HOME PROJECT DESCRIPTION PODS MODULES ACTIVITIES INSTRUCTOR RESOURCES ASSESSMENT CONTACT INFO		Biodiversity Look outside your window and see how many different species of plants and animals you see.  The number you see will depend on a host of factors.  Do you live in a city, in a suburb, a town, or out in the country?  Do you live in a region that is cold or hot?  Do you live in a desert, a rainforest, or somewhere in between?  In general, the number of different species, or biological diversity, in a region is highest where the resources necessary for life (water, sunlight, chemicals) are highest. The biodiversity of a region is usually a measure of the health of the ecosystem.  The greater the diversity, the less likely the region is to be radically upset by some small change.  Humans can have a devestating effect on the biodiversity of a region.  Cutting down a forest or mowing down grasslands in order to put a farm that grows only one crop reduces the biodiversity of a region radically. If a pest that feeds on that one crop is introduced, the entire ecosystem can fail. The activities below look at biodiversity from a number of different angles. Ecological Footprint Trees and Carbon