Biodiversity Flashcards
Biodiversity
Biodiversity encompasses the variety of all living things and their interactions. Biodiversity changes over time as extinction occurs and new species evolve. There are three levels of biodiversity: species, genetic, and ecosystem diversity.
Species diversity
Species diversity is the number of different species in a particular area and their relative abundance.
Species Richness: Number of different species.
Speches Abundance: Amount of individual orgaisms of a species in an area
The most diverse communities will have the greatest species richness but the most relative abundance (evenly represented)
Genetic Diversity
Genetic diversity is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It makes it possible for species to adapt when the environment changes.
Gene Pool: Every allele in every memeber of the population
Ecosystem Diversity
The variations in ecosystems within a geographical location and its overall impact on human existence and the environment. Ecosystem diversity involves different habitats, communities, and ecological processes, combining abiotic and biotic properties.
such as deserts, forests, grasslands, wetlands and oceans. Ecological diversity is the largest scale of biodiversity, and within each ecosystem, there is a great deal of both species and genetic diversity.
Relationship between diversity and ecosystem stability
Greater biodiversity in ecosystems, species, and individuals leads to greater stability. Species with high genetic diversity are adapted to a wide variety of conditions are more likely to be able to weather disturbances, disease, and climate change. Areas with high levels of species and genetic diversity are likely to have a more complex ecosystem, with a variety of food webs and biotic interactions.
Species, Population, Community
- Species: A group of organisms that can reproduce naturally to produce fertile offspring.
- Population: A group of the same species living in the same area.
- Community: A community is a group of different species living in the same area.
Ecosystem
An ecosystem is a geographic area where plants, animals, and other organisms, as well as weather and landscape, work together to sustain the surrounding habitat. Ecosystems encompass biotic (living) and abiotic (nonliving) factors.
Example: Forest Ecosystem, Grassland Ecosystem, Tundra Ecosystem. Desert Ecosystem.
Biotic and Abiotic Factors
Abiotic (nonliving) and biotic (living) factors work together to create a unique ecosystem.
Habitat
A habitat is a place where an organism makes its home. A habitat meets all the environmental conditions an organism needs to survive.
Ecosystem Services
Ecosystem services are the benefits provided to humans through the transformations of resources into a flow of essential goods and services e.g. clean air, water, and food
