Biodiversity Flashcards
What is Biodiversity?
The VARIETY of LIVING ORGANISMS in an AREA.
What is the definition of species?
A group of SIMILAR ORGANISMS able to REPRODUCE to give FERTILE OFFSPRING.
What is the definition of Habitat?
The AREA INHABITED by a species. It includes the PHYSICAL factors, like the soil and temperature range, and the LIVING (biotic) factors, like availability of food or the presence of predators.
What does it mean when an area has high biodiversity?
Areas with HIGH biodiversity are those with lots of DIFFERENT SPECIES.
What is Habitat diversity?
The number of DIFFERENT HABITATS in an AREA.
For example, an area could contain many different habitats- sand dunes, woodland, meadows, streams, etc
What is Species diversity?
The number of DIFFERENT SPECIES (species richness) and the ABUNDANCE of each species (species evenness) in an AREA.
For example, a woodland could contain many different species of plants, insects, birds and mammals.
What is Genetic diversity?
The variation of ALLELES within a species (or a population of species).
For example, the variation of alleles within the dog species gives rise to different breeds, such as labrador or poodle.
How can biodiversity be sampled?
SAMPLING can be used to MEASURE BIODIVERSITY.
What is the general method when you carry out sampling?
1) CHOOSE an AREA to SAMPLE - a small area within the habitat being studied.
2) COUNT the number of individuals of EACH SPECIES
3) REPEAT the process-take as many samples as possible. This gives a better indication of the WHOLE HABITAT.
4) Use the results to ESTIMATE the total number of individuals or the total number of different species in the habitat being studied.
5) When sampling DIFFERENT HABITATS and comparing them, always use the SAME SAMPLING TECHNIQUES.
What sample technique would you use for Crawling ground insects?
For CRAWLING GROUND INSECTS you could use a PITFALL TRAP (a small pit that insects can’t out of) or a POOTER (a device that allows you to safely suck small insects through a tube into a jar)
What sampling technique would you use for SMALL ORGANISMS?
For SMALL ORGANISMS that live in SOIL or LEAF LITTER. you could use a TULLGREN FUNNEL - This is where soil or leaf litter sample is put on a mesh filter at a top of a funnel and a light is shone down to it.
Organisms move away from the heat created by the light and fall out of the funnel and into a collecting beaker.
What sampling technique would you use for Aquatic organisms?
For some AQUATIC ORGANISMS, you could use KICK SAMPLING ( you gently kick the bottom of the stream then use a net to collect the organisms that have been disturbed).
What sampling technique would you use for organisms living in long grass?
For organisms living in LONG GRASS, you could use a SWEEP NET( a net lined with strong cloth on a pole)
What type of sampling ( random or non-random) would be used to avoid biased?
To avoid BIAS in your results, the SAMPLE should be RANDOM.
For example, if you were looking at plant species in a field, you would pick random sample sites by dividing the field into a GRID using MEASURING TAPES and using RANDOM NUMBER GENERATOR to select the COORDINATES.
When would you use a non-random sample?
However, it’s sometimes NECESSARY to take a NON-RANDOM SAMPLE.
E.G when there’s a lot of variety in the distribution in the habitat and you want to make sure all the different areas are sampled.
