Biodiversity

Question 1

Recognize that Biodiversity includes the diversity of species and ecosystems.

Answer 1

Ecosystem: Living and non-living factors, and how they interact with each other.
The three different types of Biodiversity: Ecosystem diversity, species diversity, and genetic diversity.
Ecosystem stability and species interaction.

Question 2

Determine the biodiversity of species using measures such as species richness, evenness, percentage cover, percentage frequency, and Simpsom’s diversity index

Question 3

use species diversity indices, species interactions, and abiotic factors to compare ecosystems across spatial and temporal scales

Answer 3

Spatial factors: That affect biodiversity include the distance from the equator and the size or depth of a habitat.
Temporal factors: refers to the season. Organisms have a tolerance range but they function best in their optimal range.

Question 4

Explain how environmental factors limit the distribution and abundance of species in an ecosystem

Answer 4

Mutualism - interaction between two species and both benefit.
Commensalism - interaction between two species, one benefits the other is unaffected
amensalism - one is harmed the other is not affected.
parasitism - one benefits the other is harmed
competition - compete for the same resources.
Predation: organism kills another for food.

Question 5

Define biodiversity and how biodiversity can be measured.

Answer 5

• Biodiversity describes the number and variety of organisms living in a geographical area, and can be measured at the level of species or ecosystem
• Biodiversity can be measured quantitatively using a variety of instruments, scales and methodologies
• Measures of biodiversity include percentage cover, percentage frequency, species evenness and species richness.

Question 6

Explain diversity of species

Answer 6

species of living things are diverse in their appearance, habitat, lifespan, behaviour and reproductive strategies. This concept is known as species diversity, and is caused by the adaptations of each species due to abiotic factors and biotic factors in its environment.

Question 7

Explain Diversity of Ecosystems

Answer 7

An ecosystem is a community of living and non-living things interacting with each other in a particular location. Ecosystem diversity is a measure of the variety of different habitats, communities and ecological processes. Ecosystem diversity is determined by abiotic factors.

Question 8

Explain Species richness

Answer 8

Species richness is a measure of the number of specIes present in a sample area. It does not take into account the population or distribution of each species richness not only have many individual organisms, but also many different species. Environments with low species richness may have many individuals but only a few different species.

Question 9

Explain species evenness (relative species abundance)

Answer 9

Species evenness compares the number of individuals of one species in relation to the total number of individuals of all other species in sample area. Evenness allows information to be gathered on distribution and dominance of species within a community.

Question 10

Explain percentage cover

Answer 10

Percentage cover is an estimate of the amount of a selection area covered by living organisms. The selected area may estimate the coverage of barnacles on a rock or it could be the percentage of the sky covered by rainforest canopy when looking up from the forest floor.

Question 11

Explain simpson’s Diversity Index (SDI)

Answer 11

SDI is used to calculate a numerical value of the diversity for a community, habitat or ecosystem. It accounts for the species population and relative abundance of species present, and serves as indicator of ecosystem health. The formula uses data on the population of individual species and the total population of all species to give a value between 0 and 1 where 0 is the lowest diversity an 1 is the highest diversity.