Ecosystem diversity

Short description: Diversity and variations in ecosystems

The Earth has many diverse ecosystems and ecologicalsystem diversity. These are NASA composite images of the Earth: 2001 (left), 2002 (right), titled The Blue Marble.

Ecosystem diversity deals with the variations in ecosystems within a geographical location and its overall impact on human existence and the environment.

Ecosystem diversity addresses the combined characteristics of biotic properties which are living organisms (biodiversity) and abiotic properties such as nonliving things like water or soil (geodiversity). It is a variation in the ecosystems found in a region or the variation in ecosystems over the whole planet. Ecological diversity includes the variation in both terrestrial and aquatic ecosystems. Ecological diversity can also take into account the variation in the complexity of a biological community, including the number of different niches, the number of and other ecological processes. An example of ecological diversity on a global scale would be the variation in ecosystems, such as deserts, forests, grasslands, wetlands and oceans. Ecological diversity is the largest scale of biodiversity, and within each ecosystem, there is a great deal of both species and genetic diversity.[1][2][3][4]

## Contents

* 1 Impact
* 2 Examples
* 3 Ecosystem diversity as a result of evolutionary pressure
* 4 See also
* 5 References

## Impact

Diversity in the ecosystem is significant to human existence for a variety of reasons. Ecosystem diversity boosts the availability of oxygen via the process of photosynthesis amongst plant organisms domiciled in the habitat. Diversity in an aquatic environment helps in the purification of water by plant varieties for use by humans. Diversity increases plant varieties which serves as a good source for medicines and herbs for human use. A lack of diversity in the ecosystem produces an opposite result.[5]

## Examples

Some examples of ecosystems that are rich in diversity are:

* Deserts
* Forests
* Large marine ecosystems
* Marine ecosystems
* Old-growth forests
* Rainforests
* Tundra
* Coral reefs
* Marine

## Ecosystem diversity as a result of evolutionary pressure

Ecological diversity around the world can be directly linked to the evolutionary and selective pressures that constrain the diversity outcome of the ecosystems within different niches. Tundras, Rainforests, coral reefs and deciduous forests all are formed as a result of evolutionary pressures. Even seemingly small evolutionary interactions can have large impacts on the diversity of the ecosystems throughout the world. One of the best studied cases of this is of the honeybee's interaction with angiosperms on every continent in the world except Antarctica.[6]

In 2010, Robert Brodschneider and Karl Crailsheim conducted a study on the health and nutrition in honeybee colonies. The study focused on overall colony health, adult nutrition, and larva nutrition as a function of the effect of pesticides, monocultures and genetically modified crops to see if the anthropogenically created problems can have an effect pollination levels.[7] The results indicate that human activity does have a role in the destruction of the fitness of the bee colony. The extinction or near extinction of these pollinators would result in many plants that feed humans on a wide scale needing alternative pollination methods.[8] Crop pollinating insects are worth annually $14.6 billion to the US economy[9] and the cost to hand pollinate over insect pollination is estimated to cost $5,715-$7,135 more per hectare. Not only will there be a cost increase but also a decrease in colony fitness, leading to a decrease in genetic diversity, which studies have shown has a direct link to the long-term survival of the honeybee colonies.[10][11]

According to a study, there are over 50 plants that are dependent on bee pollination, many of these being key staples to feeding the world.[12] Another study conducted states that a lack of plant diversity will lead to a decline in the bee population fitness, and a low bee colony fitness has impacts on the fitness of plant ecosystem diversity.[13] By allowing for bee pollination and working to reduce anthropogenically harmful footprints, bee pollination can increase genetic diversity of flora growth and create a unique ecosystem that is highly diverse and can provide a habitat and niche for many other organisms to thrive.[14] Due to the evolutionary pressures of bees being located on six out of seven continents, there can be no denying the impact of pollinators on the ecosystem diversity. The pollen collected by the bees is harvested and used as an energy source for wintertime; this act of collecting pollen from local plants also has a more important effect of facilitating the movement of genes between organisms.[15]

The new evolutionary pressures that are largely anthropogenically catalyzed can potentially cause widespread collapse of ecosystems. In the north Atlantic Sea, a study was conducted that followed the effects of the human interaction on surrounding ocean habitats. They found that there was no habitat or trophic level that in some way was affected negatively by human interaction, and that much of the diversity of life was being stunted as a result.[16]

## See also

* Bioregion
* Disparity (ecology)
* Ecology
* Evolutionary biology
* Genetic diversity
* Nature
* Natural environment
* Species diversity
* Sustainable development

