Biodiversity Flashcards
Definition of Biodiversity
Number of species and number of individuals of each of the species within any one community
Definition of Species Richness
Number of different species in a community
Definition of Community
All the individuals of all the species living together in the same area at the same time
Definition of Species
Group of similar organisms with the same genes that reproduce to produce fertile offspring
Definition of Genetic Diversity
Difference in DNA/base sequence/alleles/genes
Definition of Niche
An organisms role in the community
It describes how it interacts with other species + how it responds to the environment
Definition of Habitat
A place where an organism normally lives within an ecosystem
Definition of Population
Number of specific species
How to calculate diversity index?
What information is required to calculate this?
Number of species
Number of individuals in each species
The number of species present is one way to measure biodiversity.
Explain why an index of biodiversity may be a more useful measure of biodiversity?
Also measures number of individuals of each species
Give 2 advantages of using an index of biodiversity rather than an indicator species?
- Don’t need to identify each species
- Index considers the number of organisms of each species
Suggest economic arguments for maintaining biodiversity?
- Tourism
- Agriculture
- Saving local forest communities
- Medical uses
A forest was cleared to make more land available for agriculture.
After the forest was cleared the species diversity of insects in the area decreased. Explain why? (4)
- Decrease in variety of plants
- Fewer habitats/niches
- Decrease in variety of food/food sources
- Aspect of clearing forest (killing insects) e.g. machinery/pesticides
Farmers clear tropical forest + grow crops instead.
Explain how this causes the diversity of insects in the area to decrease? (5)
- Lower diversity of plant
- Fewer sources of food
- Fewer habitats/niches
- Fewer herbivores so few carnivores
- Aspect of agriculture (killing insects)
Name the Hierarchy
Domain
Kingdom
Phylum
Class
Order
Family
Genus
Species
What is the binomial naming system?
Genus Name, species name
—–> Capital Letter
Definition of Taxon
Group of similar organisms
Definition of Hierarchy
Groups contained within larger groups, which have NO overlap + organisms have only ONE taxon
What are the groupings on domain?
- Bacteria
- Archaea (group of prokaryotes)
- Eukarya
How many kingdoms does the eukarya domain divide into? Names?
4 kingdoms - Protist, Fungi, Plant, Animal