Terrestrial Biodiversity

By
Prof. V. Sai Saraswathi
 Introduction
• Scientist have divided the large area into
major Biomes –large terrestrial regions,
• Each characterized by different climatic
condition and possess the rich of plant
species.
• Terrestrial and aquatic biodiversity are for
most important for the ecosystem regulation.
 What Are the Major Threats to Forest
Ecosystems?
• Forest ecosystems provide ecosystem services
far greater in value than the value of raw
materials obtained from forests
• Chief threats to forest ecosystems
– Unsustainable cutting and burning of forests
– Diseases and insects
– Projected climate change
Costa Rica is one of the world’s most biologically rich places.
Two of its half-million species are the scarlet macaw parrot
(left) and the white-faced capuchin monkey (right)
 Forests Vary in Their Age, Make-Up,
and Origins
1. Old-growth or primary forest (about 36%)
– Uncut not disturbed for several hundred years
– Reservoirs of biodiversity
2. Second-growth forest
– Results from secondary succession
3. Tree plantation (tree farm, commercial forest)
– Managed forest containing only one or two
species of trees that are all of the same age.
– Usually harvested by clear-cutting and replanted
in a cycle
Fig. 10-2, p. 219
 Weak trees
25 yrs removed

Clear cut

30 yrs

Years of growth 15 yrs

Seedlings
planted
5 yrs 10 yrs Fig. 10-3a, p. 219
 Desert Ecosystem
• Annual precipitation is low
• A combination of low rainfall and varying
average temperatures creates, tropical,
temperate, and cold deserts.
• Lack of vegetation, esp. In tropical and desert
make them vulnerable to sandstroms driven
by winds that can spread sand from one area
to another.
 Tropical Deserts
• Sahara and Namib of Africa are hot and dry
most of the year.
• Very few plants, a hard, windblown surface
strewn with rocks and some sand.
 Temperate Desert
• Sonoran Desert in south eastern California, western Arizona-
temperate desert.
• The sparse vegetation marsly consists of widely spread,
drought resistant shrubs and cacti or succulents adapted to
the water and temperature variations.
 Cold Desert
• Gobi desert in mongolia, vegetation is sparsh.
• Desert plants and animals have adaptations that help
them stay cool and to get enough water to survive.
 Grassland Ecosystem
• Grassland ecosystem persist because of combination of
seasonal drought, grazing, large herbivores, occasional fires,
shrubs, tress are large in nos.
• Tropical Grassland: Savanna- wide scattered clumps of trees
such as acacia, which was covered with thorns that keep some
herbivores away.
 Temperate grassland

• Winter can be bitterly cold summer are hot

and dry.
• Annual precipitation is fairly sparse.
• Fall unevenly throughout the year.
• Mid western and western areas- US
– Short grassland – Prairies
– Tall grassland – prairies (more Rain)
– Temperate grassland are mostly converted into
farm lands.
 Factors Affecting
• Human related activities
• Forest fires
• Natural disasters