Chapter B18- Biodiversity and Ecosystems Flashcards
What two things does biodiversity mean?
What is the definition of biodiversity?
What does a great biodiversity ensure?
How does it do this?
What does the future of the human species on Earth rely on?
What are many human activities doing to biodiversity and what has only happened recently?
What two factors have caused increasingly more resource are being used up and more waste is produced?
What will cause more pollution?
- The richness of species (are there many different ones)
- Are the numbers evenly distributed for each species?
The variety of all the different species of organisms on Earth, or within an ecosystem
The stability of ecosystems
By reducing the dependence of one species on another for food, shelter and the maintenance of the physical environment
Humans (us) maintaining a good level of biodiversity
Reducing biodiversity and only recently have measures been taken to try to stop this reduction
The rapid growth in the human population and an increase in the standard of living
If waste and chemical material aren’t properly handled.
In what three ways can pollution occur and give some examples?
What does pollution do and what can this reduce?
What do humans reduce?
In what four ways do we do this?
What does the decay or burning of the peat (compost heaps) cause?
What two reasons has large scale deforestation in tropical areas occurred?
What two levels are increasing in the atmosphere?
What do these contribute to?
What is bioaccumulation?
Which animals are affected most severely?
- In water, from sewage, fertiliser or toxic chemicals
- In air, from smoke and acidic gases
- On land, from landfill and from toxic chemicals
Pollution kills plants and animals which can reduce biodiversity
The amount of land available for other animals and plants
By building, quarrying, farming and dumping waste
The releasing of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere
- To provide land for cattle and rice fields
- To grow crops for biofuels
Levels of carbon dioxide and methane
Global warming
When toxins build up in a food chain
Animals at the top of the food chain.
What two gases cause acid rain due to pollution in the air?
What two things cause pollution in water on land and what does this cause?
What two things cause pollution in water and what does this then reduce?
What are bogs?
What happens to plants that live in bogs?
What then gradually forms?
How are ecosystems made stable?
What programmes have been set up to prevent endangered species from becoming extinct?
Describe this programme?
For what two reasons can individuals be released back into the wild?
Nitrogen oxides and sulphur dioxides
Pesticides and herbicides in the water which causes bioaccumulation
Detergents and animal sewage which reduces oxygen for animals in the water
Areas of land that are acidic and waterlogged
Don’t fully decay when they die, because there’s not enough oxygen
The partly rotted plants gradually build up to form peat
By ensuring that biodiversity is maintained at a high enough level
Breeding programmes
This is where animals are bred in captivity to make sure the species survives if it dies out around the world
To boost or re-establish a population.
What programme has been set up to help things like mangroves, heathland and coral reefs?
What do these programmes actually protect?
What are field margins?
What two things does this therefore preserve?
What two things do programmes do that are set up around fields where only a single type of crop is grown?
What do these both provide?
What two things have some governments introduced and what two things does this reduce?
What could this reduce?
What are people encouraged to do to protect biodiversity and why?
What could this then reduce and leaves what in place instead?
Programmes to protect and regenerate rare habitats
The species that live there
Areas of land around the edges of fields where wild flowers and grasses are left to grow
The ecosystem and biodiversity in the area
Programmes to reintroduce hedgerows and field margins
A habitat for a wider variety of organisms that could survive in a single crop habitat
Regulations and programmes to reduce the level of deforestation taking place and the amount of carbon dioxide being released into the atmosphere by businesses
The increase of global warming
Recycle to reduce the amount of waste that gets dumped in landfill sites
Reduce the amount of land taken over for landfill leaving ecosystems in place.
What can biodiversity cost?
What can there then be conflict between in protecting biodiversity?
What could this be used for instead?
What can protecting biodiversity also come at a cost for and what is an example of this?
What can there also be conflict between in protecting biodiversity?
What can certain organisms sometimes be seen as and what then happens?
What can be affected as a result?
What is important but can also affect something natural?
What can sometimes happen to biodiversity land if land is in such high demand?
Money
Protecting biodiversity and saving money
Money may be prioritised for other things
To local people’s livelihood (eg peoples jobs in deforestation)
Protecting biodiversity and protecting our food security
Pests by farmers and are killed to protect crops and livestock so that more food can be produced
The food chain and biodiversity can be affected
Development is important by it can affect the environment
Land is in such high demand than previously untouched land with high biodiversity.
What does a food chain indicate?
What are the three forms of this?
What is another name for a food chain?
What is each stage in the food chain called?
What is another name for each stage in the food chain?
What is at level 1 in a food chain and what is this called?
What is at level 2 in a food chain and what is this called?
What is at level 3 in a food chain and what is this called?
What is at level 4 in a food chain and what is this called?
What are apex predators?
The movement of chemical energy
In carbohydrates, proteins and fats
Food web
A trophic
A feeding level
Plants and algae that make their own food and are called producers
Herbivores which eat plants/algae and are called primary consumers
Carnivores that eat herbivores are called secondary consumers
Carnivores that eat other carnivores are called tertiary consumers
Carnivores with no predators.
