Biodiversity

Question 1

What is biodiversity?

Answer 1

The variety of organisms in an area.

Question 2

What is a species?

Answer 2

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

Question 3

What is a habitat?

Answer 3

The area inhibited by a specie. It includes abiotic factors such as soil and temperature and the biotic factors such as availability of food or the presence of predators.

Question 4

What is habitat diversity?

Answer 4

The number of different habitats in an area. For example, particular area could contain mnay different habitats- sand dunes, woodlands, meadows, streams ect.

Question 5

What is species diversity?

Answer 5

The number of different species (species richness) and the abundance of each species (species evenness) in an area. For example, a woodland could contain many different species of plants, insects, birds and mammals.

Question 6

What is genetic diversity?

Answer 6

The variation of alleles within a species (or a population of species). For example, the variation of alleles within dog species gives rise to different breeds, such as Labrador and poodle.

Question 7

What sampling technique would be appropriate for crawling ground insects?

Answer 7

A pitfall trap (a small pit that insects can’t get out of) or a pooter (a device that allows you to safely suck small insects through a tube into a jar).

Question 8

What sampling technique would be appropriate for small insects that live in soil or leaf litter?

Answer 8

A Tullgren funnel- this is where a soil or leaf litter sample is put on a mesh filter at the top of a funnel and light is shone down onto it. Organisms move away from the heated created by the light and fall out of the funnel and into a collecting beaker.

Question 9

What sampling technique would be appropriate for some aquatic organisms?

Answer 9

Kick sampling (you gently kick the bottom of a stream and then use a net to collect the organisms that have been disturbed.

Question 10

What sampling technique would be appropriate for organisms that live in long grass?

Answer 10

A sweep net (a net lined with strong cloth on a pole)

Question 11

What are the 3 types of non-random sample?

Answer 11

Systematic sampling
Opportunistic sampling
Stratified sampling

Question 12

What is systematic sampling?

Answer 12

This is used when samples are taken at fixed intervals, often along a line (called transects).

Question 13

What is opportunistic sampling?

Answer 13

This is when the samples are choosen by the investigator. Its used because its simple to carry out, but the data will be biased.

Question 14

What is stratified sampling?

Answer 14

This is when different areas of the habitat are identified and sampled seperately in proportion to their part as the whole habitat.

Question 15

What is a line transect?

Answer 15

Lay out a measuring tape in a straight line across the sample area.
At equal distances along the tape, record the identity of organisms that touch the line. For example, every 2m.
This produces qualitative data

Question 16

What is a belt transect?

Answer 16

Place quadrats at regular intervals along the tape and record the abundance or percentage cover of each species within each quadrat.
This produces quantitative data

Question 17

What is species richness?

Answer 17

The number of different species in an area. The higher the number of species the greater the species richness.

Question 18

What is species evenness?

Answer 18

A measure of the relative abundance of each species in an area. The more similar the population size of each species, the greater the species evenness.

Question 19

What is ‘n’ in the Simpson’s Index of Diversity?

Answer 19

Total number of individuals in one species

Question 20

What is ‘N’ in the Simpson’s Index of Diversity?

Answer 20

Total number of organisms of all species

Question 21

What should the value of Simpson’s Index of Diversity be to show high biodiversity ?

Answer 21

1

Question 22

What should the value of Simpson’s Index of Diversity be to show low biodiversity ?

Answer 22

0

Question 23

What is polymorphism?

Answer 23

A locus that has two or more alleles

Question 24

What is a locus?

Answer 24

The specific linear position of a particular gene on a chromosome.

Question 25

What does working out the proportion of polymorphic gene loci in an organism tell us?

Answer 25

Gives a measure of biodiversity

Question 26

What is the formula to work out the proportion of polymorphic gene loci?

Answer 26

Number of polymorphic gene loci/ total number of loci

Question 27

Factors affecting biodiversity: Habitat loss?

