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13 - Biodiversity: Individual Species

from Part V - Biodiversity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

Chadwick Dearing Oliver  and
Fatma Arf Oliver
Chadwick Dearing Oliver
Affiliation:
Yale University, Connecticut
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Summary

Biodiversity is the genetic diversity of life and its environment—ecosystems. Numbers of species and their threat of extinction are being catalogued. Life began billions of years ago and developed through evolution. Biodiversity is a critical building block for people and human societies. About twelve million species exist in the world, mostly arthropods (insects and others) and bacteria, fungi, and similar organisms. Species evolve differences in their abilities to utilize things necessary for life to outcompete others or survive where others cannot—in different niches. There is a limit to the amount of animal and plant life an area can support, depending on the nutrients, moisture, climate and other factors—the “growing space.” Animals also eat each other and/or plants, which adds greater complexity to animal populations—as do their behavior and mobility. Some species are constantly going extinct, but large extinction episodes occur, after which the surviving and evolving life forms may change dramatically. Many species are presently becoming extinct because of human actions. Species invading a new area can become excluded, eliminate native species, or become a benign member.
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Global Resources and the Environment , pp. 193 - 210
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2018

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