## References

1. ↑ Cunningham, Margaret. "What is Biodiversity? - Definition and Relation to Ecosystem Stability". http://study.com/academy/lesson/what-is-biodiversity-definition-and-relation-to-ecosystem-stability.html.
2. ↑ Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, ed (2009). "Ecosystems". Environmental Science: In context. In Context Series. 1. Detroit: Gale. pp. 242–246. ISBN 978-1-4103-3754-2. OCLC 277051356. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE|CX3233900080&asid=ece573364e176588534845e3350339a7.
3. ↑ Purdy, Elizabeth (2012). "Ecosystems". in S. George Philander. Encyclopedia of Global Warming & Climate Change. 1 (2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Reference. pp. 485–487. doi:10.4135/9781452218564. ISBN 978-1-4129-9261-9. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE|CX4195600251&asid=1b9f7d7c752292d2c015aaaa651455a9.
4. ↑ Brenda Wilmoth Lerner, ed (2009). "Ecosystem Diversity". Environmental Science: In Context. In Context Series. 1. Detroit: Gale. pp. 239–241. ISBN 978-1-4103-3754-2. OCLC 277051356. http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T003&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchId=R4&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=7&userGroupName=colu91149&inPS=true&sort=RELEVANCE&contentSegment=&prodId=GVRL&contentSet=GALE|CX3233900079&docId=GALE|CX3233900079&docType=GALE&authCount=1#.
5. ↑ Naveh, Z. (1994-09-01). "From Biodiversity to Ecodiversity: A Landscape-Ecology Approach to Conservation and Restoration" (in en). Restoration Ecology 2 (3): 180–189. doi:10.1111/j.1526-100x.1994.tb00065.x. ISSN 1526-100X. Bibcode: 1994ResEc...2..180N.
6. ↑ Dray, Tammy. "On What Continents Are Bees Not Found?" (in en). Pets on mom. https://animals.mom.me/continents-bees-not-found-5374.html.
7. ↑ Brodschneider, Robert (2010). "Nutrition and health in Honey bees". Apidologie 41 (3): 278–294. doi:10.1051/apido/2010012. https://www.apidologie.org/articles/apido/pdf/2010/03/m09120.pdf.
8. ↑ "Bee Pollination and Technology". MIT. http://web.mit.edu/12.000/www/m2015/2015/bee_tech.html.
9. ↑ Goulson, Dave (2 October 2012). "Decline of bees forces China's apple farmers to pollinate by hand" (in en). https://www.chinadialogue.net/article/show/single/en/5193-Decline-of-bees-forces-China-s-apple-farmers-to-pollinate-by-hand.
10. ↑ "Genetic diversity key to survival of honey bee colonies" (in en). ScienceDaily. 17 June 2013. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/06/130617111341.htm.
11. ↑ Tarpy, David R.; vanEngelsdorp, Dennis; Pettis, Jeffrey S. (2013). "Genetic diversity affects colony survivorship in commercial honey bee colonies" (in en). Naturwissenschaften 100 (8): 723–728. doi:10.1007/s00114-013-1065-y. ISSN 0028-1042. PMID 23728203. Bibcode: 2013NW....100..723T. http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00114-013-1065-y.
12. ↑ "Pollination and Bee Plants". 1998. http://gears.tucson.ars.ag.gov/beeclass/Pollination.pdf. Excerpted from Beekeeper's Handbook, Sammataro/Avitabile
13. ↑ Hays, Brooks (22 August 2018). "Plant biodiversity essential to bee health" (in en). UPI (United Press International). https://www.upi.com/Science_News/2018/08/22/Plant-biodiversity-essential-to-bee-health/7391534949396/.
14. ↑ Tucker, Jessica (2014-06-17). "Why Bees Are Important to Our Planet" (in en-US). http://www.onegreenplanet.org/animalsandnature/why-bees-are-important-to-our-planet/.
15. ↑ Liu, Min; Compton, Stephen G.; Peng, Fo-En; Zhang, Jian; Chen, Xiao-Yong (2015-06-07). "Movements of genes between populations: are pollinators more effective at transferring their own or plant genetic markers?". Proceedings of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 282 (1808). doi:10.1098/rspb.2015.0290. ISSN 0962-8452. PMID 25948688.
16. ↑ Lotze, Heike K.; Milewski, Inka (October 2004). "Two Centuries of Multiple Human Impacts and Successive Changes in a North Atlantic Food Web" (in en). Ecological Applications 14 (5): 1428–1447. doi:10.1890/03-5027. ISSN 1051-0761. Bibcode: 2004EcoAp..14.1428L.

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Ecology: Modelling ecosystems: Trophic components

General|

* Abiotic component
* Abiotic stress
* Behaviour
* Biogeochemical cycle
* Biomass
* Biotic component
* Biotic stress
* Carrying capacity
* Competition
* Ecosystem
* Ecosystem ecology
* Ecosystem model
* Keystone species
* List of feeding behaviours
* Metabolic theory of ecology
* Productivity
* Resource

Producers|

* Autotrophs
* Chemosynthesis
* Chemotrophs
* Foundation species
* Mixotrophs
* Myco-heterotrophy
* Mycotroph
* Organotrophs
* Photoheterotrophs
* Photosynthesis
* Photosynthetic efficiency
* Phototrophs
* Primary nutritional groups
* Primary production

