Structural biodiversity

Stratigraphic distribution of brachiopods - a new method of storing and querying loosely-structured biodiversity information... 

Berghold, J. et al., Chlorophyll breakdown in tobacco on the structure of two non-fluorescent chlorophyll catabolites, Chemistry Biodiversity, 1, 657, 2004. 

Conservation agriculture Air, soil and water protection Biodiversity conservation Decreases erosion Decreases pollution Higher water retention Improves soil structure Mitigates climate change Reduces farm costs Reduces flooding Reduces work time Palaniappan et al. (2009) Stagnari et al. (2009)... 

These associational defenses are examples of a mechanism that is to date underexplored in tropical regions and that probably represents one of the most important cascading effects of chemically defended macroalgae on community structure. Thus, chemically defended macroalgae can act as local biodiversity centers, by increasing the coexistence of species under their chemical defense umbrellas. 

Although the ecological consequences of enhanced UVB exposure to algal species are still largely unexplored, some data exist and some assumptions can be made. Based on the differential adaptation and acclimation capabilities in different algal species, UVB may, even under non-depleted ozone conditions, substantially affect the structure of communities, as well as modulate productivity, reproduction, vertical distribution, biodiversity and succession, competition, and alga-herbivore interactions (Bischof et al. 2006a). 

An important aspect of natural product collection is to provide biodiversity, that is, products with different and diverse chemical compositions so that many potential variations of chemical compositions and structures can be extracted for testing. 

It may be surprising that losses in marine natural product diversity (Table 16.2.5.II) are better documented than for natural products on land, in spite of the difficulty in collecting rare and low-yielding marine species. The paradox finds an explanation. Marine biodiversity has constituted in the past few years the largest untapped resource of novel natural products. The pharmaceutical industry entered the game early, but abandoned the scene soon now it is back to marine natural products, albeit mainly for funding research at universities. In a time of powerful methodologies for the purification and structural elucidation of compounds, this has rapidly secured many unusual marine metabolites of a type never found on land. 

Ecological Relevance. Ecologically relevant end points reflect important attributes of the ecosystem and can be functionally related to other components of the ecosystem they help sustain the structure, function, and biodiversity of an ecosystem. For example, ecologically relevant end points might contribute to the food base (e.g., primary production), provide habitat, promote regeneration of critical resources (e.g.,... 

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