Biodiversity describes the variety of living things at multiple organizational levels: genetic, species and ecosystem diversity. Species diversity includes all branches of the evolutionary tree from single-celled prokaryotic organisms, bacteria, and archaea, to the eukaryotic kingdoms: plants; animals; fungi; and protists. To date, there have been about 1.75 million species identified, and new species are discovered every week.

There have been five major extinction events throughout geological history, resulting in the elimination of biodiversity, followed by a rebound of species that adapted to the new conditions. In the current geological epoch, the Holocene, there is a sixth extinction event in progress. This mass extinction has been attributed to human activities and is thus provisionally called the Anthropocene. In 2019 the human population reached 7.7 billion people and is projected to comprise 10 billion by...

Diverse ecosystems are important for the health of the planet and our survival as humans; it is therefore incredibly important for us to understand and measure biodiversity, which is defined as the variability among living organisms in an ecosystem. Biodiversity can be measured at many different levels including genetic, species, community, and ecosystem. One way to measure biodiversity is to assess species richness of an ecosystem, which is the total number of distinct species within a local...

Quadrats and Transects
ExpandIn this activity, you will be using quadrats along transect lines to take biodiversity measurements of the plant species in three distinct habitats near your classroom. Begin by splitting into groups. Four works best.
Select one person in your group to be the data recorder. The other three will be the data collectors.
Next, take one quadrat, or hula hoop, per group and place it on one side of one transect, or rope, next to a knot to allow identification of the plant...

Quadrats and Transects Preparation
ExpandStart by tying a knot at the beginning, end and every 5 feet of six 20-foot pieces of rope.
Then, identify three outdoor areas near the classroom, each containing a variety of at least four plant species. NOTE: Surprisingly, grassy areas often contain at least four plant species. Although most plants in these areas will be of a single grass species, there are usually many weeds, such as clovers or dandelions mixed in. Therefore, a well-kept grassy area...

Human civilization relies on biodiversity in many ways. Sudden changes in species biodiversity result in environmental changes that can modify weather patterns and therefore human civilizations.