Biome 5 Forest

Across all the biomes, can you guess how many different types of plants there are in the world?

Almost 300,000! We’ve only discovered

215,000 of these!

Across all the biomes, can you guess how many different types of animals there are in the world?

More than 7.7 million! We’ve only discovered insects, sponges, and scorpions.

950,000 of these.

More than half of all animals that have been identified are invertebrates.

Biodiversity is the enormous variety of life on Earth. More specifically, all the species in one place.

Bio from Biology (the study of living things)

Diversity from Diverse (showing a great deal of difference) can measure biodiversity on BIG scales, like across the entire planet or in whole biomes.

Or we can look at biodiversity on SMALL scales, like in individual logs or even in our own backyards.

Dozens of species of plants, animals, fungi, and microorganisms make up the biodiversity on and around a single fallen log.

Ecosystem is a complex, connected community of living things and their environment.

Eco from Ecology (the study of how living things are connected) System (a group of things that work together to form a whole)

If we want to map all the connections between animals in an ecosystem, we can use a FOOD WEB.

Food webs can help us visualize how organisms are linked. They showcase why biodiversity is SO important.

Let’s think about an underwater ocean ecosystem. What are some living things here?

If we take a shark, a fish, a plant, and the sun and map out which thing provides energy to the other, we have a FOOD WEB.

This is a longleaf pine forest

Many paper products and lumber are made from longleaf pines

Our company, DS Smith, owns 17,000 acres of forest where we harvest trees to make paper. Here, we work with scientists to make sure that all of the animals in our forest are safe and healthy!