Question

Give three reasons as to why the prokaryotes are not given any figures for their diversity by ecologists.

Answer 1

Prokaryotic organisms’ diversity is not given any figures by ecologists because of the following reasons.

• Classification and identification of vast diversity of microbes is very difficult and cannot be efficiently done with the use of currently available methods.
• For many microorganisms, it is difficult to culture them under laboratory conditions.
• According to current biochemical and molecular techniques, it is estimated that microbes diversity can range in billions with microbes inhabiting diverse habitats on earth, with enormous diversity present in air, water and soil. Hence, more advanced molecular and biochemical techniques are needed to classify and identify this enormous diversity of microbes.