Agriculture and Biodiversity

Question 1

List some aseptic techniques

Answer 1

washing hands thoroughly, disinfecting work surfaces with disinfectant or alcohol, removing food or drink from lab, sterilising or disposing of all used equipment

Question 2

What is meant by the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC)

Answer 2

The lowest concentration of a substance that will inhibit the growth of a microorganism

Question 3

Give a strength of logarithmic scales

Answer 3

Allow for a wide range of values to be displayed on a single graph

Question 4

How can you identify a logarithmic scale

Answer 4

They have uneven intervals between values on one or more axes.

Question 5

What are the 3 types of diversity

Answer 5

Species Diversity, Genetic Diversity and Ecosystem diversity

Question 6

What is species diversity

Answer 6

The number of different species and individuals within a community

Question 7

What is genetic diversity

Answer 7

The variety of genes within a population of a species

Question 8

What is ecosystem diversity

Answer 8

The whole range of different habitats on all scales

Question 9

What is species richness

Answer 9

The number of different species in a particular area at a particular time

Question 10

How can biodiversity be measured

Answer 10

using species richness

Question 11

What do you need to know to measure the biodiversity of a habitat

Answer 11

The population of each of the species present

Question 12

What do you need to do in medium to larger sized habitats to measure species diversity

Answer 12

It just isn’t feasible to count all of the observable organisms, so you have to sample the habitat.

Question 13

What is a suitable method for estimating a plants population in their habitat

Answer 13

As plant species are sessile species (not free moving) random sampling is a suitable method

Question 14

What is a suitable method for estimating an animals population in their habitat

Answer 14

For a motile organism like a small mammal, the mark-release-recapture method is often used to generate the estimate

Question 15

What is the index of diversity

Answer 15

Another way of measuring species diversity​

Question 16

What is the formula to calculate the index of diversity

Answer 16

d= N(N-1)/n(n-1)

Question 17

What does N stand for in the index of diversity formula

Answer 17

Total number of organisms of all species

Question 18

What does n stand for in the index of diversity formula

Answer 18

Total number of organisms of each species

Question 19

What does a low index of diversity value suggest

Answer 19

The habitat is dominated by a few species

Question 20

What does a low index of diversity mean to the species in the habitat

Answer 20

a small change which affects one species has a much greater impact because that species may represent a large proportion of the total number present​

Question 21

Give examples of small changes that could affect one species

Answer 21

species-specific disease or a new predator or the impact of a human activity that occurred nearby​

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Question 22

What can be used as a measure of health of an ecosystem

Answer 22

Species diversity

Question 23

What is the relationship between species diversity and ecosystem stability

Answer 23

The higher the species diversity index the more stable and ecosystem is likely to be​

Question 24

Why does species diversity increase stability of ecosystem

Answer 24

The more different species there are, the more likely some species will be able to tolerate a change in the environment

Question 25

What does agriculture do to species diversity

Answer 25

Reduces it

Question 26

What do natural ecosystems usually develop into

Answer 26

Complex communities with lots of different species

Question 27

What are ecosystems associated with agriculture

Answer 27

They are controlled by humans and are reduced to a few species

Question 28

What impact does agriculture have on species

Answer 28

Each area can only support a limited amount of biomass - if there are lots of one species (e.g. corn), there will be less variety of species

Question 29

What impact does agriculture have on alleles in species

Answer 29

Species (e.g. of plant) are often selected based on desirable characteristics to make farming more productive, this results in less genetic variation​

Question 30

Give examples of ways farming practices directly reduce species diversity

Answer 30

Removing hedgerows, overgrazing, creating monocultures

Question 31

Give examples of ways farming practices indirectly reduce species diversity

Answer 31

Use of pesticides and inorganic fertilisers, effluent runoff into water, not rotating crops

Question 32

What effect can attempting to conserve species diversity have

Answer 32

increased production costs of food

Question 33

Give examples of species diversity conservation techniques

Answer 33

Maintaining hedgerows at a beneficial height/shape​, Maintain ponds or create new ones, Don't drain wet corners of fields

Question 33

How do the Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) and the EU combat the costs of species diversity conservation

Answer 33

by providing financial incentives to assist use of techniques that maintain biodiversity