Task 1B: Factors that Affect Biodiversity

Factors that Affect Biodiversity

There are 3 main factors that affect biodiversity:

speciation
extinction
artificial selection

Go through this task to learn about each type.

Speciation

Speciation is when one species becomes two or more species.

This can happen through geographic isolation. Something (like a road, bridge, new river, etc.) divides the population into two. They are no longer able to reproduce with each other, so each group begins to evolve based on their own gene pool.

Eventually, you end up with two species that can't reproduce even if they lived side-by-side.

Extinction

Extinction occurs when an entire species stops existing (they all die).

This can happen for many reasons:

the species can't adapt to a new environment
the species is isolated (like on an island)
the species can't move to a new environment
the population is too small

Artificial Selection

Artificial selection is when humans change the genetics of a population.

We do this to create more organisms with a desired trait, to make medicine, and to make food grow better.

Common examples include:

dog breeds
corn
penicillin
wheat

Go through this slideshow to see examples of crops before and after human modification:

Answer the following question:

What trends do you notice about how humans artificially select for food? Use the examples from the Slides to support your answer.

Artificial Selection

Checkpoint 2:

For this checkpoint, you will need to create a comic strip (model) that shows one of the three factors you just learned about.

Your comic strip should show how this factor either increases or decreases biodiversity. Make sure you can explain how your model illustrates these concepts :)

Bring your comic strip to class for submission.

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