What is Biodiversity?
Biodiversity refers to the variety of all living organisms on Earth, including plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms.
Each plant and animal plays a unique role, like pollinating plants, balancing food chains, or keeping ecosystems healthy.
Levels of Biodiversity:
- Ecosystem Diversity – Different environments like forests, oceans, and deserts.
- Species Diversity – The variety of species within an ecosystem.
- Genetic Diversity – Variations within the same species, helping them adapt.
Why is Biodiversity Important?
Biodiversity keeps ecosystems stable by recycling nutrients, pollinating plants, and cleaning the air.
Food Chain Stability: All species are interconnected; losing one can disrupt food chains and weaken ecosystems, affecting all life, including humans.
For example, fewer bees mean less pollination, reducing crop production.
Medicines: Over 25% of modern medicines come from plants and animals found in nature.
Respiration: Plants, especially trees, release oxygen and absorb carbon dioxide, helping us breathe clean air and regulating the climate.
Humans can protect biodiversity through conservation.
Fun Facts
Here are some interesting facts about biodiversity:
- Coral reefs support over 25% of marine life yet cover only 1% of the ocean floor!
- Rainforests produce 20% of the world’s oxygen and are home to millions of species.
- There are more species of insects on Earth than any other animal group.
- Some fungi can break down harmful environmental pollutants, cleaning soil and water.
Review
Let’s quickly recap what we learned about biodiversity:
- What are the three levels of biodiversity? Ecosystem, Species & Genetic
- Which type of ecosystem has the most biodiversity? Rainforest
- What gets disrupted when a species is lost? Food Chain
- How can humans protect biodiversity? Conservation
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