Examine the reasons for the existence and localities of biodiversity hotspots.

Supervision 2: Examine the reasons for the existence and localities of biodiversity hotspots "I have never experienced such intense delight... such a plenitude of forms, colours, behaviours-such a magnitude of Life! What explains the riot?" - Darwin (1851) "The current massive degradation of habitat and extinction of species is taking place on a catastrophically short timescale, and their effects will fundamentally reset the future evolution of the planet's biota." - Novacek & Cleland (2001) Biodiversity may be regarded as 'the number, variety and variability of living organisms' (MacDonald, 2003: 406). Whilst global variation in biological diversity has long been a source of fascination, it has recently been the basis for increasing concern (Tilman, 2000). Awareness of the extent and rate of the current biodiversity crisis (or the 'sixth extinction', as termed by Leakey & Lewin, 1996) has led to a significant re-assessment of the role of biodiversity in ecosystem functioning and the scope for policy intervention to enable its preservation, exemplified by the international ratification of the Convention on Biodiversity in 1992. The identification and analysis of spatial patterns of biodiversity has been central to conservation goals of maximum preservation at the least cost (Reddy & Davalos, 2003). The hotspots approach is one of many methods for delimiting areas of

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Elodea Plant Lab

Aquatic Photosynthesis of Elodea Leaves Lab Design Problem: What is the effect of temperature (warm, cool, room temperature) on the rate of photosynthesis in Elodea leaves measured by the levels of dissolved oxygen in the flask solutions? Hypothesis: If temperature is related to the rate of photosynthesis (levels of dissolved oxygen) then increasing the temperate will increase the rate of photosynthesis up to an optimal temperature. Variables: Independent: temperature of the water bath which the Elodea plant is immersed in Dependent: the rate of photosynthesis measured by the level of oxygen dissolved in the flask solution Constants: Relative size of the Elodea leaf, relative surface area of the Elodea leaves, (around 3 cm each), volume of water in all beakers, amounts of light exposure to the plants, and type of light source. Method: Materials: Light Source Elodea. Keep this warm and illuminated before you use it, 3 small flasks, 0g/L sodium bicarbonate (NaHCO3) solution, oxygen sensor Lab Quest data logger. Graduated cylinder Hot Plate 3 Large beaker (1 for warm water, 1 for cool water, 1 room temp) 3 thermometers Procedure: ) Day one: Before beginning the actual lab-Listen for teacher instructions and familiarize yourself with the LabQuest datalogger and its functions using the quick start guide. We will devote this day to learning how to use the

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Niche--Biology

Palak Shah TA: Luca BIO 101 The niche is one of the most significant concepts in ecology. An organism's niche is how it makes a living: the important resources it needs to survive and its ways of obtaining those resources. Competition occurs when organisms in the same community look for the same limiting resource. This resource may be water, prey, nutrients, light, etc. Competition with members of the same species is intraspecific. Competition with individuals of different species is interspecific. Individuals experience both types of competition, but the relative importance of the two types of competition varies from population to population and species to species. Exploitation competition may cause the elimination of one species. For this to happen, one organism must require less of the limiting resource to survive. The dominant species must also reduce the quantity of that resource below some critical level where the other species would be unable to replace its numbers by reproduction. Exploitation will not always cause the elimination of one species. They may coexist with a decrease in their potential for growth. Neutralism is the most common type of interspecific interaction. Neither population affects one another nor are any interactions that do occur indirect or incidental. Amensalism is when one species suffers and the other interacting species experiences no

