Biodiversity Patterns & Processes - exam 2

Question 1

Describe the state of our knowledge about biodiversity on Earth.

Answer 1

Question 2

Describe a general picture of the distribution of biomass on earth among plants, animals, other organisms, etc.

Answer 2

Question 3

Define biodiversity in a few different ways.

Answer 3

Question 4

Name and explain 4 different ways organisms can be divided into species.

Answer 4

Question 5

What is a morphological species, and what is the biggest challenge to defining species this way?

Answer 5

Question 6

What is a biological species, and what is the biggest challenge to defining species this way?

Answer 6

Question 7

What is a genetic species?
How are these determined?
How are these 3 terms related: molecular clock, split, lump

Answer 7

Question 8

What is phylogeny?
What is a cladogram?

Answer 8

Question 9

What are the 2 most commonly used species definitions? 3 reasons why?

Answer 9

Question 10

What is natural selection? Describe how it works, including/defining these terms:
sexual reproduction
adaptive traits
differential reproduction
heritable traits

Answer 10

Question 11

What is macroevolution, and what are 4 types of evidence we use to study/support it?
What about microevolution (1 type of evidence)?

Answer 11

Question 12

Answer 12

~4.6 billion years
Biodiversity increases over time (assuming no catastrophes)
See: speciation

Question 13

Explain stratigraphy

Answer 13

Question 14

Explain what speciation is, and 4 major contributors to it. What is a good rule of thumb regarding increasing biodiversity?

Answer 14

Question 14

Explain continental drift

Answer 14

Question 15

What is GABI and when did it occur?

Answer 15

Question 16

What do glacial cycles have to do with biodiversity?

Answer 16

Question 17

What is Allopatric Speciation?

Answer 17

Question 18

Explain Adaptive Radiation and give a couple examples.

Answer 18

Question 19

Explain Sympatric Speciation

Answer 19

Question 20

What is coevolution? Give some examples.

Answer 20

Question 21

Define:
extant
extinct
global extinction
extinct in the wild
regional/local extinction
ecological extinction

Answer 21

Question 22

Name the 5 known major (+ 1 minor) extinction events, and when they occured.
What species were lost?
How did these affect plant and animal diversity over time?

Answer 22

Question 23

Explain the Anthropocene and its effects on biodiversity.

Answer 23

Question 24

What are the 4 typical scales at which biodiversity is measured? How does complexity change as you move up or down these scales? What 3 larger scales are often used when categorizing biodiversity?

Answer 24

Question 25

Name and describe the location of the world's 8 biogeographic realms.

Answer 25

Question 26

What is a biogeographic biome? How many are there? How are they defined?

Answer 26

Question 27

Be familiar with this graph.

Answer 27

Question 28

What are the most/least protected biomes in the world? Why?

Answer 28

Question 29

What is an ecoregion? How many are there according to the WWF? How does the US EPA classify them?

Answer 29

Question 30

What biome is Kentucky in? How many ecoregions are in Kentucky? Name them and describe where they are in the state.

Answer 30

Question 31

What is a landscape? Describe a good example of one in Kentucky.

Answer 31

Question 32

What is an ecosystem? What are examples in the eastern US and southwestern US?

Answer 32

Question 33

Explain food webs/trophic models. Use these terms: primary producer primary/secondary/tertiary consumer detritivore omnivore herbivore carnivore scavenger parasite

Answer 33

Question 34

What is a biotic community? Provide a detailed description/breakdown of a local biotic community in Lexington.

Answer 34

Question 35

What is a guild or functional group? Give an example.

Answer 35

Question 36

What is a population? How does it affect management? How many known species are there? How many are estimated to exist? What is species richness?

Answer 36

Question 37

What are genes, in regards to biodiversity classification?

Answer 37

Question 38

What are the 3 categories of characteristics in the "Biodiversity House"? Describe what each means.

Answer 38

Question 39

Answer 39

Question 40

What is species richness? What is another term for it?

Answer 40

Question 41

What does endemic mean? Why is Madagascar known as the 8th continent? (put some numbers to it)

Answer 41

Question 42

What is a biodiversity hotspot? Name a few around the world and in the U.S.

Answer 42

Areas with especially high levels of biodiversity and endemism, and under threat by human causes.

Question 43

What type of ecosystems typically have the highest species richness? Why?

Answer 43

Question 44

Describe latitudinal gradients in biodiversity.

Answer 44

Question 45

What is the intermediate disturbance hypothesis?

Answer 45

Question 46

How might old growth forests affect biodiversity?

Answer 46

Question 47

Describe Island Biogeography. What is the underlying relationship used to explain it? * formula * who described it * what year

Answer 47

Question 48

Describe land-bridge islands, oceanic/volcanic islands, some examples and implications.

Answer 48

Question 49

How does topography affect biodiversity? Give an example.

Answer 49

## Footnote crossing the Andes mts from sea to tropical rainforest = many ecosystems and niches across a short transect

Question 50

Explain this graph and the 2 hypotheses shown

Answer 50

Redundant: removal of a single species may not have an immediate severe impact because most species have overlapping functions, so other species will often pick up the slack for the missing species. Rivet: Every species plays a singular role, and the removal of any species will have a large impact. There's a linear relationship between richness and function. Redundant hypothesis is closer to reality.

Question 51

Explain these terms with regards to the strength of their ecosystem influence: Dominant species Keystone species Ecosystem engineer Common species Rare species

Answer 51

Question 52

Explain how apex predators often act as keystone species within an ecosystem. What is ecological release? What is the relationship between species richness and functional diversity?

Answer 52

Question 53

Explain why species diversity is not a sufficient measure of biodiversity for conservation biology.

Answer 53

Question 54

What is the name of a common index used to account for unevenness in species distribution when comparing areas for biodiversity assessment? Explain how it works.

Answer 54

Question 55

What is beta diversity? How is it calculated? What two main factors influence it?

Answer 55

Question 56

What is gamma diversity? How is it calculated? What is is unique importance?

Answer 56

Question 57

Describe the relationship among alpha, beta, and gamma diversity.

Answer 57