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=MODULE 3.4= =I. Topic Title:=


 * BIODIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION**

=II. Topic Description:=

This topic deals with basic concepts and application on evolution and its impact to diversity. The topic covers basic scientific theories and principles of evolution and correlates to the staggering diversity of plants and animals. The student will be provided the awareness on the current state of the Philippine biodiversity. And in line with that, the conservation and management efforts employed by different organizations and institutions such as the government, non-government organizations etc. in response to the need of preserving our biodiversity

=III. Terminal Objectives:= At the end of this topic, the student should be able:
 * 1) To demonstrate an understanding about the basic concepts, theories, and principles on evolution
 * 2) To correlate diversity and evolution
 * 3) To exhibit awareness on the current state of the Philippine biodiversity
 * 4) To effectively demonstrate critical-thinking and display good judgment on current issues and concerns on the Philippine biodiversity

=IV. Content Presentation:=


 * DIVERSITY AND EVOLUTION**

Charles Darwin’s book called the Origin of Species, established the idea that “biological diversity is a product of evolution”. His book marked two important points that arise in the scientific community. It is decent with modification and natural selection and adaptation. Descent with modification has a modern term called evolution. Darwin didn’t use the term yet in his paper until the last paragraph. However, it explains life’s unity and diversity. It is best coined that all organisms related descended from some unknown prototype or ancestor that may lived in the remote past. This descent of modification can be graphical represented using a tree-like diagram (Figure 1). The tree represents multiply branching of different organisms but one traced back it converges to a common ancestor organism. In line with that, Darwin provided the connection that the great diversity of organisms can be ordered into “groups subordinate to groups”. These groupings are actually coined by Linnaeaus. He established the hierarchy of organisms in a binomial system. For review, the classification scheme categories go from: Kingdom -> phylum -> class -> order -> family -> genus -> species. For Darwin, this hierarchy of the Linnaean scheme reflects the branching genealogy of organisms from its common descent. It arranges closely related species to the same genus, family, class and so forth. The second important point emphasizes that populations of individual species are well adapted to their local environment by natural selection. This is well illustrated in the topic of community ecology between predator and prey. It was emphasized in the section that through repeated encounters of predators by the prey, they have evolved in such a way to respond in the environment. This adaptation created morphological characters in which it best describes the survival of a population. Thus, this adaptation is carried over thru other generation of offsprings and repeated due to its success for the organism. For better understanding of this topic, read Chapter 20 of Biology by Neil Campbell.


 * THE PHILIPPINE BIODIVERSITY**


 * __Introduction__**

Biodiversity is the presence of diverse biological life forms as well as the ecosystems in which they live. It offers vast potential of sources such as food, fiber, medicine, fuel, clean air, water, fertile soil for agriculture and many more. As tropical country, we are blessed with beautiful rainforests, ample water resources, and optimal temperatures suitable for different species to thrive on. With these conditions present in our country, no wonder the country is considered a mega-diversity site in the entire world. Tropical countries, such as ours, are considered as a species-rich complex large-scale community and its abundance of diverse plant and animal species are staggering.

The Philippines is rich with flora and fauna. “Flora” means plants and “Fauna”, on the other hand, means animals. Some of this flora and fauna are ONLY found in the Philippines and not in any part of the world. Hence, it is termed as endemic. This makes the flora and fauna of our country unique. As such, listed below are the facts that we are really proud of:

- At least 2,000 fish species are found in the Philippines - 14,500 plant species and 960 animal species are found in Philippine forests - Of the 960 animal species, over 500 are birds and 167 are mammals - About 98 of mammal species are endemic to the Philippines - There are about 170,000 faunal species, most of which are insects and are mostly unidentified - About 488 coral species in 78 genera are found in the Philippines out of the 500 known coral species worldwide - There are about 22 principal species of beach vegetation, 10 of which are considered dominant

The list goes on and on actually. For the first written activity, please access the document entitled, “The Philippines PINAKA”. Submit this activity thru the instructor’s email address seen below.


