Biodiversity Flashcards
What is biodiversity?
Is the variety of living organisms
How can biodiversity be measured?and why is it important?
Measuring global biodiversity is also important as it gives us a broader view on what impact humans are having on the planet.
With diversity index
-total number of organisms (themselves-1)/total number of organisms of each species (themselves-1)
What can threaten biodiversity?
Human activity such as deforestation
How can biodiversity be measured?
Species diversity:number of different species and individuals within each species in a community
Genetic diversity:the variety of all genes amongst all in a population of 1 species.
Ecosystem diversity:the range of different habitats
What is species richness?
The number of different species in a particular area at the particular time
State the importance of Biodiversity.
It is used to describe a range of habitats from small local to the entire earth
But a low biodiversity might not be a concern for example you would except a low one in Artic and desserts
But a decrease in biodiversity is a cause of concern which is often caused by human activity like deforestation
How does farming reduce biodiversity?
-destroyed hedgerows
Removing habitats for lots of insects birds and mammals
-selective breeding
Where 2 plants are selected due to displaying favourable characteristics and this reduces the gene pool so biodiversity is lost.
-Monocultures when farms plant 1 type of plant and it attract the same insects and same plant so no biodiversity
-overgrazing:cause damage to the grassland do is not possible to grow plants there anymore
Draining wetlands for farming removing the habitats for certain aquatic individuals.
What is a community?
a group of people living in the same place or having a particular characteristic in common.
What is a habitat?
habitat refers to the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area.
Why are local habitats important?
Local habitats are important as they support large numbers of species. One old oak tree can support 1000 different species!
What are stable communities and why are they important?
A stable community is one where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant.
Stable communities are really important as they support large numbers of species.
An old oak tree can support 1000 different species but a new oak tree will take 100s of years to get there
Why is it important to maintain biodiversity?
Biodiversity allows a balanced or stable ecosystem.
•Many organisms rely on one another, they are interconnected (interdependence).
•Less diversity = less ‘functions’ in a habitat
•Important for humans too – we rely on these ecosystem functions for so many things
