Biodiversity Flashcards
What is Biodiversity?
variety of living organisms in an area/ habitat
What is an Ecosystem?
Communities of organisms interacting with the habitat
What is a Community?
the living(biotic) part
What is a Habitat?
the non-living (abiotic) part
What is a Stable Community?
where all the species and environmental factors are in balance so that population sizes remain fairly constant
What is Genetic Variety?
The variety of genes making up an organism
What is the advantage of a greater Genetic variety?
more alleles within a species increases variation and allows for better adaptation to a changing environment, species with greater genetic biodiversity are more likely to survive changes to their environment, more likely to reproduce and allows the species to survive
What is Species richness?
number of different species living in an area
What is Index of Diversity?
uses a formula which takes into account the species richness and the abundance of each species
What is the formula of Index of Diversity?
in booklet.
What changes can impact Biodiveristy?
Number of food sources i reduced as plants or animals are removed
Habitats are removed or destroyed which removes shelter and food sources
Removal of habitats and food sources causes organisms to die or leave to another area which further reduces biodiversity
What are the main causes of reduction in Biodiversity?
deforestation, hedgerow removal, pesticides, herbicides and monocultures
How to achieve Conservation?
Giving legal protection to endangered species
Creating protected areas such as SSSIs
Schemes which encourage farmers to replant hedgerow and allow wildflower borders along field edges to help increase biodiversity around agricultural land
