Biodiversity Flashcards
biodiversity in an ecosystem includes:
genetic diversity
species diversity
habitat diversity
what can lead to a loss of genetic diversity?
a population bottleneck
the more genetically diverse a population is the better it can:
respond to environmental stressors
ecosystems that have a larger number of species are more likely to:
recover from disruptions
a loss of habitat leads to a loss of:
followed by a loss of:
it also leads to reduced numbers of:
specialist species
generalist species
species that have large territorial requirements
what is species richness?
the number of different species found in an ecosystem
what is habitat/ecosystem diversity?
the biggest level of diversity
the number of different habitats available in a given area
what is an example of an area with high ecosystem diversity?
Hawaii has mountain ecosystems, ocean ecos, forest ecos, and river ecos, and grasslands
what is species diversity?
the number of different species in an ecosystem AND the balance or evenness of the population sizes of all species in the ecosystem
what is genetic diversity?
how different the genomes are of individuals within a population
the higher the biodiversity, the higher the:
ecosystem/population health
what is a genome?
the complete set of genes or genetic material present in a cell or organism
what is an example of genetic diversity within a population?
a population of squirrels might have different fur colors, tail lengths, etc.
what is species richness?
the total number of different species found in an ecosystem
what is species evenness?
a measure of how all of the individual organisms in an ecosystem are balanced between the different species
high species richness is a good sign of:
why?
ecosystem health
more species means more quality resources like water and soil
what does species evenness indicate?
if there are one or two dominant species or if population sizes are well balanced
why is there genetic diversity in all populations?
because random mutations in copying of DNA and recombination of chromosomes in sex cells of parents leads to new gene combinations and new traits in offspring
what are some examples of some environmental stressors?
drought, famine, disease
why does higher biodiversity lead to a higher chance of survival of an environmental stressor?
more genetic diversity means there is a higher chance that some of the individuals in a population have traits that allow them to survive the environmental stressor
what is a bottleneck event?
an environmental disturbance (natural disaster or human habitat destruction) that drastically reduces a population size and kills organisms regardless of their genome
what is the result of a bottleneck event?
the surviving population is smaller and because individuals died randomly, it doesn’t represent the genetic diversity of the original population
what do bottleneck events reduce?
genetic diversity
how does a bottleneck event affect a population?
because the population is smaller and less genetically diverse, it’s even more vulnerable to future environmental disturbances
