Examples of ecosystem diversity in the following topics:
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- Genetic diversity, ecosystem diversity, and human-derived diversity are measures of biodiversity that currently define life on earth.
- It is also useful to define ecosystem diversity: the number of different ecosystems on the planet or in a given geographic area .
- Whole ecosystems can disappear even if some of the species might survive by adapting to other ecosystems.
- An example of a largely-extinct ecosystem in North America is the prairie ecosystem.
- The variety of ecosystems on earth, from (a) coral reef to (b) prairie, enables a great diversity of species to exist.
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- Viruses are immensley important to the turnover of biomass in many ecosystems.
- Metagenomics is a relatively recent field of study that tries to understand the diversity—especially microbial—of the world around us.
- Viruses are essential to the regulation of saltwater and freshwater ecosystems.
- Bacteria (along with archaea) appear to be highly diverse and there are possibly millions of species.
- This represents a fraction of the viral diversity seen in teaspoon of marine water.
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- The extraordinary biological diversity among microbes reflects their ability to occupy every habitable environment on the planet.
- Clearly, microbes have adapted to extreme and intolerant conditions, and it is this adaptation that has yielded tremendous biological diversity among microorganisms.
- Microorganisms are ubiquitous despite the fact that the planet is host to extraordinarily diverse environments.
- In addition to occupying a unique niche within an ecosystem, microbes are potentially sensitive to subtle environmental differences between adjacent areas.
- Microbes, therefore, are not only adapted to their habitat, but also to the immediate environment, thus promoting increased diversity among microbial species within an ecosystem.
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- Ecosystem dynamics is the study of the changes in ecosystem structure caused by environmental disturbances or by internal forces.
- A holistic ecosystem model attempts to quantify the composition, interaction, and dynamics of entire ecosystems.
- A food web is an example of a holistic ecosystem model, which is the most representative of the ecosystem in its natural state.
- A major limitation to these approaches is that removing individual organisms from their natural ecosystem or altering a natural ecosystem through partitioning may change the dynamics of the ecosystem.
- These changes are often due to differences in species numbers and diversity, but also to environment alterations caused by partitioning (mesocosm) or re-creating (microcosm) the natural habitat.
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- Every ecosystem on Earth contains microorganisms that occupy unique niches based on their specific metabolic properties.
- Microbial life is amazingly diverse and microorganisms quite literally cover the planet.
- The ability of microbes to contribute substantially to the function of every ecosystem is a reflection their tremendous biological diversity .
- They can also have additional indirect effects on the ecosystem through symbiotic relationships with other organisms.
- Each species in an ecosystem is thought to occupy a separate, unique niche.
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- The purpose of ecological restoration projects, such as wildlife and ecosystem preserves, is to return ecosystems to pre-disturbance states.
- However, restoration can improve the biodiversity of degraded ecosystems.
- Reducing elk populations has allowed re-vegetation of riparian areas, which has increased the diversity of species in that habitat.
- In this habitat, the wolf is a keystone species: it is a species that is instrumental in maintaining diversity in an ecosystem.
- Removing a keystone species from an ecological community may cause a collapse in diversity.
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- Microbes are ubiquitous on Earth and their diversity and abundance are determined by the biogeographical habitat they occupy.
- Their diversity enables them to thrive in extremely cold or extremely hot environments .
- These samplings create a starting point to understand how the abundance and composition of microbial communities correlate with climatic perturbations, interact to effect ecosystem processes, and influence human health.
- Interfering with natural microbial biomass disrupts the balance of nature and the ecosystem and leads to loss of biodiversity.
- Summarize how microbial diversity contributes to microbial occupation of diverse geographical niches.
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- Plant biodiversity, vital to ecosystems, food crops, and medicine production, is threatened by habitat destruction and species extinction.
- Plants play a key role in ecosystems.
- In turn, this threatens the ecosystem.
- Threats to plant diversity, however, come from many angles.
- A real and pressing issue is that many plant species have not yet been cataloged; their place in the ecosystem is unknown.
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- Community ecology studies interactions between different species; abiotic and biotic factors affect these on an ecosystem level.
- These interactions can have regulating effects on population sizes and can impact ecological and evolutionary processes affecting diversity.
- Ecosystem ecology is an extension of organismal, population, and community ecology.
- The ecosystem is composed of all the biotic components (living things) in an area along with that area's abiotic components (non-living things).
- Researchers interested in ecosystem ecology could ask questions about the importance of limited resources and the movement of resources, such as nutrients, though the biotic and abiotic portions of the ecosystem.
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- Acidobacteria are a newly formed phylum of bacteria that are physiologically diverse and abundant in soil environments.
- Members of Acidobacteria are physiologically diverse.
- The members of this phylum are acidophilic, physiologically diverse, and are ubiquitous in soils.
- However, these bacteria may be an important contributor to ecosystems, since they are particularly abundant within soils.