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Biodiversity
Photo by crew of Apollo 17 (1972) from Wikipedia; quote from E. O. Wilson (1992) The Diversity of Life
“The most wonderful mystery of life may well
be the means by which it created so much diversity
from so little physical matter”
Mass of all living organisms ≈
1/10,000,000,000 Earth’s mass
Biodiversity
Image from Getty Images of display illustrating phenotypic diversity at the Nat’l. Mus. of Anthro., Mexico City
Intraspecific diversity
Terry Erwin’s estimate for Arthropods:
Beetle species in 19 individual Luehea seemannii tree canopies = 1200Percentage of host-specific beetles = 13.5%0.135 x 1200 = 162 host-specific beetles in the canopies of L. seemannii
Total number of tropical tree species = 50,000162 x 50,000 = 8,100,000 host-specific beetles in the canopies of tropical trees
Beetles represent 40% of all members of the Phylum Arthropoda40/100 = 8,100,000/A; A = 20,250,000 arthropods in the canopies of tropical trees
Tropical forest canopies have twice the diversity of the ground2 x G = 20,250,000; G = 10,125,00020,250,000 + 10,125,000 = 30,375,000 species on Earth! Photo of adaxial and abaxial leaf surfaces of Luehea seemannii from Smithsonian Tropical Research Institute
How many species are on Earth?
May and others have used many estimation techniques, e.g.:
“Bio-Blitzes”
Photo from Wikipedia – taken at the Audubon Insectarium in New Orleans, LA
E.g., LSU Dept. EntomologyIn 2009 6 students in 24 hr found insects from 157 families (>400 species) on LSU’s campus!
Baileya ellessyoo (named after LSU)
Photos from LSU web sites; painting of a new species of Peruvian bird by Dan Lane (LSU MNS)
Discovery of new species
Worldwide ~300 new species are formally described each day
Tillandsia usneoidesSpanish Moss
Photo from: www.basinkeeper.org
Taxodium distichumBald Cypress
Photo from: www.basinkeeper.org
Species diversity in Louisiana
Alligator mississippiensisAmerican Alligator
Photo © Ronnie Gaubert
Callinectes sapidusBlue Crab
Photo © Ronnie Gaubert
Species diversity in Louisiana
Clathrus columnatusStinky Squid Stinkhorn
Photo from Wikipedia
Species diversity in Louisiana
Ruellia noctiflora Night-flowering Wild Petunia
Rare LA plantPhoto from: www.wlf.state.la.us
Pinus palustrisLongleaf Pine
Found in small proportion of historic range in LA
Photo from: www.clemson.edu
Species diversity in Louisiana
Agraulis vanillaeGulf Fritillary
Photo © Ronnie Gaubert
Automeris ioIo Moth
Photo © Ronnie Gaubert
Species diversity in Louisiana
Ischnura ramburiiRambur’s Forktail
Photo © Ronnie Gaubert
Nephila clavipesBanana SpiderPhoto © Tim Vidrine
Species diversity in Louisiana
Scaphirhynchus albus Pallid Sturgeon
Photo from Wikipedia
Species diversity in Louisiana
Anolis carolinensisGreen Anole
Photo © Ronnie Gaubert
Hyla cinerea Green Tree Frog
(Official state amphibian of Louisiana)Photo © Ronnie Gaubert
Species diversity in Louisiana
Ammodramus henslowii Henslow’s Sparrow
Photo from: www.wlf.state.la.us(taken by Erik Johnson, LSU Ph.D. student)
Ardea albaGreat Egret
Painting by John James Audubon (1821, New Orleans)
from: www.minniesland.com
Species diversity in Louisiana
Platalea ajajaRoseate Spoonbill
Photo © Ronnie Gaubert
Strix variaBarred Owl
Photo © Ronnie Gaubert
Species diversity in Louisiana
Ursus americanus luteolus Louisiana Black Bear
Photo from: www.cooperativeconservationamerica.org
Procyon lotorRaccoon
Photo from: www.cooperativeconservationamerica.org
Species diversity in Louisiana
Image from Hawkins et al. (2006)
Global patterns of species diversity
New World (Western Hemisphere)
birds
Image from Willig et al. (2003)
Global patterns of species diversity
New World (Western Hemisphere)
mammals
Image from staffwww.fullcoll.edu
Global patterns of species diversity
Vascular plants
An Aside: Major Determinants of Global Climate
– differential heating & cooling1. Shape of the Earth
– results in seasons as Hadley & Ferrel cells move latitudinally, tracking changes in the position of the solar equator with a slight time lag
An Aside: Major Determinants of Global Climate
2. Revolution of the Earth around the Sun on a tilted axis
1. Shape of the Earth
Northern Hemisphere summer – Northern
Hemisphereis tilted towards
the Sun
Northern Hemisphere
winter – Southern
Hemisphere is tilted towards
the Sun
Imagine from Wikipedia
An Aside: Major Determinants of Global Climate
2. Revolution of the Earth around the Sun on a tilted axis
1. Shape of the Earth
An Aside: Major Determinants of Global Climate
2. Revolution of the Earth around the Sun on a tilted axis
1. Shape of the Earth
3. Rotation of Earth on Earth’s axis Creates Coriolis forces (actually conservation of momentum) Currents in air and water are deflected right in
N. Hemisphere and left in S. Hemisphere
An Aside: Major Determinants of Global Climate
2. Revolution of the Earth around the Sun on a tilted axis
1. Shape of the Earth
From NASA
An Aside: Major Determinants of Global Climate
3. Rotation of Earth on Earth’s axis
2. Revolution of the Earth around the Sun on a tilted axis
1. Shape of the Earth
