Biodiversity Flashcards
What is biodiversity?
The study of variation that exists between different forms of life, species and habitats.
Why is biodiversity important?
To maintain the resilience of ecosystems and allow them to resist changes to the environment.
How do we characterise high biodiversity?
A high number of habitats in an area.
What is species diversity?
The greater the species diversity…
The number of diversity species within a community and the evenness of abundance across the different species.
The greater the species diversity, the greater the number of species in an ecosystem and also the more even distribution of species is.
What is species richness?
The total number of species within a community.
Why are ecosystems with a higher species diversity more stable?
They are more resilient to environmental changes.
Explain the ethical reasons for maintaining diversity.
Humans have a responsibility to reduce environmental impact.
Explain an ecological reason why maintaining biodiversity is important.
Increases the stability of ecosystems.
Explain an environmental reason why maintaining biodiversity is important.
Organisms that make up an ecosystem provide essential environmental services, such as trees removing CO2 from the atmosphere.
Explain an economical reason why maintaining biodiversity is important.
Ecosystems contribute to medicine, tourism, science and technology.
Explain an agricultural reason why maintaining biodiversity is important.
Genetically diverse species can ensure that the same nutrients are not constantly used up from the soil.
What is a limitation of species richness?
It can be a misleading indicator of diversity as it doesn’t take into account the number of individuals in a species.
What are the benefits of the index of diversity?
Take into account species number and evenness.
Give the equation for index of diversity.
d = N(N-1) / Total n(n-1)
What does N mean in index of diversity?
Total number of organisms in a community
