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New study explores patterns in species diversity and genetic diversity
July 27, 2005As scientists, conservationists, and policy-makers wrestle with how to balance development with maintaining biodiversity, it's important to understand what controls patterns of biodiversity and how the biodiversity of a system will respond to different environmental scenarios. A new study by Mark Vellend in the August 2005 issue of The American Naturalist is the first to provide a theoretical model showing that the two central measures of biodiversity-the number of species in a system and the number of genetic variants within a specific species-respond similarly to changes in their environment.
For both measures, biodiversity is higher in scenarios with larger parcels of habitat available and where patches of intact habitat are closer together. These results concur with field observations and indicate that human activities that affect one type of biodiversity, such as causing the extinction of species, will produce a similar response in other measures of biodiversity. For example, it has been shown that both species diversity and genetic diversity of forest plants remain at similarly low levels in secondary forests relative to primary forests, even when secondary forests are upwards of 100 years old.
University of Chicago Press Journals
Biodiversity Current Events and Biodiversity News RSSDolphin Population Stunted by Fishing Activities, Scripps/NOAA Study Finds
Despite broad "dolphin safe" practices, fishing activities have continued to restrict the growth of at least one Pacific Ocean dolphin population, a new report led by a researcher at Scripps Institution of Oceanography at UC San Diego has concluded.
Panamanian termite goes ballistic: Fastest mandible strike in the world
A single hit on the head by the termite Termes panamensis (Snyder), which possesses the fastest mandible strike ever recorded, is sufficient to kill a would-be nest invader, report Marc Seid and Jeremy Niven, post-doctoral fellows at the Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute and Rudolf Scheffrahn from the University of Florida.
Putting a green cap on garbage dumps
andfill sites produce the greenhouse gases, methane and carbon dioxide, as putrescible waste decays. Growing plants and trees on top of a landfill, a process known as 'Phytocapping', could reduce the production and release of these gases, according to Australian scientists writing in a forthcoming issue of International Journal of Environmental Technology and Management.
11,000 alien species invade Europe
For the first time it is now possible to get a comprehensive overview of which alien species are present in Europe, their impacts and consequences for the environment and society.
Climate change opens new avenue for spread of invasive plants
Plants that range northward because of climate change may be better at defending themselves against local enemies than native plants.
Alpine rivers hold important clues for preserving biodiversity and coping with climate change
Marginal plants, particularly trees, play a crucial role in sustaining the biodiversity of Europe's big river systems, according to a recently held workshop organised by the European Science Foundation (ESF).
Urgent action on international coral reef crisis
Coral reef scientists and policy makers from the world's most prominent coral reef nations are meeting in Australia this week to develop urgent action plans to rescue the world's richest centre of marine biodiversity from gradual decline.
Study Confirms Amphibians' Ability to Predict Changes in Biodiversity
Biologists have long suspected that amphibians, whose moist permeable skins make them susceptible to slight changes in the environment, might be good bellwethers for impending alterations in biodiversity during rapid climate change.
Diversity of trees in Ecuador's Amazon rainforest defies simple explanation
Trees in a hyper-diverse tropical rainforest interact with each other and their environment to create and maintain diversity, researchers report in the Oct. 24 issue of the journal Science.
New CU-Boulder study shows diversity decreases chances of parasitic disease
A new University of Colorado at Boulder study showing that American toads who pal around with gray tree frogs reduce their chances of parasitic infections known to cause limb malformations has strong implications for the benefits of biodiversity on emerging wildlife diseases.
More Biodiversity Current Events and Biodiversity News Articles
 | Sustaining Life: How Human Health Depends on Biodiversity The Earth's biodiversity-the rich variety of life on our planet-is disappearing at an alarming rate. And while many books have focused on the expected ecological consequences, or on the aesthetic, ethical, sociological, or economic dimensions of this loss, Sustaining Life is the first book to examine the full range of potential threats that diminishing biodiversity poses to human health. ... |
 | Breakfast Of Biodiversity: The Political Ecology of Rain Forest Destruction by John Vandermeer, Ivette Perfecto Unweaving the Web of Destruction The continuing devastation of the world’s tropical rain forest affects us all—spurring climate change, decimating biodiversity, and wrecking our environment’s resiliency. Millions of worried people around the world want to do whatever it takes to save the forest that is left. But halting rain forest destruction means understanding what is driving it. ... |
 | Climate Change and Biodiversity Leading researchers discuss what is now known about the effects of climate change on the natural world. They examine recent trends in and projections about climate change; ways that particular organisms are responding to climate change; conservation challenges, including social and policy issues; and more. "This book will be a milestone in the emerging discipline of climate change biology. No... |
 | Conservation and Biodiversity Banking: A Guide to Setting Up and Running Biodiversity Credit Trading Systems (Environmental Markets Insight Series) The conservation of biodiversity is now big business. Whether called conservation banking, species banking, habitat banking, biodiversity banking, biodiversity offsets, compensatory mitigation or ecological footprint offsetting, the idea of financially valuing biodiversity and using the market and businesses to promote conservation is growing rapidly.This handbook is a comprehensive guide to... |
 | What Is Biodiversity? by James Maclaurin, Kim Sterelny In the life sciences, there is wide-ranging debate about biodiversity. While nearly everyone is in favor of biodiversity and its conservation, methods for its assessment vary enormously. So what exactly is biodiversity? Most theoretical work on the subject assumes it has something to do with species richness—with the number of species in a particular region—but in reality, it is much more... |
 | Biodiversity and the Law: Intellectual Property, Biotechnology and Traditional Knowledge How do we promote global economic development while simultaneously preserving local biological and cultural diversity? This authoritative volume, written by leading biological and social scientists and legal experts from around the world, addresses this question in all of its complexity.The first part of the book examines biodiversity and examines what are we losing, why we are losing it and what... |
 | Fish Conservation: A Guide to Understanding and Restoring Global Aquatic Biodiversity and Fishery Resources by Gene S. Helfman Fish Conservation offers, for the first time in a single volume, a readable reference with a global approach to marine and freshwater fish diversity and fishery resource issues. Gene Helfman brings together available knowledge on the decline and restoration of freshwater and marine fishes, providing ecologically sound answers to biodiversity declines as well as to fishery management problems at... |
 | The Commercial Use of Biodiversity: Access to Genetic Resources and Benefit Sharing In this authoritative and comprehensive volume the authors explain the provisions of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) on access and benefit-sharing, the effect of national laws to implement these, and aspects of typical contracts for the transfer of materials. They provide a unique sector-by-sector analysis of how genetic resources are used, the scientific, technological and... |
 | Marine Biology: Function, Biodiversity, Ecology by Jeffrey S. Levinton Widely regarded as the most captivating, accessible, and comprehensive text for undergraduate marine biology courses, Jeffrey S. Levinton's Marine Biology: Function, Biodiversity, Ecology, Third Edition, examines marine biology from a unique global and evolutionary perspective. Written in a clear, conversational style, this highly acclaimed volume emphasizes the principles and processes that... |
 | The Law of Biodiversity and Ecosystem Management (University Casebook Series) by John Copeland Nagle, J. B. Ruhl This law school casebook defines biodiversity, outlines factors in choosing among different policy approaches for it's protection, and finding appropriate levels of administration for implementing those policies. Also features original notes and questions to stimulate class... |
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