Biodiversity (U3, T1) Flashcards
What is an abiotic factor?
A non living part of the environment and their interactions
What is a biotic factors?
A living part of the environment and their interactions
What is biodiversity?
genetic variation and diversity between living things in an ecosystem.
(this includes the amount of variety within a species, variety of species, or a variety in ecosystem types in a specific location)
What are adaptations?
each organisms has structures and behaviours that have allowed them to live in certain environements
What are the four types of behavioural adaptations?
Innate, learned, survival, seasonal
Why is buoyancy an advantage of living in water?
Organisms can grow with little supporting structures
TRUE OR FALSE: Salt water easily passes through cell membrane
True
TRUE OR FALSE: sexual reproduction occurs easily in water
True
List three limitations of living on land
Any of the following:
transporting water around the body
preventing water loss
materials only pass through cell membrane in solutions
body needs support with gravity
reproduction with little water
variable weather conditions
TRUE OR FALSE: CO2 is not readily available on land
False.
CO2 and O2 are readily available due to the atmosphere
Define communities
an ecosystem that contains populations of organisms (biotic) that interact with their physical (abiotic) factors
List the four categories of organisms
Producers (autotrophs), consumers (heterotrophs), detritivores, decomposers
What are producers?
self feeding organisms that form complex organic compounds containing carbon and hydrogen atoms
TRUE OR FALSE: producers are the primary energy source for ALL organisms
True
What are consumers?
feed on other living organisms with already formed organic molecules
What are first order consumers called?
Herbivores. These eat producers
What are second/third order consumers called?
Carnivores. These eat living animals
What do omnivores eat?
A plant and animal diet
What do detritivores do?
They decompose organic matter such as rotting leaves or animal remains
What do decomposers do?
They release enzymes onto dead plant/animal remains to absorb externally digested matter
What do decomposers leave behind?
They leave behind simple molecules which are reabsorbed into the environement
List five ways to determine the diversity of species
Species richness, relative species abundance, percentage cover, percentage frequency, Simpson’s index`
What is the formula for species richness?
S = s/sqr(N)
S = species richness
s = number of species
N = total individual organisms
What does species richness measure?
the number of species present in a specific area with random samples taken to be an indication of the greater population
How is relative species abundance measured?
the number of each species counted in proportion to other species sampled
How do you tell if an ecosystem is healthy (using species abundance)?
if various species in the same area are similar in number
Define asexual reproduction
the production of a genetically identical offspring from a single parent
What is a large gene pool?
a species which has many different alleles for it’s genes
What is a biome?
a large geographic region characterised by the form of the species living there. these species are typically influenced by latitude, rainfall and temperature. biomes often contain several ecosystems
How is species richness measured?
by counting the number of species within a quadrat
What is percentage cover?
an estimate of what percentage each species occupies within a quadrat
What is percentage frequency?
the percentage of quadrats in which a species is counted. this is very useful as it indicates the evenness of species distributions and abundance
What is Simpson’s Diversity Index (SDI)?
a calculation that determines the probability two species in an ecosystem will be different. the higher the value, the more diverse an ecosystem is.
What is the formula for SDI?
SDI = 1 - n(n-1)/N(N-1)
TRUE OR FALSE: species interactions impact the spatial distribution of individuals within an ecosystem
True.
When there is a uniform distribution, it is often an indication of competition. Species interactions impact where individuals may be when sampled.
List two examples of abiotic factors
temperature, rainfall, soil type, soil pH, availability of water, humidity, light intensity, salinity of water or soil
How does a limiting factor affect distribution of species?
They restrict the range and distribution of one species by impacting growth and abundance
What is a limiting factor?
A limiting factor is an environmental factor that falls outside the tolerance limit of the species
What is the difference between species abundance and species richness?
species richness refers to the number of species in an area. Species abundance refers to the number of individuals per species
