Biodiversity Flashcards

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1
Q

What is the species diversity index?

A

d = N(N-1) / Σ n(n-1)

d = species diversity index
N = organisms of all species
n = organisms of each species
Σ = sum of

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2
Q

What is species richness?

A
  • count the number of different species in an area
  • species diversity is a better measure because it takes into account the number of organisms in each species and so is a better measure of biodiversity
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3
Q

What is the impact of agriculture on biodiversity?

A
  • farmers select more productive crops
  • frequency of alleles is reduced
  • crop yield needs to be large for economic reasons
  • one area can only support a certain amount of biomass, little area left for anything else
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4
Q

How else can biodiversity be reduced by farming?

A
  • crops sprayed with pesticides and man-made fertiliser - further disadvantages and excludes species
  • creating monocultures
  • overgrazing land
  • lack of crop rotation
  • removing hedgerows and filling in ponds
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5
Q

How can farmers increase species diversity?

A
  • maintain hedgerows
  • plant hedges instead of fences
  • maintain and create ponds
  • plant native trees on land with low species diversity
  • reduce use of pesticides (use biological control or GM)
  • use organic fertilisers
  • introduce conservation headlands
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