Consumers|

* Apex predator
* Bacterivore
* Carnivores
* Chemoorganotroph
* Foraging
* Generalist and specialist species
* Intraguild predation
* Herbivores
* Heterotroph
* Heterotrophic nutrition
* Insectivore
* Mesopredators
* Mesopredator release hypothesis
* Omnivores
* Optimal foraging theory
* Planktivore
* Predation
* Prey switching

Decomposers|

* Chemoorganoheterotrophy
* Decomposition
* Detritivores
* Detritus

Microorganisms|

* Archaea
* Bacteriophage
* Environmental microbiology
* Lithoautotroph
* Lithotrophy
* Microbial cooperation
* Microbial ecology
* Microbial food web
* Microbial intelligence
* Microbial loop
* Microbial mat
* Microbial metabolism
* Phage ecology

Food webs|

* Biomagnification
* Ecological efficiency
* Ecological pyramid
* Energy flow
* Food chain
* Trophic level

Example webs|

* Cold seeps
* Hydrothermal vents
* Intertidal
* Kelp forests
* Lakes
* North Pacific Subtropical Gyre
* Rivers
* San Francisco Estuary
* Soil
* Tide pool

Processes|

* Ascendency
* Bioaccumulation
* Cascade effect
* Climax community
* Competitive exclusion principle
* Consumer-resource systems
* Copiotrophs
* Dominance
* Ecological network
* Ecological succession
* Energy quality
* Energy Systems Language
* f-ratio
* Feed conversion ratio
* Feeding frenzy
* Mesotrophic soil
* Nutrient cycle
* Oligotroph
* Paradox of the plankton
* Trophic cascade
* Trophic mutualism
* Trophic state index

Defense,
counter|

* Animal coloration
* Antipredator adaptations
* Camouflage
* Deimatic behaviour
* Herbivore adaptations to plant defense
* Mimicry
* Plant defense against herbivory
* Predator avoidance in schooling fish

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Ecology: Modelling ecosystems: Other components

Population
ecology|

* Abundance
* Allee effect
* Depensation
* Ecological yield
* Effective population size
* Intraspecific competition
* Logistic function
* Malthusian growth model
* Maximum sustainable yield
* Overpopulation in wild animals
* Overexploitation
* Population cycle
* Population dynamics
* Population modeling
* Population size
* Predator–prey (Lotka–Volterra) equations
* Recruitment
* Resilience
* Small population size
* Stability

Species|

* Biodiversity
* Density-dependent inhibition
* Ecological effects of biodiversity
* Ecological extinction
* Endemic species
* Flagship species
* Gradient analysis
* Indicator species
* Introduced species
* Invasive species
* Latitudinal gradients in species diversity
* Minimum viable population
* Neutral theory
* Occupancy–abundance relationship
* Population viability analysis
* Priority effect
* Rapoport's rule
* Relative abundance distribution
* Relative species abundance
* Species diversity
* Species homogeneity
* Species richness
* Species distribution
* Species-area curve
* Umbrella species

Species
interaction|

* Antibiosis
* Biological interaction
* Commensalism
* Community ecology
* Ecological facilitation
* Interspecific competition
* Mutualism
* Parasitism
* Storage effect
* Symbiosis

Spatial
ecology|

* Biogeography
* Cross-boundary subsidy
* Ecocline
* Ecotone
* Ecotype
* Disturbance
* Edge effects
* Foster's rule
* Habitat fragmentation
* Ideal free distribution
* Intermediate Disturbance Hypothesis
* Island biogeography
* Landscape ecology
* Landscape epidemiology
* Landscape limnology
* Metapopulation
* Patch dynamics
* r/K selection theory
* Resource selection function
* Source–sink dynamics

Niche|

* Ecological niche
* Ecological trap
* Ecosystem engineer
* Environmental niche modelling
* Guild
* Habitat
* Marine habitats
* Limiting similarity
* Niche apportionment models
* Niche construction
* Niche differentiation

Other
networks|

* Assembly rules
* Bateman's principle
* Bioluminescence
* Ecological collapse
* Ecological debt
* Ecological deficit
* Ecological energetics
* Ecological indicator
* Ecological threshold
* Ecosystem diversity
* Emergence
* Extinction debt
* Kleiber's law
* Liebig's law of the minimum
* Marginal value theorem
* Thorson's rule
* Xerosere

Other|

* Allometry
* Alternative stable state
* Balance of nature
* Biological data visualization
* Ecocline
* Ecological economics
* Ecological footprint
* Ecological forecasting
* Ecological humanities
* Ecological stoichiometry
* Ecopath
* Ecosystem based fisheries
* Endolith
* Evolutionary ecology
* Functional ecology
* Industrial ecology
* Macroecology
* Microecosystem
* Natural environment
* Regime shift
* Systems ecology
* Urban ecology
* Theoretical ecology

List of ecology topics

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Original source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ecosystem diversity. Read more

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1. ↑ Loreau, Michel (2010-01-12). "Linking biodiversity and ecosystems: towards a unifying ecological theory". Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B: Biological Sciences 365 (1537): 49–60. doi:10.1098/rstb.2009.0155. ISSN 0962-8436. PMID 20008385.

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