Answer 27

Human development is destroying habitats, e.g. there is deforestation in the Amazon to make way for grazing and agriculture. This decreases habitat diversity.

Question 28

Factors affecting biodiversity: Over-explotation?

Answer 28

A greater demand for resources (such as food, water and energy) means a lot of resources are being used up faster than they can be replenished. E.g. industrial fishing can deplete the populations of certain fish species and may even cause extinction. This decreases the genetic diversity within populations, as well as decreasing species diversity (as a result of extinction).

Question 29

Factors affecting biodiversity: Urbanisation?

Answer 29

Sprawling cities and major road developments can isolate species, meaning populations are unable to interbreed and genetic diversity is decreased.

Question 30

Factors affecting biodiversity: Pollution?

Answer 30

High amounts of pollution can kill species or destroy habitats,e .g. high levels of fertiliser flowing into a river can lead to a decrease in fish species in that river. This decreases biodiversity.

Question 31

What is monoculture ?

Answer 31

The growing of a single variety of single crop.

Question 32

The effects of monoculture on biodiversity and why?

Answer 32

Declines global diversity because:
- Habitats are lost as land is cleared to make way for large fields, reducing habitat diversity.
- Local and naturally occurring plants and animals are seen as weeds and pests and so are destroyed with pesticides and herbicides, reducing species diversity
- Heritage (traditional) varieties in crops are lost because they don’t make enough money and so are not planted anymore, which reduces species diversity.

Question 33

The effects of climate change on biodiversity and why?

Answer 33

• A change in climate may mean an are that was previously inhabitable become uninhabitable.
• This may cause an increase or decrease in the range of some species. This could increase or decrease biodiversity.
• Some species may be forced to migrate to a more suitable are, causing a change in species distrubtion. This decreases species biodiversity where they migrate from and increases biodiversity in areas they migrate to.
• If there isn’t a suitable habitat to migrate to, the species is a plant can’t migrate or the change is too fast then extinction may occur.

Question 34

Effects of the loss of just one species?

Answer 34

1. disruption to food chains, e.g. some bear feed of salmon and some salmon feed on herring. If the number of herring decline it can effect both salmon and bear populations.
2. Disruption of nutrient cycles e.g. decomposers like worms improve the quality of soil by recycling nutrients . If worm numbers decline, soil quality will be affected. This will affect the growth of plants and the amount of food avialable to animals.

Question 35

Whys is biodiversity important for ecological reasons?

Answer 35

1) To protect species
2) To maintain genetic resources (any material from plants, animals or microorganisms, containing genes, which we find valuable).

Question 36

Why do we need to maintain genetic resources?

Answer 36

1. provide us with a variety of everyday products
2. Allow us to adapt to changes in the enviornment.

Question 37

What everyday products do genetic resources provide?

Answer 37

Food and drink- plants and animals are the source of almost all food and drink
Clothing- a lot of fibres and fabrics are made from plants and animals
Drugs- Many are made from plant compounds

Question 38

How do genetic resources allow us to adapt to changes in the enviornment?

Answer 38

For example, climate change may mean that some crops won’t be able to grow in the same areas as they do now, e.g. there may be droughts in some of those areas. However, we may be able to use genes from a plant that’s resistant to droughts to genetically engineer a drought-resistant crop.

Question 39

Why is maintaining biodiversity important for economic reasons?

Answer 39

1) to reduce soil depletion
2) aesthetic reasons

Question 40

How does maintaining biodiversity reduce soil depletion?

Answer 40

• Continous monoculture involves planting the same crop in the same field without interruption
• Continous monoculture causes soil depletion because the nutrients required by the crop are gradually used up
• The economic costs of soil depletion include increased spending on fertiliser and decreased yields.

Question 41

How does maintaing biodiversity have important aesthetic benefits?

Answer 41

Areas rich in biodiversity provide pleasent, attractive landscapes that people enjoy. By maintaining biodiversity we protect these beautiful landscapes.
The more biodiversity in an area the more visitors the area is liekly to attract- this also has economic advantages

Question 42

What is in-situ conservation?

