Lecture 3 - Biodiversity

BIOL104 Lecture 3
BIODIVERSITY &
CLASSIFICATION
Outline
• biodiversity
• systematics & classification
• kingdoms of life
• numbers of species
• phylogeny
• cladistic analysis
• reconstruction of evolutionary relationships
• biodiversity hot spots
Reading:
Knox et al.: chapters 31 & 45
Biodiversity
• Biodiversity is the variety of living organisms & the

variety of ecosystems that they form.
• It is impossible to study this diversity without

means of describing & organising it.
Systematics & classification
• Organisms are organised by placement into

hierarchical series of groups (classification).
Systematics is classification that emphasises
evolutionary interrelationships.
• An important part of classification & systematics is

taxonomy, the science of describing, naming &
classifying organisms.
Classification
• basic unit is a ‘species’
• system conceived by Carl von Linnaeus in 18th century
• groups described by unique Latinised names
• a group is called a taxon (plural: taxa)
• in ‘binomial system’ each species is assigned 2 names
• e.g. Homo sapiens
sapiens - identifies the species itself
Homo - the genus to which it belongs
• abbreviations:
– H. sapiens
– Homo spp. (species - plural)
– Homo sp. (species - singular)
Classification, cont.
• hierachical: species grouped into higher taxonomic
categories
• rank of taxa is:
kingdom
phylum
class
order
family
genus
species
• intermediate ranks are mostly designated by ‘sub’
• e.g. subclass, subfamily etc.
• Mnemonics: ‘Keep Pots Clean Or Family Gets Sick’ or
‘Kittens Pounce Clumsily On Furry Green Spiders’
Six kingdoms, cont.
Bacteria – microscopic, unicellular

prokaryotes
Archaea – microscopic,
unicellular prokaryotes
Protista – mainly unicellular or

simple multicellular
eukaryotes; include protozoa
& algae
Six kingdoms, cont.
Fungi – heterotrophic eukaryotes that

absorb nutrients through cell
wall
Plantae – plants (photosynthetic

eukaryotes)
Animalia – animals (heterotrophic

eukaryotes that ingest food)
Classification
How do we classify species?
Use phylogeny
• the evolutionary history of a particular group of organisms
• ‘family tree’
• often can only ever be an estimate
phylogeny class Mammalia

• the evolutionary history of a particular group of
subclass Prototheria subclass Theria
organisms
platypus
• “family tree” koala dingo
Ancestral & derived traits
class Mammalia
subclass Prototheria subclass Theria
platypus koala dingo
derived traits
ancestral traits anal & urogential
hair opening separate
internal fertilization no egg shell
suckle young modified brain case
Cladistics
• method to create evolutionary (phylogenetic)

classification
• construct evolutionary histories
• determines common ancestors
• cladograms are suggested evolutionary trees
• cladograms illustrate points at which lineages
diverged from common ancestral forms
• based on cladistic principles, taxonomic

groupings can only be monophyletic, i.e.
containing an ancestral species & all of its
descendents
traditional classification
Reptiles
crocodiles turtles
birds amphibians
lizards &
snakes
cladogram
birds crocodiles lizards & turtles amphibians
snakes
cladistic classification Reptiles? common ancestor
birds turtles
amphibians
crocodiles lizards &
snakes
How do we determine common ancestry?
Look at traits ‘shared’ and ‘not shared’ by species.

Traits shared between species can be of 2 types:
• analogous
– shared between species but not present in their
ancestor
– same function but different origins
e.g. succulent plants
• homologous
– shared between species & their ancestor
– same basic plan (not necessarily similar function)
– indicate common ancestry
– ancestral traits vs. derived traits
e.g. vertebrate fore limbs
Method for constructing cladograms

(cladistic analysis)
Distinguishing between ancestral & derived traits
• identify outgroup
– a taxon that separated from the taxon being reconstructed
before the latter underwent evolutionary radiation
– does not share homologous structures
– closely related to the taxon
• accept provisionally that a shared character is
homologous
• cluster members of taxon by number of homologous
structures shared
• assumes minimum number of changes
Cladograms
• taxa (A-D) are arranged
using characters (1-5)
• establish largest grouping
defined by characters,
then move to next largest,
and so on.
• cladogram is constructed
generally assuming
common characters only
evolved once - most
parsimonious (simple)
explanation
Derived traits among some vertebrates
traits
fur claws & lungs feathers jaws mammary

nails glands
bird - + + + + -
rat + + + - + +
frog - - + - + -
fish - - - - + -
lizard - + + - + -
hagfish* - - - - - -
kangaroo + + + - + +
* hagfish is the outgroup
lizard bird kangaroo rat

feathers
fur,
frog mammary
glands
claws &
fish nails
lungs
hagfish
jaws
Biodiversity hot spots
• areas of exceptional concentrations of endemic

species
• global hot spots
– 25 hot spots identified
– e.g. 44% of all species of vascular plants and 35%
of vertebrates confined to 1.4% of world’s land
area
– e.g. southwestern Australia
• term ‘hot spot’ defined in different ways

Significance of biodiversity
• benefits of biodiversity (more species) to

the functioning of ecosystems
– increased productivity
– resistance to invasion
– increased stability
• major area of research
• many other benefits
Summary
• classification arranges species into hierarchical
groups
• evolutionary relationships are used to classify
species
• cladistics requires:
– distinguishing homologous from analogous
traits
– identifying ancestral traits & derived traits
– identifying an outgroup
• hot spots are concentrations of biodiversity
• biodiversity has huge significance

Lecture 3 - Biodiversity

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture 3 - Biodiversity

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

BIOL104 Lecture 3

• Biodiversity is the variety of living organisms & the

• It is impossible to study this diversity without

• Organisms are organised by placement into

• An important part of classification & systematics is

Bacteria – microscopic, unicellular

Protista – mainly unicellular or

Six kingdoms, cont.

Fungi – heterotrophic eukaryotes that

Plantae – plants (photosynthetic

Animalia – animals (heterotrophic

phylogeny class Mammalia

subclass Prototheria subclass Theria

platypus koala dingo

• method to create evolutionary (phylogenetic)

• based on cladistic principles, taxonomic

cladistic classification Reptiles? common ancestor

Look at traits ‘shared’ and ‘not shared’ by species.

Method for constructing cladograms

fur claws & lungs feathers jaws mammary

* hagfish is the outgroup

lizard bird kangaroo rat

Biodiversity hot spots

• areas of exceptional concentrations of endemic

• term ‘hot spot’ defined in different ways

• benefits of biodiversity (more species) to

• major area of research

• many other benefits

You might also like