4.2 Flashcards
What is Biodiversity?
A measure of the variation found in the living world.
What is a habitat?
A habitat is a place an organism lives
What is a species?
A group of organisms that can freely interbreed to produce fertile offspring.
What is habitat biodiversity?
The range of habitats in which different species live.
What is species biodiversity?
The range of organisms found in a habitat
What is species eveness?
A measure of how evenly represented the species are. Species evenness is a measure of the relative abundance of the different species within a given area.
What is species richness?
A measure of how many different species are present
What is genetic biodiversity?
The range of variation between individuals belonging to the same species (e.g Different Breeds Within a Species).
What is random sampling?
- Sample sites inside the habitat are randomly selected.
This can be achieved through randomly generated numbers forming coordinates
Advantages and disadvantages of random sampling?
- Ensures that the data is not biased by selective sampling
- May not cover all areas equally. This can lead to an underestimate of biodiversity.
What is oppoutunistic sampling?
- Sampling decisions based on prior knowledge or during the process of data collection.It is likely to lead to more ‘interesting’ areas being sampled more heavily.
Advantages and disadvantages of opportunistic sampling?
- Easier and quicker than random sampling
- The data may be biased. This may lead to an under or overestimate of biodiversity.
What is stratified sampling?
- Dividing a habitat into areas that appear different, and sampling each area separately.
Advantages/ disadvantages of stratified sampling
- Ensures that different areas of a habitat are sampled and species are not under-represented.
- Possibility of over representation as some areas that may look different are in fact similar
What is systematic sampling?
- When samples are taken at fixed intervals across the habitat. Line and belt transects are systematic techniques.
Advantages and disadvantages of systematic sampling?
- Useful when habitats have a change in gradient in some environmental factor
- Some species may be missed leading to an underestimate of biodiversity.
Why is it important to sample a habitat in order to estimate biodiversity?
impossible / difficult , to count every individual ;
sample provides an estimate ;
sample representative (of whole area) ;
How would you prepare to sample a habitat?
- Suitable clothing
- Suitable footwear
- Correct Aparatus
- Pen and Paper
- Keys to identify plants
- Camera or smart phone
What is a quadrat?
- A quadrat is a square frame used to define the size of the sample area.
- A quadrat can be used to sample plants or animals that don’t move much.
What is a point frame?
- A point frame contains a number of pins. When the frame is placed on the ground the plant or soil type at each point is measured.
What is a transect?
- A transect is a line taken across the habitat. You stretch a long string or tape measure across the habitat and take samples along the line.
What is a belt transect?
- Two parallel lines are marked and samples are taken in this area
How can we sample animals by observation?
Signs such as:
- Footprints
- Animal Droppings
- Tree markings
- Burrows
Collecting animal samples from vegetation?
- Walking through vegetation while sweep-netting.
The net is then emptied onto a white sheet
Collecting animal samples from trees?
- Placing a white sheet down and shaking/knocking branches above.
The vibrations dislodge any small animals, which will then drop onto the sheet.
Collecting moving land animals?
- A pitfall trap (a container filled with paper and a small amount of water)
- A Longworth trap
Collecting flying insects?
- A light trap which consists of a UV light to attract the insects, and a collecting vessel containing alcohol.
What is the standard procedure for all sampling techniques?
idea of: unbiased method to selecting sampling area ;
sample many times / AW, and calculate mean / average ;
ensure insects do not escape (before being identified) ;
method to prevent recounting ;
sample at different times of, day / month / year / weather conditions ;
Formula for capture and recapture?
Total population = (C1 x C2)/ C3
where:
C1; number captured initially
C2; number captured second
C3; number marked in C2
What is Simpson’s index of biodiversity?
A measure of the diversity of a habitat. It takes into account both species eveness and species richness.
What other factors could be used when describing biodiversity?
- Range / number , of habitats / ecosystems
- Genetic variation (within species)
Simpson’s index of biodiversity formula?
n is number of individuals in a particular species.
N is total number of all individuals in all species