (1) speciation, (2) extinction and (3) dispersal. Numerous mechanistic hypotheses and empirical investigations done in search for an answer. BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 16 16  Climate - influences species distribution patterns in both temperate and tropical regions (e.g. Wiens & Graham, 2005). Example, the ecological stability of the tropics may have provided the opportunity for niche specialization and allopatric speciation at fine scales (Mittelbach et al., 2007). Other hypotheses suggest that climatic and ecological stability lead to reduced extinction and thus a high accumulation of species over evolutionary time scales. BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 17 17  Other major hypotheses that explain high species richness and endemism include demography isolation through mountain uplift, continental drift (biogeography!) BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 18 18  high rates of speciation in situ (speciation and dispersal capabilities) even in closely related species BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 19 19  What is biodiversity and why is it important? (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7tgNamjTRkk) Biodiversity: Richness, Evenness, and Importance (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JePixuWr2n0) United Nations Decade on Biodiversity - Official Video (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zpM- nkhZCgk) Why Biodiversity Matters (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N5ssjM2Fjuc) BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 20 20 BST308/Notes/AHI/Feb2020 21 21