An Introduction to Marine Biodiversity - MarBEF：介绍了海洋生物多样性marbef.ppt

An Introduction to European Marine Biodiversity In its most simple form, biodiversity is Life on Earth.? Marine biodiversity is therefore all ‘life in the seas and oceans’.? It refers to a variety of life forms including plants, animals and micro organisms, the genes that they contain, the ecosystems they form and habitats they occur in Convention on Biological Diversity: ‘Biodiversity is the fruit of billions of years of evolution, shaped by natural processes and, increasingly, by the influence of humans. It forms the web of life of which we are an integral part and upon which we so fully depend’ Genetic diversity is the variation in the genetic composition of individuals in a population, community or species Evolves as a result of many different processes: e.g. chromosomal/sequence mutation, and physical or behavioural isolation of populations Allows individuals to adapt to different conditions. Thus, high genetic diversity increases ability of populations and species to survive major changes in their environment (e.g. climate change) Species diversity is the variety of species (group of interbreeding organisms) in a particular habitat or ecosystem About 1.75 million species described. Total number estimated at approx 12.5 million, but could be anything from 5-100 million. There may be 10 million undescribed species in the deep sea alone! The diversity of the smaller organisms (e.g. phytoplankton, the plants of sea) is less well known than the larger organisms (e.g. mammals such as dolphins and whales) Ecosystem diversity describes the variation in all living and non-living things in a particular geographic or ecological region. Ecosystems comprise unique combinations of animals, plants, micro-organisms and physical characteristics that define a location. Novel marine ecosystems continue to be discovered. In the ocean, hydrothermal vents, extremely distinct habitats with many endemic species, were discovered less than 25 years ago! Ecosystem functi