Chapter 2: Biodiversity: Concept, Measurement, and Management

Question 1

The field of conservation biology now understands its two major missions to be that of conserving the biodiversity of the Earth and
safeguarding the benefits (____) that intact ecosystems provide to human welfare through their functional operation (____).

Answer 1

Ecosystem services
Ecosystem properties

Question 2

The first use of the term biodiversity in scientific literature
was by biologist ___ in a 1980 government report

Answer 2

Eliot Norse

Question 3

Is the diversity of species within an ecological community and is normally described as a measure of two attributes – species richness and species evenness, where “richness” is the number of species in the community and
“evenness” the relative abundance of each species in the
community

Answer 3

Alpha Diversity

Question 4

Differences in abundance can be incorporated into an
estimate of alpha diversity as measures of

Answer 4

Species evenness

Question 5

Whereas alpha diversity measures the diversity of species
within a community, ____ measures the diversity of
species among communities. Thus, beta diversity provides a
measure of area diversity or regional diversity.

Answer 5

beta diversity

Question 6

refers to the diversity of species across larger landscape levels. In more measurable terms, it is the
product of the alpha diversity of a landscape’s communities
and the degree of beta differentiation among them.

Answer 6

Gamma diversity

Question 7

a strategy intended to preserve habitats and ecosystems where charismatic endangered species lived, or where the habitat or ecosystem itself was considered sufficiently unique to warrant
special protection

Answer 7

Protected areas

Question 8

An even more systemic version of Kareiva and Marvier’s
“coldspot” strategy is ____, which
has emerged as an alternative to biodiversity conservation
strategies relying solely on protected areas.

Answer 8

landscape-level conservation

Question 9

differentiate alpha, beta and gamma diversity in a very simple explanation with examples

Answer 9

Alpha Diversity: Refers to the variety of species within a specific, small area or ecosystem, like a forest or a pond. It’s basically counting how many different species live in that one place. For example, if a single pond has 10 species of fish, that’s its alpha diversity.

Beta Diversity: Measures the difference in species between two or more ecosystems. It shows how species change from one area to another. For instance, if a forest has 10 species of birds and a nearby meadow has 15 species, but only 5 species are shared, the difference between the two is beta diversity.

Gamma Diversity: Refers to the overall diversity of a larger region, combining multiple ecosystems. It looks at the total number of species across all the areas. For example, if a whole valley has a forest, a meadow, and a river, and together they support 50 different species, that is the gamma diversity of the valley.

Question 10

Gene flow between population subunits is maintained by
connectivity between subunits. In cases where physical
connections, such as habitat ___, can enhance connectivity (movement and interchange of individuals), managers
may be able to increase gene flow at varying spatial scales

Answer 10

corridors