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Prokaryotes and Viruses

Prokaryotes and Viruses . Eukaryotic cells tend to be complex in nature. They make up the structures of complex organisms such as animals, plants, fungi and protoctista. The name eukaryotes itself means 'true-nucleus',1 this is because of the nature of its DNA being enclosed in a nuclear membrane. This leads to one of the features that make eukaryotic cells distinctive. That is compartalization; this is very distinct in eukaryotic cells this is the separation between different organelles and groups. The organelles maintain their groups to ensure processes such as respiration and protein synthesis don't mix chemicals. Various compartments are nucleus, plasma membrane and cytoplasm. Leading on from compartalization the cell structure it is quite complex, it consists of a various organelles that may differ depending on the organism the cells are in. Normally they contain organelles such as nucleuses, mitochondria, ribosome's and countless others. Eukaryotic cells are also able specialize, this is when cells adapt to their environment and perform specific processes and actions, such as the red blood cell which carries oxygen or the nerve cell which carries impulses.2 2. Gram staining is a method of staining used to indentify and classify different bacteria. The process itself is used to differentiate between two major cell wall types present in bacteria. These are gram negative

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What is Biodiversity?

Biodiversity Simone M Brady SCI210 Dr. Hoffman August 31, 2005 INTRODUCTION Biodiversity will inevitably take a beating. Humans care about nothing but themselves even though every action a human makes effects another organism in some way, shape or form, whether the effect is positive or negative. The world is past due for a change in attitude and activity on this planet in order to ensure more positive effects are practiced because biodiversity sustains all life on earth. This paper will discuss biodiversity and the effects human have on it. WHAT IS BIODIVERSITY? Biodiversity is the variety of life here on Earth. Variety includes the many different micro-organisms, plants, animals, genes and ecosystems living beneath the biosphere, (Department of the Environment and Heritage, 2005), and can be subdivided into three parts; genetic diversity, species diversity and ecosystem diversity (National Biological Information Infrastructure, n.d.), with its main focus being the species (Wright, 2005). Biodiversity, originally known as biological diversity has taken on a few descriptions, with the main issues being conservation value. To some, conservation may apply to all species, to others conservation may apply to a specific species and is called biospecifics. Yet to some, biodiversity concerns the maintenance of ecosystem processes and is called bio-processes (Stanford

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Plankton - Marine Biology,Scientific Paper

Construction of a food web based on the species located in the Clyde Sea. Introduction We will be sampling the waters of the Clyde Sea to attempt to create a food web of the plankton recorded. We will examine the relationship between key species and inorganic and organic mater found in the waters. The diversity of plankton in the Clyde Sea is immense. We will only select a few species to create our food web, as creating a food web for the entire recorded species will be next to impossible for us. The Clyde Sea is situated on the South West coast of Scotland and is surrounded by the Shetland Islands mainland Scotland. The land masses that surround the Clyde sea offers great protection from strong prevailing winds and other whether fronts from the Atlantic to the wildlife located in the sea. Materials and methods Water samples were taken form the Clyde Sea using Zooplankton nets. We had a range of different mesh sizes. The first was a course net: 710?m. The second was a medium mesh: 335?m. The third was a fine mesh: 142?m and the last was a very fine mesh size: 90?m. These different mesh sizes would hopefully catch a range of plankton from Mesozooplankton to Picoplankton. The water samples would be taken back to the lab where we would attempt to identify the individuals to species level. To do this we would use different microscopes, depending on the size of organism and

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Should a DNA profile be taken at birth?

A DNA profile should be taken from each newborn baby. "DNA profiling (also called DNA testing, DNA typing, or genetic fingerprinting) is a technique employed by forensic scientists to assist in the identification of individuals on the basis of their respective DNA profiles."1 Within a clinical context DNA profiling has many potential human uses; immigration applications, determining adopted siblings, paternity testing and of course criminal justice. Limitations of the procedure include; it can only give statistical probable data, it is ethically wrong according to some experts, this then reliable source will be easy to plant in crime scenes and of course minorities may abuse DNA manipulation.2 DNA profiling at its current state is a tool used to gather circumstantial evidence, within the forensic and healthcare fields. Without scientific thought this process is a revelation but many ethical issues including human rights have been foreshadowed. Should a DNA profile be taken from each newborn baby? Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) is the cornerstone for human genic makeup, which serves as an instruction manual and blueprint for everything in your body. The process of electrophoresis is used to gather 'non coding DNA' (areas of short tandem repeats, STRs) using restricting enzymes. There are two common methods of separation and detection, capillary electrophoresis and gel

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