What are decomposers and what do they do?
How do they do this?
Why are pyramids of biomass constructed?
What do producers transfer roughly about and describe?
How much biomass is approximately transferred from each level of the food chain?
What are the three reasons for losses of biomass and give some examples of each?
What is food security?
They break down dead plant and animal matter by secreting enzymes into the environment
Small soluble molecules then diffuse into the microorganism
To represent the relative amount of biomass in each level of a food chain
1% of the incident energy from light for photosynthesis
Only 10% of the biomass from each trophic level is transferred to the level above it
- Not all the ingested material is absorbed, some is egested as faeces
- Some absorbed material is lost as waste, such as carbon dioxide and water in respiration and water and urea in urine
- Large amounts of glucose are used in respiration
Having enough food to feed a population.
What is increasing which threatens food security?
What is changing in developed countries which has resulted in what?
What has happened in farming which threatens food security?
What changes in the environment have affected food production and what is an example?
What costs a lot affecting food security?
What has arisen in some parts of the world and what two things does this affect?
What must be found to feed all of the people on Earth?
What is it called that moves from one level to the next in a food chain?
What are the two reasons for less top predators in a food chain?
When is the shape of a pyramid of biomass only upset?
The increasing birth rate
Changing diets in developed countries means scarce food resources are transported around the world
New pests and pathogens that affect farming
Environmental changes that affect food population, such as widespread famine
The cost of agricultural inputs
Conflicts have arisen in some parts of the world which affect the availability of water or food
Sustainable methods
The movement of food energy
Due to size and energy losses
In marine food chains.
What two products do lipase produce when it hydrolyses fats/lipids?
What is biotechnology?
What can be created using modern biotechnology techniques and under what?
How can biotechnology be used to help poor people in developing countries and what would be the result?
How else can these crops be useful and what would be the result?
However, why do many argue against GM crops and why?
What are the fears over GM crops?
What is sometimes the main reason as to why crops fail?
What can GM crops do with this problem?
Monoglyceride and fatty acids
Where living things and biological processes are used and manipulated to produce a useful product
Large amounts of microorganisms can be cultured (grown) industrially under controlled conditions in large vats for use as a food source
Genetically modified crops can be produced that are resistant to pests improving crop yields
If they are genetically modified to grow better in drought conditions- again improving crop yields
Many argue that people go hungry because they can’t afford to buy food not because there isn’t any food about, many say they should tackle poverty first
Fears that people in developing countries may become dependant on companies who sell GM seeds
Poor soil being the main reason why crops fail
Even GM crops won’t survive.
What is the equation for calculating the efficiency of biomass transfer?
What does this equation show?
What do the numbers show?
How can you work out how much biomass has been lost at each level?
How can the efficiency of food production be improved by, concerning energy loss?
In what two ways can this be achieved?
What do modern biotechnology techniques encourage and what are these used for?
What is the fungus Fusarium useful for producing and how is this produced?
Efficiency= Biomass transferred to the next level -:- Biomass available at the previous level X 100
The efficiency of biomass transfer between trophic levels
The amount of biomass available to the next level
By taking away the biomass that is available at that level from the biomass that was available at the previous level
By restricting the energy transfer from food animals to the environment
By limiting their movement and by controlling the temperature of their surroundings
Large quantities of microorganisms to be cultured for food
Useful for producing mycoprotein, a protein rich food suitable for vegetarians. The fungus is grown on glucose syrup, in aerobic conditions, and the biomass is harvested and purified.
What produces human insulin?
What two things happens to the insulin produced?
What two advantages could genetically modified crops provide?
What is the definition of food security?
What is declining in oceans and why?
What are three consequences of this?
Describe the role of fishing quotas in sustainable food production in detail and explain why?
Describe the role of net size in sustainable food production in detail and explain why?
What are two other advantages (apart from the ones mentioned) of the role of net size in sustainable food production?
A genetically modified bacterium produces human insulin
When harvested and purified this is used to treat people with diabetes
More food or food with an improved nutritional value such as golden rice
Having enough food to feed a population
Fish stocks because we’re fishing so much
There’s less fish for us to eat; the ocean’s food chains are affected; some species of fish may disappear altogether in some areas
There are limits on the number and size of fish that can be caught in certain areas, preventing certain species from being overfished
There are different limits of the mesh size of the fish net, depending on what’s being fished. This is to reduce the number of unwanted and discarded fish- the ones accidentally caught
- Using a bigger mesh size will let the unwanted species escape
- Younger fish will slip through the net, allowing them to reach breeding age.
How can fish be farmed and how is this done?
How does this then lead to disease?
What other objections are their to this method of fish farming and why?
Fish can be factory farmed in cages where their movement is restricted
Because the animals are kept so close together, disease can spread easily between them
Ethical objections as some people think that making animals live in unnatural and uncomfortable conditions is cruel.
