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EAS 250: Biogeography > Biodiversity > Flashcards

Biodiversity Flashcards

1
Q

T/F

There has been a decrease in plant species diversity over time

A

false

There has been an increase over time (generally) as more get established etc

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2
Q

biodiversity=

A

the number of different species living in a given area

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3
Q

species richness=

A

of species in a community

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4
Q

Do biodiversity and species richness tell us mostly everything we need to know?

A

No

Want to consider things like relative abundance, functional ecological roles, community structure, and evolutionary/ phylogenetic affinities

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5
Q

What are 4 other definitions that we can use besides species diversity?

A
  • phylogenetic diversity
  • functional diversity (eg biochemical)
  • habitat diversity
  • ecosystem diversity
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6
Q

Does species richness affect the health of an ecosystem?

A

Yes!
Related to net primary productivity

  • more species= more resistant to change, better able to recover from disturbances like fire
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7
Q

How might functional ecosystems help us as humans?
Give up to 6 examples

A
  • forests capture CO2 that we emit
  • wetlands immobilize some toxins that we produce
  • Ecosystems are a source of useful products like medicines
  • aesthetic value
  • spiritual/ cultural value
  • recreational value (eg hiking)
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8
Q

Give a specific example of ecosystems providing medicines and improving human quality of life

A

Caterpillar fugus in China:
- used to treat the flu & tuberculosis
- worth lots of $, so has pulled lots of villages out of poverty

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9
Q

______ _____proposed that an area occupied by many species is more ecologically stable than one occupied by a small # of species

A

Charles Darwin

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10
Q

_______ ______ proposed more species added more functional stability

  • this was an addition to Darwin’s proposal
A

Robert MacArthur

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11
Q

What is the Rivet Hypothesis? Who proposed it?

A

species are like rivets in an airplane (ecosystem or community)
- if you lose a few, the plane keeps flying, but if you lose too many, it fails

Paul Ehrlich

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12
Q

generally, ___(more/less) diverse ecosystems function better: they’re more productive and more stable

A

more

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13
Q

Alpha diversity=

A

species diversity in a certain area
eg in a plot or hectare

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14
Q

Beta diversity=

A

compares species diversity between adjacent locations (communities)

  • related to habitat or niche diversity between sites
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15
Q

Gamma diversity=

A

overall species diversity within a large area

eg. entire ocean basin, continent, biomes, etc

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16
Q

Delta diversity=

A

compares species diversity between large areas

  • eg between ocean basins/ continents/ biomes
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17
Q

-

A
  • species richness
  • species abundance
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18
Q

Species abundance curves often exhibit a shape where we see lots of ___ species and a few ____ species
(common or rare)

A

rare

common

ie. there may be 40 individuals in species A and species B, but there are 50 other species who only have 1 or 2 individuals in each species

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19
Q

Species richness=

A

the number of species in a defined area (usually a community)

20
Q

What is an issue with using species richness?

A

It doesn’t differentiate between rare vs common species

21
Q

Species evenness=

A

a comparison of the relative abundance of each species in a community

  • evaluates the numbers of rare and common species
22
Q

The greatest species evenness occurs when all species in a community have ___ abundances

A

equal

23
Q

Explain when very low species evenness might occur

A

when one species is very abundant and the rest are extremely rare

24
Q

Which metrics are used to find diversity?

A

Shannon Wiener Index and Simpson’s Index

25
Q

Compare Shannon Wiener Index and Simpson’s Index

A

Shannon Wiener stresses richness component and rare species

Simpson= more emphasis on evenness component and on the dominant species

26
Q

Linnaean shortfall=

A

the gap between what actually exists and what we’ve measured so far
(there is a lot we don’t know!)

27
Q

T/F

monitoring and measuring varies with the method, definition, and sampling effort used

A

true!

= sampling bias

28
Q

hotspots=

A

areas with high endemism and biodiversity

29
Q

endemism=

A

taxa unique to an area (they have a limited distribution)

30
Q

cosmopolitan species=

A

have a large distribution and are found all over the place

eg humans!

31
Q

List 4 places that have high biodiversity

A

tropical biomes
Mediterranean biomes
coral reefs
many islands

32
Q

Do latitudinal diversity gradients exist? Explain

A

Yes!

Higher species richness at lower latitudes, and it decreases as you go poleward

33
Q

Vascular plants have increased diversity around the equator, except in Africa. Why is this?

A

Sahara desert! Many things cannot survive there; limited water

34
Q

Birds have higher diversity (more species) in the southern hemisphere. Why?

A

The habitat south of the equator is simply more suitable compared to the northern hemisphere

35
Q

Amphibians have greater species richness near the ___ and the ___ hemisphere

A

tropics
southern

36
Q

Freshwater fish have greater species richness near the ___ and the ___ hemisphere

A

tropics

southern

37
Q

Corals are most diverse between +/- __ degrees latitude. How might climate change alter that?

A

30

with climate change, corals are moving northward to stay in cold enough waters (their range of tolerance is very small, and the waters in their original habitat are getting too warm)

38
Q

Both terrestrial and marine mammals have higher diversity towards the ____ and in the ___ hemisphere

A

tropics

southern

39
Q

The effect of elevation:

Species richness of most terrestrial organisms:
- _____(inc/dec) along coastal plains
- ___ more rapidly with ascent to foothills or mid-elevations of mountains
- ___ approaching ice-covered summits

A

increase
increase
decrease

40
Q

Peninsula effect=

A

the tendency for species richness to decrease from the mainland connection toward the most distal point on the peninsula

41
Q

Why does the peninsula effect occur?

A

it’s hard to get to the end of a peninsula!

More of an isolated habitat out there

42
Q

List (up to 6) abiotic factors affecting diversity

A
  • energy availability (food)
  • moisture
  • time (age): generations/ millennia
  • area
  • environmental stability/ predictability
  • intermediate disturbance hypothesis
43
Q

t/f

The latitudinal gradient in diversity that we see appears to be an ancient pattern that varies among and within taxa over time

A

true

44
Q

There has been a long-term diversity ___-__ over evolutionary time

A

build-up

45
Q
A

EAS 250: Biogeography (12 decks)

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