Essay, Research Paper: Biodiversity

Diversity Essay
American biologist R. H. Whittaker in 1959 described a classification system of five primary kingdoms: plants, animals, fungi, protists, and monera. Kingdom animalia cover all taxonomic kingdom all living or extinct animals, an example of an animal is a human. Humans thrive off of one thing or another in each of the five kingdoms. The monera kingdom is the lowest division of rhizopods. Bacteria belong to this kingdom. There are many useful and harmful bacteria in the human body including those that are similar to amoebas. They don’t have a nucleus. Plantae consist of all living or extinct plants (Plantae, kingdom Plantae, plant kingdom) the taxonomic kingdom that consist of all living or extinct plants. Humans need to have a daily intake of plants to get energy and nutrients so as do most animals in the animalia kingdom that are either herbivore or omnivore. The Fungi kingdom is composed of heterotrophs, organisms that do not produce their own food. One example of this is a paramecium. The Plantae kingdom is composed of multicellular autotrophs, which means they don’t produce their own food. Protista are a group of very simple organisms, called protists. They have characteristics of both plants and animals. Most protists are unicellular (consisting of a single cell) and can only be seen with a microscope, although there are some that are made up of more than one cell.

All organisms are different even if they do belong to the same kingdom. All species have developed specific mannerisms to benefit them in their environment. Their body structure, reproductive system and food they eat all depend on how they have adjusted to their habitat. Some examples of species that are different from one another are: sequoia redwood trees, which belong to the Plantae family, protists which are protista (a group of very small organisms), arthropoda which are animalia, and bacteria are a type of monera.
Bacteria is in the Monera kingdom are the most common and ancient organisms on earth, bacteria are closely connected to the lives of all organisms. Bacteria is prokaryotic, they obtain nutrition like fungi, bacteria feed on dying material and convert it back into basic substances. Bacteria also they get energy by photosynthesis. Bacteria reproduce asexually through a process called binary fission, in which a copy of the DNA is made and then the membrane divides to make two, identical bacterium. Like all cells, bacteria DNA. However, regular DNA is arranged in strands, bacterial DNA is circular. Bacteria also have genes on smaller rings called plasmids.
Redwood trees belong to the Plantae kingdom. These trees are very unique in compairison to other trees. This tree produces its own food by a process we call photosynthesis. It uses elements around itself such as the sun and carbon dioxide to produce food. This tree reproduces asexually. Which means the tree contains both male and female parts. It doesn’t need another tree to produce offspring, it is able to do this all on its own. There are two types of redwood trees due to environment. The coast redwood grows along the pacific coast from southern Oregon to central California. The life span of the coast redwood is believed to be 2500 years. The leaves are bluer in tone than the Dawn Redwood trees and are more needle-like. The Dawn Redwood trees were at one time were the most common sequoia tree in North America and was thought to be ancestral to the California redwood. The branches and leafs are different on this tree in comparison to the coast redwood.
There are a wide variety of protists, and they inhabit many different environments–fresh water, seawater, soils, and the intestinal tracts of animals, where they perform crucial digestive processes. Like plants, many species of protists can make their own food by the process of photosynthesis. Like animals, many protists can move around under their own power. Protists do not have cells organized into specialized tissues. The protists include organisms like seaweeds, amoebas, and slime molds. Protists reproduce asexually, cells simply grow and divide. The kingdom Protista contains many economically important members, including organisms that cause diseases, such as malaria. Biologists theorize that members of the kingdom Protista gave rise to the kingdoms Plantae, Animalia, and Fungi about 600 million years ago. Protista kingdom is generally very simple. Protista have characteristics of both plants and animals. Most protists are unicellular and can only be seen with a microscope.
Arthropoda, unlike protista are animalia. Arthropods are invertebrate animals that have an external skeleton and jointed appendages. Some examples of Arthropoda are crustaceans, insects, and spiders. The phylum “arthropoda” is the largest in the animal kingdom, with about 875,000 known species found in almost every known habitat. Early arthropods were probably much like their presumed ancestors, annelids. Their body was long, soft, and had many segments, all much alike and each equipped with a pair of limbs. Through time the surface of the body became hardened to form an external skeleton. This development protected them a lot but became a drawback. For example, an exoskeleton has to be shed if growth is to occur, and during this process the animal is soft and vulnerable. The strength and some other properties of an exoskeleton also diminish with size. Most arthropods don’t grow very big. Lobsters can reach a weight of about 44 lb. Arthropods that are unsupported by water and never grow that large. Their exoskeleton protects them from becoming dehydrated, that is why many arthropods live in the desert. The nervous system of an arthropod is complicated, but is pretty small.
Every organism is unique and different from one another. Species have to adapt to the environment by taking on new mannerisms to help benefit themselves. Through evolution and time every species changes in one way or another to make it earier to work in the environment that it inhabits. Elephants, humans, ciliophora, artichokes, and turtles.
Elephants over the years, evolving from woolly mammoths have developed the need to have less hair. Adapting to being in a hotter climate. Humans evolved from monkeys and we lost our hair too. Our jaws got smaller and our brains got bigger, to adapt to the environment that we were living in. Another adaptation that we have is having arms and legs and being able to walk upright. Artichokes on the other hand have many leafs to protect their tender heart. Leafs protect the inner part of the plant so it doesn’t get damaged. Adaptation has helped the Ciliophora to move itself along. Ciliophora adaptated by having small hair-like projections all over its body that help it propel itself, and generally get from place to place.
A very diverse ecosystem is usually one that is stronger because all of the organisms need one and another to thrive and live. Cohabitation among organisms helps all species to do their part in the environment more productively. Diversity among groups is therefore considered a proof of the condition of an environment. Diversity is what makes life fun and interesting. With out it what would we all be, nothing, literally!


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