Biodiversity Flashcards
Biodiversity
The variety of living organisms present in an area
Different levels of biodiversity
- habitat biodiversity
- species biodiversity
- genetic biodiversity
Abiotic factors
- rainfall
- pH
- temperature
- humidity
Habitat biodiversity
- The number of different habitats found within an area
- each habitat can support a number of different species
- greater the biodiversity = greater the species biodiversity will be within that area
Habitat types
- sand dunes
- woodland
- meadows
- streams
Species biodiversity 2 components
- species richness
- species evenness
Species richness
The number of different species living in a particular area
Species evenness
A comparison of the numbers of individuals of each species living in a community
Finish the sentence
Greater the number of species…
Greater the number of species in a ecosystem = the more evenly distributed the number of individuals from each species = greater the species diversity
What ecosystems are usually more stable ?
Ecosystems with high species diversity are more stable than those with lower species diversity as they are more resilient to environmental changes
Genetic biodiversity
The variety of genes that make up a species
How is genetic diversity worked out ?
By working out the proportion of genes that have more than one form of allele and how many possible alleles each gene has
Why is genetic diversity important ?
- help the population adapt to survive
- changes in the environment
