Unit 4 Vocabulary

Species Richness- Number of species in a sample community or an environment.

Species Evenness- whether an ecosystem is dominated by one type of species or all of its species have similar abundances.


Microevolution- evolution among a small group of species, below species level.


Macroevolution- evolution occurs in larger categories of organisms











Evolution by natural selection- The environment decides where individuals survive and reproduce.

( Demeter)

Evolution by artificial selection- humans decide to breed individuals however they want it to be. Unnatural.


Allopatric Speciation- a population split by geographic barriers. Over time the two becomes two different distinct species.


Sympatric speciation- While inhabiting the same region, new species evolve from one ancestral species.

Genetically Modified Organisms- Just like evolution by artificial selection, GMO is unnatural. DNA is altered in a species that does not occur naturally.

Fundamental Niche- a specific role that a species play in the ecosystem. This can be defined by its habits, behaviors and interaction with other organisms.

Exponential growth model- usually shaped like a J. With intrinsic growth rate denoted as r and an equation Nt = Noe^rt. This occurs when population is not limited by any resource sand its number shoots up.

Logistic growth model- usually shaped like S. The early growth is exponential but it eventually slows down and the growth rate eventually becomes zero and be stable when it hits the carrying capacity.

Carrying Capacity- basically the maximum point where the number of species can go up to in a given environment.

Keystone species- a vital species in an environment. Other species depend on this a lot and the environment itself can change drastically if the keystone species are removed.



Biodiversity Hot Spots

• Biodiversity Hot Spots were first founded by Norman Myers from Oxford University. He found out that the reason for uneven biodiversity is because of endemic species. These species are those that live in a very small area of the world and nowhere else. And these areas contain large proportions of almost all the species on Earth and these areas are called Biodiversity Hot Spots.
• My Hot Spot is located in Japan. 
• 
• Humid sub tropics in the south to the boreal zone in the north.

• Japanese Serow (Capricornis Crispus) is one of the endemic animals in Japan. It is a Japanese goat antelope and  it lives primarily around north and central Honshu. It was near extinction in the 1950's by excessivis hunting by humans

• Shriane-aoi (Glaucitium Paulmatum) (Japanese wood poppy) is usually found in Hakkaido and Honshu area in Japan. It is usually grouped in white or purple flowers.
• Being an endemic species means that species live in a very small part of the world but nowhere else. So the reason why Japanese serow and Japanese wood poppy are specifically called Japanese in front of their name is because that specific kind of species is only present in Japan. 
• Japan is located on the intersection of three of the Earth's tectonic plates. This causes continuous earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, hot springs, and mountains which contributes to the lack of biodiversity in Japan. Also the large mountain ranges create extreme differences in climate in various regions. Some areas are snowy and other areas (near the pacific) are dry and hot and these climate differences can also play in role of lack of biodiversity. Another reason can be that Japan has a lot of islands which cause isolation of the environment and cause endemic species. 
• Japanese government created a law called Basic Environment Law which prevents serious industrial pollution and extinction of species. They also help to preserve areas that are still not touched by humans and to protect rare and endemic species in those regions.

Pick a Side
There are many things that plays to create and ideal condition where species can adapt to it fast.and Species Evenness is one of them. If an area is dominated by one specific species than it will be hard for other species to adapt to that environment unless that species is stronger than the previous one. But if the area has similar abundance in all species than it will be a lot easier for the new species to adapt to that area.. Another one is the Species Richness. If a certain number of species are extremely low and the new species needs that species to survive, the new species won't be able to adapt to that environment. This leads to the next term, the Keystone Species. If the Keystone Species stay and maintain the habitat, other species will be able to adapt quicker and be stable in a given environment. And these Keystone Species are called the Ecosystem Engineers. They maintain the habitat for other species.  The last thing is the Evolution by Natural Selection. This means that humans do not intervene in the process of reproduction and survival of species. Which also means that nothing will be out of order and not one species will be extremely abundant than the other and all species will reproduce in nature's order and this will definitely help new species to adapt to the environment quicker than in the area where humans practiced Evolution by Artificial Selection. 

Big Picture 
Human Impact- There are unlimited thing that humans can do to change the environment and they usually turn out the have a negative result on the environment. Fore example, Evolution by Artificial Selection is cause by humans. In order to get desired species, humans breed certain types of species together, or create new species, breaking the nature's law. This can cause unpredictable consequences when these man made or man selected species go out in the wild.
Environmental Impact- Just like Japan, the environment itself can cause isolation of species which later creates endemic species. Due to its mountain ranges, islands, constant volcanic eruptions, and earthquakes, Japan is known to be the Biodiversity Hot Spot that has numerous endemic species. 
Economic Effect/ Government Legislation- Due to the lack of biodiversity, either man caused or naturally caused, the government is making various types of laws to protect the near extinct species and areas like biodiversity hot spots and area that are almost untouched by humans to preserve that area as best as possible. But these government legislation are not free. They are supported by citizen's taxes. And these days, American economy is not doing so well and spending extra money on these legislation might cause complaints from people.