5: Conservation & Biodiversity
Learning Outcomes
- Describe biodiversity
- Explain how species evolve through natural selection
- Identify benefits of biodiversity to humans
- Explain the effects of habitat loss, exotic species, and hunting on biodiversity
- Identify the early and predicted effects of climate change on biodiversity
- Explain the legislative framework for conservation
- Identify examples of the effects of habitat restoration
Thumbnail image - Habitat destruction through deforestation, especially of tropical rainforests as seen in this satellite view of Amazon rainforests in Brazil, is a major cause of the current decline in biodiversity. (credit: modification of work by Jesse Allen and Robert Simmon, NASA Earth Observatory)