The Biology II Course was developed through the Ohio Department of Higher Education OER Innovation Grant. The course is part of the Ohio Transfer Assurance Guides and is also named OSC004. This work was completed and the course was posted in October 2019. For more information about credit transfer between Ohio colleges and universities, please visit: www.ohiohighered.org/transfer.Team LeadCathy Sistilli                                         Eastern Gateway Community CollegeContent ContributorsLisa Aschemeier                                 Northwest State Community CollegeShaun Blevins                                     Rhodes State CollegeRachel Detraz                                     Edison State Community College                                     Sara Finch                                          Sinclair Community CollegeWendy Gagliano                                 Clark State Community College AJ Snow                                             University of Akron Wayne CollegeLibrarianAmanda Rinehart                               Ohio State UniversityReview TeamJessica Hall                                        Ohio Dominican UniversitySanhita Gupta                                    Kent State UniversityErica Mersfelder                                 Sinclair Community College

The core threats to biodiversity are human population growth and unsustainable resource use. Current significant threats to biodiversity include habitat loss, overharvesting/overexploitation, invasive species, and climate change. Conservation biology works to counteract the loss of biodiversity due to these threats. These methods include legislative framework such as the ESA and MBA, setting aside preserves, habitat restoration, and captive breeding programs. 

By the end of this section, you will be able to do the following:

Define biodiversity in terms of species diversity and abundance
Describe biodiversity as the equilibrium of naturally fluctuating rates of extinction and speciation
Identify historical causes of high extinction rates in Earth’s history