Answer 42

Means on site conservation- It involves protecting species in their natural habitat.

Question 43

Why is conservation important?

Answer 43

To ensure the survival of endangered species- species which are at risk of extinction because of a low population, or a threatened habitat.

Question 44

What are some methods of in-situ conservation?

Answer 44

1. Establishing protected areas such as national parks and wildlife reserves (nature reserves- habitats and species are protected in these areas by restricting urban development, industrial development and farming.
2. Controlling or preventing the introduction of species of local biodiversity e.g. grey squirrels competing with red native squirrels.
3. Protecting habitats- e.g. controlling water levels to conserve wetlands and coppicing (trimming trees) to conserve woodlands.
4. Promoting particular species- could be by protecting food sources or nesting sites.
5. Giving legal protection to endangered species e.g. making it illegal to kill them.

Question 45

One advantage of in-situ conservation?

Answer 45

Both species and their habitat are conserved. Larger populations can be protected and it’s less disruptive than removing organisms from their habitats. The chances of the population recovering are higher than than ex-situ methods.

Question 46

Disadvantage of in-situ conservation?

Answer 46

Difficult to control some factors that are threatening a species (such as pouching, predators, disease or climate change).

Question 47

What is ex-situ conservation?

Answer 47

Means off site conservation- it involves protecting a species by removing part of the population from a threatened habitat and placing it in a new location.

Question 48

What are some of the methods of ex-situ conservation?

Answer 48

1. Relocating an organism to a safer area
2. Breeding organisms in captivity then reintroducing them to the wild when they are strong enough e.g. sea eagles have been reintroduced to Britian through a captive breeding programme.
3. Botanic gardens are controlled enviornments used to grow a variety of rare plants for the purposes of conservation, research, display and education.
4. Seed banks- seeds can be frozen and stored in seed banks for over a century without loosing fertility.

Question 49

Advantages of ex-situ conservation?

Answer 49

That it can be used to protect individual animals in a controlled environment- things like predation and hunting can be managed more easily. It can also be used to reintroduce species that have left an area.

Question 50

Disadvantages of ex-situ conservation?

Answer 50

Usually only a small number of individuals can be cared for. It can be difficult and expensive to sustain the right environment. Many species can’t breed sucessfully in captivity, or don’t adapt to their new enviornment when moved to a new location.

Question 51

Sucessful international cooperation: Rio Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD)?

Answer 51

1. Aims to develop international strategies on the conservation of biodiversity and how to use animal and plants in a sustainable way.
2. The convention made it part of international law that conserving biodiversity is everyone’s responsibility.
3. It also provides guidance to governments on how to conserve biodiversity.

Question 52

Sucessful international cooperation: CITES agreement?

Answer 52

1. CITES (Convection on International Trade in Endangered Species) is an agreement designed to increase international cooperation in regulating trade in wild animals and plant specimens.
2. The member countries all agreed to make it illegal to kill endangered species
3. The agreement helps to conserve species by limiting trade through licensing, and by making it illegal to trade products made from endangered animals (e.g. rhino ivory and leopard skins).
4. It’s also designed to raise awareness of threats to biodiversity through education

Question 53

Local conservation agreements: The Countryside Stewardship Scheme (CSS)?

Answer 53

1. The Countryside Stewardship Scheme was introduced in 1991. Some of its aims were to conserve wildlife and biodiversity and to improve and extend wildlife habitats by promoting specific management technqiues.
2. The government offered 10 year agreements to pay landowners who followed mangement technqiues they were suggesting. For example, to regenerate hedgerows, to leave grassy margins around the edges of fields where wildflowers could grow.
3. In the year 2000, there were 10 000 agreements in England. Since the introduction of the scheme, various species have begun to rebuild numbers, including bird such as stone curlew, black grouse and bittern.