Biodiversity

Question 1

define biodiversity

Answer 1

the variety of living organisms in an area

Question 2

what factors are considered in biodiversity

Answer 2

habitat diversity, species diversity, genetic diversity (variety of alleles)

Question 3

what is a habitat

Answer 3

an area inhabited by a species

Question 4

what is a species

Answer 4

group of similar organisms able to reproduce to give fertile offspring

Question 5

what are three types of non random sampling and explain how they’re carried out

Answer 5

systematic sampling- samples taken often at intervals, along a line
opportunistic sampling- when samples are chosen by the investigator, data will be biased
stratified sampling- when different areas in a habitat are identified an sampled separately in proportion to their part of the habitat as a whole

Question 6

how would you know that results in a sample aren’t juts due to chance

Answer 6

analyse results statistically

Question 7

what is species richness

Answer 7

the number of different species in an area

Question 7

what is species evenness

Answer 7

a measure of the relative abundance of each species in an area

Question 8

how would you measure species diversity

Answer 8

Simpson’s Index of Diversity

Question 9

what does n, N and E represent in Simpson’s Index of Diversity

Answer 9

n= total number of organisms in one species
N= total number of all organisms
E= sum of

Question 10

what is polymorphism

Answer 10

a locus that has two or more alleles

Question 11

how do you calculate the proportion of polymorphic gene loci in a population

Answer 11

number of polymorphic gene loci/ total number of loci

Question 12

what effect has human population growth had on biodiversity

Answer 12

habitat loss
over-exploitation
urbanisation
pollution

Question 13

what effect does monoculture have on biodiversity

Answer 13

habitat loss as land is cleared to make way for large fields
los of local plants and animals
loss of heritage varieties as they don’t make enough money so are not planted any more

Question 14

what are the ecological reasons for maintaining biodiversity

Answer 14

ecosystems are interdependent so they depend on each other to survive
disruption of food chains
disruption of nutrients cycle

Question 15

what are keystone species

Answer 15

species that many other species in an ecosystem rely on often predators with a relatively low population

Question 16

why do genetic resources need to be maintained

Answer 16

provide everyday products e.g food and drink
allow adaptations to changes in the environment

Question 17

what are economic reasons to maintain biodiversity

Answer 17

continuous monoculture causes soil depletion as nutrients are used up so more money is spent on fertilisers and yield decreases

Question 18

what are the aesthetic reasons for maintaining biodiversity

Answer 18

attractive landscapes, can attract more visitors

Question 19

what is in-situ conservation and give a few examples

Answer 19

protecting species in their natural habitat
establishing protected areas like national parks
restoring damaged areas

Question 20

what are some advantages and disadvantages of in situ conservation

Answer 20

often both the species and habitat are conserved
, less disruptive, large populations can be protected
can be difficult to control things threatening a species e.g climate change
chances of population recovering are greater with ex-situ

Question 21

what is ex-situ conservation and give some examples

Answer 21

protecting species by removing part of the population from a threatened habitat
relocating organsims
breeding organisms in captivity then releasing them into the wild
seed banks

Question 22

what are the advantages and disadvantages of ex situ conservation

Answer 22

competition for resources is reduced
health checks
individual animals can be controlled
breeding canoe controlled
can be used to reintroduce species that have left an area
only a small number of individuals can be cared for
can be expensive
species can’t breed successfully in captivity

Question 23

what is the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity

Answer 23

international agreement that aims to develop international strategies on the conservation of biodiversity and how to use animal and plant resources in a sustainable way

Question 24

what is the CITES agreement

Answer 24

designed to increase international cooperation in regulating trade in wild animal and plant specimens, made it illegal to kill endangered species

Question 25

What is the Countryside Stewardship scheme

Answer 25

conserve wildlife and biodiversity and to improve and extend wildlife habitats by promoting specific management techniques to landowners