Year 11 Pre-Diploma Biology

BIODIVERSITY HOTSPOTS
We tried to define biodiversity write down here what you now understand by the word BIODIVERSITY. I could define biodiversity as the variety of living organisms and their relative fre uency. These can be classified according to their chemical structures! heredity! different ecosystems! s"ecies! genes and abundance. Biodiversity can be divided into three different grou"s #hich are the follo#ing$ %enetic diversity& It is mainly the combination of different genes found in a single s"ecies "o"ulation and the variation of different "o"ulations of the same s"ecies in a "attern of variation. S"ecies diversity& It consists on the variety and abundance of different s"ecies #ithin a certain area. Ecosystem diversity& It consists on the variety of habitats that can be found #ithin a habitat. In my opinion it basically consists of the variety and variability within living organisms as well as ecological comple es! "round the world are various biodiversity #$%&'P%&'(! What do you understand by this term) #hots"ot'* By the word +hotspot, in terms of biodiversity I-d say a hotspot is a bio geographical region in the world where there is a lot of biodiversity present and is under the threat of humans! .ist some of the more famous biodiversity hotspots) and beside each) very briefly say what ma/es it a hotspot or why it is determined or conserved as a hotspot! 1! Galapagos Islands, Ecuador 0ndemic species found in these islands ma/e it a biodiverse hotspot! 'ome of these species have been introduced but have adapted perfectly to these conditions and are suffering under human threat! 1! Atlantic forest, tropical Sout A!erica It contains around 12)222 plant species and 324 of these species are endemic and unfortunately less than 124 has remained! 3! "aucasus Its deserts) savannas and its ecosystems have a large amount of endemic species that cannot be found in other parts of the world! 5! Guinean forests, #estern Africa

&his is the home for a 6uarter and more of "fruca-s mammals) besides it includes around 12 primate species! 7! Hi!ala$a, Asia%Pacific 8t! 0verest) the highest mountain of the world ta/es place in this ecosystem! It is the home of different species such as vultures) and mammals! 9! Tropical Andes "ppro imately 54 of all vascular endemic species are found in this place! :! Indonesia and &ala$sian forests ;ey species now endemic such as orang-utans are found here and are under serious human threat! <! &adrean Pine Oa' #oodlands In this ecosystem around a 6uarter of all 8e ico-s plant species can be found =ust here! 12! &adagascar 0ight family plant species are found here) five primate families and four bird families species can be found here and nowhere else on 0arth! >ow go to www!biodiversityhotspots!org! $ere you will find some useful definitions and some 6uite detailed descriptions of the world(s hotspots! 'elect any one of the hotspots from the drop-down menu and ma/e a written summary with the following information? Where is the hotspot* Why is it especially important* What important species are present* Who loo/s after or is responsible for the conservation of this hotspot* %ne biodiversity hospot is the @alapagos Islands! &hese islands are located in the Pacific %cean and belong to the country of 0cuador! It is e tremely important by their species living in the habitats) these are endemic species which many of them have been introduced but have adapted to the weather conditions only the @alapagos offers! &he most important species found here are the giant turtles) sea lions) frigates) red and blue footed boobies) etc! &here is one main company in charge of ta/ing care of this environment is the >ational Par/ of @alapagos which puts all of its efforts such as demanding a ta for those who want to enter the @alapagos and putting regulations on foreigners! Aohn %sborne Bebruary 1213