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Module 17: Niches and species distribution

Mod 17: niches and species distribution 

Check this out:

You'll see another like this in population distributions...
  • Range of tolerance-where it can survive
  • Fundamental niche-happy place
  • Realized niche-de facto place
  • Distribution-areas where they live (we'll see more of this in the chapter on population distributions: random, scattered, patterned)
  • Global Biodiversity:Note biodiversity increases closer to the equator:


Global warming and biodiversity:




Alternates to low biodiversity food sources (e.g. monoculture):
Biodiversity benefits:
Major extinctions leading to the 6th anthropocene (man caused) exctinction:


Past human impact:

Invasive species:





We can calculate biodiversity: 

Lab: Calculating Shannon's index, using baked goldfish (the cheddar kind, not the ones that stink)
  1. wash your hands
  2. pour out a random number of different colored goldfish on your plate (your "pond")
  3. determine the number of distinct populations by color, using chopsticks
  4. determine the proportion for each population (e.g. 5 red ones out of 20 total would be 5/20 or 0.25)
  5. calculate Shannon's index (H) for this "pond"
  6. repeat the experiment with a very low biodiversity, calculate H
  7. repeat with a very high biodiversity, calculate H
  8. eat the contents of your "pond", representing a catastrophic event
Questions:
  1. what is the value of biodiversity in any community?
  2. what are the benefits and drawbacks of a low biodiversity?
  3. how does this play into competition (next chapter)
  4. why is it important to determine the number of "distinct populations"?
  5. what is the impact of this on a human population, e.g. the census?

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