Biodiversity Flashcards
What is the definition of biodiversity
A measure of the variation found in the living world
- structural and functional variety
What is the definition of habitat
Where an organism lives
Example of habitats
- sand dunes
- woodland
- meadows
- streams
What is species richness
A measure of how many different species are present
What is species evenness
A measure of how evenly represented the species are
What is genetic diversity
The variation in alleles between individuals belonging to the same species
What can genetic variation cause
Different breeds of animals
What are the different type of non-random sampling methods
- opportunistic
- stratified
- systematic
What are examples of systematic sampling
- line transect
- belt transect
What are things you need to do to prepare to sample a habitat
- suitable clothing
- suitable footwear
- apparatus needed to carry out the sampling
- clipboard, pen and paper to record observations
- appropriate key to identify plants
- camera to record specimens and grid locations
What side of the quadrat should you count organisms
Bottom and left
What does a high species evenness show
The habitat is more diverse
What is the capture-mark-recapture technique
- catch animals and count them
- mark them and release
- rest trap
- count number with or without mark
- use Lincoln-Petersen index
What is the Lincoln-Petersen index
Population = (number caught 1st x number caught 2nd) / number of marked animals caught
What is the formula for species diversity index
D = 1 - [sum of (n/N)^2]
What does n stand for in the species diversity index
Population of any one species
What does N stand for in the species diversity index
Number of all species
What does a high value in the species diversity index mean
‘Simpson’ s diversity index’
A diverse habitat
What is a locus
The position of that gene on a chromosome
How to calculate genetic diversity
(Number of polymorphic loci / total number of loci ) x 100
Ways to catch invertebrates
- sweep netting
- sheet under a branch and shake it
- pitfall trap
- tullgren funnel
- light trap
What is a pitfall trap
Small container buried in the soil with the rim just bellow the surface
What is a tullgren funnel
- place leaf litter in a funnel
- light at the top of the funnel: drives the animals downwards
- animals fall through the mesh into a container
What is genetic diversity
Variation in alleles within a species
What is species diversity
Variation of species within a habitat
What is habitat diversity
Variation of habitats within an ecosystem
What are the different types of biodiversity
- genetic
- species
- habitat
What is random sampling
Investigating the difference between two environmentally distinct areas
What is systematic sampling
Investigating changes in population along an environmental gradient
Examples of non-random sampling
- opportunistic
- systematic
- stratified
What are the different ways to measure abundance
- species diversity
- % cover
- frequency
- ACFOr
What does ACFOR stand for
- abundant
- common
- frequent
- occasional
- rate qualitative
What is the ACFOR scale
Subjective scale to measure abundance
What are the different types of distribution
- clumped
- uniform
- random
What is the gene pool
All the copies of all the genes in that population
What is genetic drift
The change in allele frequency due to chance
What are the different types of genetic erosion
- founder effect
- genetic bottleneck
- artificial selection (selective breeding)
What is the equation for allele frequency
Number of dominant alleles / total number of alleles
A/A+B
What is the founder effect
A few individuals from a population colonise a new region and set up a new population
What is genetic bottlenecking
Population may suffer severe drop in numbers
- volcanic activity
How do you calculate the proportion of polymorphic gene loci
Number of polymorphic loci / total number of loci
What are the reasons to maintain biodiversity
- ethical reasons
- areas of recreation
- in situ conservation
- ex situ conservation
- ecosystem services
- sustainability
What is ex-situ conservation
Removal of species to a protected place that is not its normal habitat
Examples of ex-situ conservation
- seed bank
- zoo
- botanic garden
- gene banks
Advantages of ex-situ conservation
- helps maintain biodiversity
- some organisms can be reintroduced to the wild
- can complete scientific research
Disadvantages of ex-situ conservation
- organisms have to adapt to artificial environments
- less than 85% of seeds germinate successfully
What is in-situ conservation
PREFERRED OPTION
Preserving something in its natural habitat
- in their original place
Examples of in-situ conservation
- UNESCO
- nationally protected areas
- national nature reserves
- marine conservation zones
- special scientific sites of interest (SSSI)
Advantages of in-situ conservation
- organisms are able to continue to evolve
- more likely to breed
Disadvantages of in-situ conservation
- more risky for long term survival
Description of a protoctista
- eukaryotic
- single called
- wide variety of forms
- free living
- auto tropic and heterotropic nutrition
Description of fungi
- eukaryotic
- walls made of chitin
- free living or saprophytic
Description of plantae
- eukaryotic
- multicellular
- cells surrounded in cellulose cell wall
- autotrophic
- contain chlorophyll
Description of animalia
- eukaryotic
- multicellular
- heterotropic
- able to move
What does autotrophic mean
Absorb simple molecules and build them into larger organic moelcules
What does heterotrophic mean
Digest large organic molecules to form smaller molecules for absorption
