4.6 Biodiversity within a community

Question 1

What is biodiversity?

Answer 1

The variety of living organisms. It can be measured in terms of species diversity (number of species in a community), ecosystem diversity (range of different habitats) and genetic diversity

Question 2

Define community

Answer 2

All the different species that live in one area and interact with each other

Question 3

How do you calculate index of diversity?

Answer 3

d = N(N-1) / sum n(n-1)
N = total number of organisms of all species
n = total number of organisms of each species

Question 4

What impact does agriculture (farming) have on species diversity?

Answer 4

Decreases species richness
- Farmland is typically used for only 1 species
- Use of pesticides / herbicides

Question 5

What impact does agriculture (farming) have on genetic diversity?

Answer 5

Decreases
- Farmers select for certain characteristics, which reduces number of different alleles in the population

Question 6

How can biodiversity be increase in areas of agriculture?

Answer 6

1. Use hedgerows instead of fences
2. Grow different crops in the same area, or rotate crops around after a season
3. Limit use of pesticides and herbicides

Question 7

Define species richness

Answer 7

A measure of the number of different species in a community