Biodiversity: What is It?
Biodiversity is the term used to describe the variety of life on Earth. All types of biodiversity depends on each other. From the tiniest salmon to the largest tree, it's all connected, believe it or not!
There are three main types of biodiversity:
- Species diversity is the general diversity of life on earth.
- Genetic diversity is the diversity that makes living things of the same species different from each other. Though you and your classmates may be human, we are all different because of our genes. Though it's pronounced "jeans", genes aren't really jeans. It's the DNA inside of us that we get from our parents that they get from their parents that they get from their parents and goes on and on. Say your mom and dad's eyes are blue. Pretty sure you have blue eyes too!
- Ecosystem diversity is the diversity of living things living in a specific ecosystem. or habitat. For example, the diversity of the arctic tundra, or the desert or of the grasslands.
There are three main types of biodiversity:
- Species diversity is the general diversity of life on earth.
- Genetic diversity is the diversity that makes living things of the same species different from each other. Though you and your classmates may be human, we are all different because of our genes. Though it's pronounced "jeans", genes aren't really jeans. It's the DNA inside of us that we get from our parents that they get from their parents that they get from their parents and goes on and on. Say your mom and dad's eyes are blue. Pretty sure you have blue eyes too!
- Ecosystem diversity is the diversity of living things living in a specific ecosystem. or habitat. For example, the diversity of the arctic tundra, or the desert or of the grasslands.
Species and Ecosystems
We get A LOT of help from species and ecosystems, because everything in this natural world is connected! So, what is an ecosystem? An ecosystem is a community of living or even non-living things that work together. All the parts of the ecosystem work together to have balance. The main parts of an ecosystem are:
- Soil
- Atmosphere
- Heat
- Sun light
- Water
- Living organisms
With all these, you could make an ecosystem of your own, an artificial one though.
A strong ecosystem has a wide variety of species diversity, making it not so vulnerable to damage by humans. An ecosystem works together to actually thrive and live together in the habitat.
There are three categories for living organisms in an ecosystem:
- Producers, the green guys. Plants who make their own food from the sun
- Consumers, the guys who eat the green guys, or even other consumers. As a consumer, you can be a herbivore, omnivore or a carnivore. Herbivores eat the plants, omnivores eat the plants of the smaller animals who eat the plants and carnivores are the animals that eat the animals that eat the animals that eat the plants. Sounds a bit confusing huh? Well, that's where the food chain takes place.
- Decomposers, are the organisms that decompose, or break down, dead plants and animals back into organic material and into soil, back to the beginning again.
We need these ecosystems to live. We're at the top of these food chains, so if one thing dies out, anything that eats it starts decreasing in number too! This is why it's so important to protect our ecosystem!
- Soil
- Atmosphere
- Heat
- Sun light
- Water
- Living organisms
With all these, you could make an ecosystem of your own, an artificial one though.
A strong ecosystem has a wide variety of species diversity, making it not so vulnerable to damage by humans. An ecosystem works together to actually thrive and live together in the habitat.
There are three categories for living organisms in an ecosystem:
- Producers, the green guys. Plants who make their own food from the sun
- Consumers, the guys who eat the green guys, or even other consumers. As a consumer, you can be a herbivore, omnivore or a carnivore. Herbivores eat the plants, omnivores eat the plants of the smaller animals who eat the plants and carnivores are the animals that eat the animals that eat the animals that eat the plants. Sounds a bit confusing huh? Well, that's where the food chain takes place.
- Decomposers, are the organisms that decompose, or break down, dead plants and animals back into organic material and into soil, back to the beginning again.
We need these ecosystems to live. We're at the top of these food chains, so if one thing dies out, anything that eats it starts decreasing in number too! This is why it's so important to protect our ecosystem!
How it Helps Us
Biodiversity helps us in many ways even if we don't know it. It gives us a large range of things, so after all it has done for us we should help it to. If we protect biodiversity we will have a healthy ecosystem. A healthy ecosystem means healthy animals (fungi, protists, monerans) and plants. When there are healthy ecosystems then we can have oxygen to breath, wood for building and paper, medicine, cloth and clothing, bees and other insects that pollenate the food we eat and, obviously a beautiful world to explore. But what is happening to this world that is destroying it? The main thing is the overpopulation of humans. This huge problem is affecting many other things. There are many problems but the main ones are pollution, climate change, habitat change, invasive species and wasting our resources. As you can tell these things do not just affects animals but also plants and many other things on this wonderful earth.
What can you do?
You can do many things to try to stop the things people are doing to destroy the earth. One main thing is reduce your ecological footprint. You can do this by not driving alone. Carpooling, taking the bus, walking or biking places is much better for the earth than using more cars which add more pollution. Another way to reduce is to turn things off. Even if your in the house but not in the room turn off the light. And if you are going out, you can turn down the heater/air conditioner. You have probably heard this a lot but you need to Reduce, Reuse and Recycle! What this means is you have to reduce your buying of disposable products, and reuse that waste that you make, with what's left you need to recycle what you can. Everything that you put in the recycle instead of the garbage makes a huge difference. A big issue is the garbage that we throw on the ground. This is killing many animals. Many sea turtles are dying because they think that garbage bags are food, and they suffocate. This is happening to many creatures. There is even an area of water called the trash vortex. It is just one example of many of what we are doing to harm the earth. Help save the planet. Protect biodiversity.
To learn about the 3 R's go to: http://www.rco.on.ca/
For more information about biodiversity go to:
http://ontariobiodiversitycouncil.ca/?s=how+to+protect+biodiversity
http://ontariobiodiversitycouncil.ca/?s=how+to+protect+biodiversity