Biodiversity

Question 1

T/F

There has been a decrease in plant species diversity over time

Answer 1

false

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

Question 2

biodiversity=

Answer 2

the number of different species living in a given area

Question 3

species richness=

Answer 3

of species in a community

Question 4

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

Answer 4

No

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

Question 5

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

Answer 5

• phylogenetic diversity
• functional diversity (eg biochemical)
• habitat diversity
• ecosystem diversity

Question 6

Does species richness affect the health of an ecosystem?

Answer 6

Yes!
Related to net primary productivity

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

Question 7

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

Answer 7

• 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)

Question 8

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

Answer 8

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

Question 9

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

Answer 9

Charles Darwin

Question 10

_______ ______ proposed more species added more functional stability

• this was an addition to Darwin’s proposal

Answer 10

Robert MacArthur

Question 11

What is the Rivet Hypothesis? Who proposed it?

Answer 11

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

Question 12

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

Answer 12

more

Question 13

Alpha diversity=

Answer 13

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

Question 14

Beta diversity=

Answer 14

compares species diversity between adjacent locations (communities)

• related to habitat or niche diversity between sites

Question 15

Gamma diversity=

Answer 15

overall species diversity within a large area

eg. entire ocean basin, continent, biomes, etc

Question 16

Delta diversity=

Answer 16

compares species diversity between large areas

• eg between ocean basins/ continents/ biomes

Question 17

-

Answer 17

• species richness
• species abundance

Question 18

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

Answer 18

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

Question 19

Species richness=

Answer 19

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

Question 20

What is an issue with using species richness?

Answer 20

It doesn’t differentiate between rare vs common species

Question 21

Species evenness=

Answer 21

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

• evaluates the numbers of rare and common species

Question 22

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

Answer 22

equal

Question 23

Explain when very low species evenness might occur

Answer 23

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

Question 24

Which metrics are used to find diversity?

Answer 24

Shannon Wiener Index and Simpson’s Index

Question 25

Compare Shannon Wiener Index and Simpson's Index

Answer 25

Shannon Wiener stresses richness component and rare species Simpson= more emphasis on evenness component and on the dominant species

Question 26

Linnaean shortfall=

Answer 26

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

Question 27

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

Answer 27

true! = sampling bias

Question 28

hotspots=

Answer 28

areas with high endemism and biodiversity

Question 29

endemism=

Answer 29

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

Question 30

cosmopolitan species=

Answer 30

have a large distribution and are found all over the place eg humans!

Question 31

List 4 places that have high biodiversity

Answer 31

tropical biomes Mediterranean biomes coral reefs many islands

Question 32

Do latitudinal diversity gradients exist? Explain

Answer 32

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

Question 33

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

Answer 33

Sahara desert! Many things cannot survive there; limited water

Question 34

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

Answer 34

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

Question 35

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

Answer 35

tropics southern

Question 36

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

Answer 36

tropics southern

Question 37

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

Answer 37

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)

Question 38

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

Answer 38

tropics southern

Question 39

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

Answer 39

increase increase decrease

Question 40

Peninsula effect=

Answer 40

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

Question 41

Why does the peninsula effect occur?

Answer 41

it's hard to get to the end of a peninsula! More of an isolated habitat out there

Question 42

List (up to 6) abiotic factors affecting diversity

Answer 42

- energy availability (food) - moisture - time (age): generations/ millennia - area - environmental stability/ predictability - intermediate disturbance hypothesis

Question 43

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

Answer 43

true

Question 44

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

Answer 44

build-up