Biodiversity Flashcards
What is the definition of biodiversity?
the number of different species in an ecosystem and the population level of each species.
what is a bio diverse ecosystem and what is an example of a very bio diverse ecosystem?
ecosystem that has many different species with a range of different characteristics (e.g. coral reef - large numbers of different species in a small area)
Why are bio diverse ecosystems more stable?
Because they cannot collapse because each species population might change dramatically but the ecosystem continues, most species survive and continue to be part of the food web.
Use an example to showhow strong bio diverse ecosystems are.
a weed can easily invade an ecosystem but an ecosystems with a range of different species and with high biodiversity can withhold the weed because the weed is outnumbered
How do interactions change the stability of an ecosystem and give an example?
changing numbers of predator and prey directly impact each other. For example when prey population increases so does predator because there is more food. This decreases prey population because more are being eaten. The then decreases predator population because there is less food.
