4.2 Biodiversity

Question 1

what is biodiversity

Answer 1

the variety of living organisms in an area

Question 2

what is species

Answer 2

a group of similar organisms able to reproduce to give fertile offspring

Question 3

what is habitat

Answer 3

the area inhabited by a species, including physical factors (soil and temperature range) and living factors ( availability of food and presence of predators)

Question 4

what would an area with high biodiversity have

Answer 4

lots of different species

Question 5

what are the 3 different levels of biodiversity

Answer 5

habitat, species and genetic

Question 6

what is habitat biodiversity

Answer 6

the number of different habitats in an area
- in general, area with higher habitat biodiversity will have higher species biodiversity
- high diversity would have many habitats, e.g. sand dunes, meadows, woodland and streams

Question 7

what is species biodiversity

Answer 7

the number of different species and the abundance of each species in an area ( richness and evenness)

Question 8

what is genetic diversity

Answer 8

the variation of alleles within a species (or a population of a species)
- this leads to different characteristics being exhibited within the same species, e.g. breed of dogs
- good as can better adapt for changing environment and more likely to arise in individuals resistant to disease

Question 9

why are sampling techniques used

Answer 9

in most cases, too time-consuming to count every individual organism in a habitat, so samples of a population are taken
- estimates of whole population is then based on the samples
- also estimate particular characteristics of a population by taking averages

Question 10

what is abundance of an organisms

Answer 10

the number of individuals of a species present in an area