30 Sep Exploring Biodiversity: The Interconnectedness of Life
Exploring Biodiversity: The Interconnectedness of Life
The ESS IB in its studies explores important concepts such as biodiversity which means variety of all life forms on Earth. We can differ species, genetic and habitat biodiversity and this is something that the ESS students will learn about in the course. They will begin to understand why having a diverse ecosystem is important and how to protect it. Ecosystem is a mixture of physical (abiotic) and living (biotic) factors. Students will also learn about the Theory of Evolution by Charles Darwin.
Meaning of Biodiversity
As we have mentioned before, biodiversity refers to the different life forms that appear on our planet. It is not simple as just counting how many species live in an ecosystem, it is more than that. It allows for the number and range of species to be counted in the ecosystem together with their interactions with each other and their physical surroundings. However, there is a range of genes in a species as well as the diversity of habitats in a certain environment. Biodiversity is connected to biogeochemical cycles in the ecosystem, food webs and succession.
In ESS IB students get opportunity to learn about biodiversity and connect it with other ESS topics such as conservation and pollution.
There are 3 main types of biodiversity:
- Species biodiversity – the amount and range of different species in some location.
- Genetic biodiversity – the gene pool within the species.
- Habitat biodiversity – the variety of habitats in some location.
The 3 biodiversity types are interconnected and if students understands their complex nature it leads to further conservation efforts.
What is an ecosystem?
In ESS IB students learn about ecosystems in topics 1 and 2 and this is a keyword that they start with when they begin they ESS IB course. Ecosystem stand for a community of living organisms and a physical environment which they inhabit. From a forest to a beach each ecosystem is unique and has their own species and combination of physical factors. Did you know that your school is an ecosystem? What about your household?
All ecosystems on Earth are open systems because there is an exchange of energy and matter with its surroundings. Globally, there is a connection between different ecosystems as change in the tropical rainforest will be projected into the increase in CO2 in the atmosphere in some other place on our planet.
For every ecosystem biodiversity plays an important role. It determines whether ecosystem is resilient and how much. Diverse ecosystems are more resilient and can survive more stress such as invasive species and lack of water. The stability of the ecosystem is linked to high biodiversity and these concepts are part of the ESS IB course.
How ecosystems are interconnected and influenced by biodiversity?
Some of the connections are:
- Keystone species – if you remove a keystone species from an ecosystem it will lead to its collapse. The entire food web is going to collapse as keystone species such as sea otters keep them stable.
- Nutrient cycle – decomposers such as microorganisms are responsible for decomposition of dead animal and plant parts. Once this process is over, nutrients are returned back into the soil system.
- Pollination – bees are responsible for it among many different species. However, if they are lost, this leads to loss of habitat and impacts food production systems.
Loss of biodiversity
There is a tremendous loss of biodiversity happening at this moment even though we all know how different species are important. In ESS IB we examine how this loss happens and why and what are the consequences.
Most important threats:
- Loss of habitat- due to the factors such as spreading of the cities, agriculture and deforestation.
- Climate change- many sea organisms such as fish and corals are less tolerant to an increase of the se temperature.
- Invasive species- some alien species are predators to the local species.
- Pollution- nitrates and phosphates from fertilizers and pesticides will lead to eutrophication and lead to the loss of pond species.
Unfortunately, loss of biodiversity is not only bad for animal and plant species, but also for us- humans. It is leading to climate change and water loss as well as loss of food security.
Why we study about biodiversity?
In ESS IB biodiversity plays a very important role. It leads to concepts such as sustainability and sustainable development and conversation. Students are able to evaluate the ecosystem if they have the knowledge about biodiversity and they will know how this system works and how to protect it.
Some of the biodiversity protection methods:
- build national parks and special natural reserves
- recycle, reduce and reduce
- lower CO2 emissions and your ecological footprint
- education about sustainability and sustainable development
- lower air pollution in the cities
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