Biodiversity and agriculture

Question 1

Why is woodland clearance done?

Answer 1

To increase the area of farmland

Question 2

Why is woodland clearance done?

Answer 2

To increase the area of farmland

Question 3

What are the effects of woodland clearance?

Answer 3

Reduces the number of trees and sometimes the number of tree species
Destroys habitats
Organisms may lose food sources
Species may be forced to immigrate

Question 4

Why is hedgerow removal done?

Answer 4

To increase the area of farmland

Question 5

What is hedgerow removal?

Answer 5

Turning lots of small fields into fewer larger fields

Question 6

How does the removal of hedgerows affect biodiversity?

Answer 6

Reduces the number of trees and sometimes the number of tree species
Destroys habitats
Organisms may lose food sources
Species may be forced to immigrate

Question 7

What are pesticides?

Answer 7

Chemicals that kill organisms that feed on crops

Question 8

How do pesticides reduce biodiversity?

Answer 8

They directly kill the pests

Any species that feed on pests will lose a food source so their numbers could decrease too

Question 9

What are herbicides?

Answer 9

Chemicals which kill unwanted plants

Question 10

What are the effects of the herbicides?

Answer 10

Reduces plant biodiversity

Reduce the number of organisms which feed on the weeds

Question 11

What is monoculture?

Answer 11

When farmers have fields containing only one type of plant

Question 12

What are the effects of monoculture?

Answer 12

A single type of plant reduces biodiversity directly and will support fewer organisms as a habitat and as a food source which further reduces biodiversity

Question 13

Why do we need agriculture?

Answer 13

To produce food and fibres for clothing
Medicines
Fuels

Question 14

What is a conservation scheme?

Answer 14

An attempt to maintain balance between agriculture and biodiversity

Question 15

What are some examples of conservation schemes?

Answer 15

• Legal protection to endangered species
• Creating protected areas
• Giving awards to farmers for things like leaving hedgerows

Question 16

What is biodiversity?

Answer 16

The variety of living organisms in an area

Question 17

What is a habitat?

Answer 17

The place where an organism lives

Question 18

What is a community?

Answer 18

All of the populations of different species in a habitat

Question 19

What is local biodiversity?

Answer 19

The variety of different species living in a small habitat thats local to you

Question 20

What is global biodiversity?

Answer 20

Consider the variety of species on earth

Question 21

What is species richness?

Answer 21

A measure of the number of different species in a community

Question 22

How is species richness measured?

Answer 22

Taking random samples of a community and counting the number of different species

Question 23

What is the equation for index of diversity?

Answer 23

N(N-1)
d = ——————–
Σn(n-1)

Question 24

In the equation for the index of diversity, what does everything stand for?

Answer 24

D = index of diversity 
N = Total number of organisms of all species 
n = total number of organisms of one species 
Σ = sum of