 * __The Threats in the Philippine Biodiversity__**

Although the Philippines is rich with this vast flora and fauna, some of this diversity is threatened. These threats can be caused by numerous reasons such as environmental degradation, exploitation, and etc. The effect of this height of threat is the population size or density of certain species. Usually, this species dwindle their number significantly or reduced in a critical level. Thus, it is termed as an endangered species. If this reduction of population size continues to happen in a faster rate, it is in danger of becoming extinct. Ecologists consider a species extinct if and only if it is no longer found or no record of existence is available in the past 50 years. A perfect example of an endangered species in the Philippines is the Philippine Eagle. It is considered one of the biggest eagles in the world. As of the moment, there population is only at 400 – 500 individuals. And this continues to decrease because of deforestation. Not only the Philippine Eagle is endangered in this rate, there are many more species that have the same situation. Many ecologists are gathering their efforts in conserving these plant and animal species and protecting their habitat as well. Laws have been already implemented in order to conserve them and stabilize their population size.

In order to appreciate this section, access the document entitled “ENDANGERED Alert”. Submit this second activity thru the instructor’s email address seen below.

=V. Activities:=

__Introduction__ The Philippines is rich with flora and fauna. In some events, there are certain plants and animals that are endemic in this country. While some plant and animals that are considered the largest or smallest of its kind can be found here in the Philippines. Isn’t that surprising?
 * Activity No. 1**
 * THE PHILIPPINES “PINAKA”**

Thus the objectives of this activity are: 1. To research on plant and animal species that are ENDEMIC in the Philippines 2. To research on plant and animal species that are considered the largest or smallest of its kind in the world here in the Philippines __Procedure__

1. Access credible websites such as Haribon Philippines ([|www.haribon.org.ph]) 2. Research on three (3) species (either plants or animals) that are ONLY found in the Philippines and give a brief description about their physical appearance and the places where they can be seen. __For example:__ //Sardinella tawilis// or common name Tawilis. This is the only freshwater sardine in the whole world. It is endemic in the Philippines and can be found in Taal Lake only. 3. Do this the same for species that are considered the largest or smallest of its kind in the world and found in the Philippines also. Research on three (3) different species. __For example:__ Tridacna gigas or common name Giant Clam. It is considered as the largest and heaviest mollusk in the whole world. The length of the shell can reach up to 1.5m. They occupy coral reef habitats, typically within 20m of the water surface. 4. Please provide pictures for each species researched. 5. Save your work with the following file format name: -biodiveristyact1.doc e.g. carvajal-biodiversityact1.doc 6. **NOTE:** Please cite all references and websites used for this activity.

ENDANGERED Alert __Introduction__
 * Activity No.2**

Some of the animal and plant species in the Philippines are almost endangered. This decrease in number of their population is due to the threats forced by human activities such as deforestation, pollution and many more. Ecologists are advocating conservation efforts in order to save this animal and plant species in the verge of extinction.

Thus the objectives of this activity are: 1. To research on animal and plant species that are critically endangered by the IUCN. 2. To determine the reason why this animals are endangered 3. To determine conservation efforts employed on these endangered species __Procedure__

1. Access credible websites such as Haribon Philippines ([|www.haribon.org.ph]) 2. Research on 5 species (either animals or plants) that are considered ENDANGERED by the IUCN. 3. After which, determine the reason/s why this species reduced its population size significantly. What are the factors that contributed to its decreasing population? Please elaborate your entries 4. Lastly, determine what conservation efforts are employed to these species. Are their laws being implemented to protect them? If so, name one for each species. 5. Save your work with the following file format name: -biodiveristyact2.doc e.g. carvajal-biodiversityact2.doc 6. **NOTE:** Please cite all references and websites used for this activity.

=VI. References:=

Books Campbell N.A. and J.B. Reece. 2004. Biology 7th edition. Benjamin Cummings Stiling, P. 2001. Ecology: Theories and Applications 4th edition. Prentice Hall
 * __References for Evolution__**

Websites http://www.haribon.org.ph [|http://www.pbs.org/wgbh /evolution/] http://evolution.berkeley.edu/

=VII. Assessment:=

Enter here the link of the on-line test to help the learner evaluate his learnings of the topic.

=VIII. Disclaimer and Copyright Notice= media type="custom" key="9647"

=IX. Topic Writer:=

Thaddeus M. Carvajal - tads.carvajal@gmail.com

X. Document History:
Version 1.0 - Date: November 13, 2006 Revision 1.0 -Date: March 22, 2007