Diversity of species Flashcards

1
Q

What is alpha diversity?

A

The number of species present within a specific habitat.

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2
Q

What is Beta diversity?

A

The rate at which a species changes from one area to another.

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3
Q

What is gamma diversity?

A

The total species present within a broad biogeographic region (e.g. The rainforest).

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4
Q

What is species evenness?

A

Population sizes of different species are roughly equal.

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5
Q

What is the Simpsons diversity index used for?

A

To calculate alpha diversity.

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6
Q

What are the advantages of species richness as a measure of biodiversity?

A

Measurable in practice
It can act as a surrogate for other measures of biodiversity.

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7
Q

What are the limitations of species richness as a measure of biodiversity?

A

Multiple species concepts can result in different measures of species richness.
1. Biological species - groups of interbreeding individuals don’t naturally interbreed with other groups.

  1. Ecological species - species occupy different ecological niches which evolve separately.
  2. Morphological species - species separated from one another inherit distinct heritable characteristics.
  3. Phylogenetic species- monophyletic groups can be distinct from other groups.
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8
Q

Of the four measures of biodiversity which ones are most used?

A

Morphological and phylogenetic concepts are easier to test and more practical.

Biological and ecological concepts are more meaningful however they are difficult to test.

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9
Q

What are the limitations of morphological species ID?

A
  1. Based on morphology
  2. Hampered by a high proportion of undescribed species.
  3. Differences in expertise, experience, and opinions of identifiers can lead to differences in ecological assessment.
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10
Q

What are Reference libraries?

A

Institutions that are required to match sequences to species. This must be comprehensive and reliable, species should be linked to voucher specimens and appropriate metadata.

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11
Q

What is environmental DNA (eDNA)?

A

These are parts of organisms that are shed into the environment, which can be detected by environmental samples (e.g. Soil, Water, etc)

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12
Q

What are active surveys?

A

Using specific primers to target eDNA.

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13
Q

What are passive surveys?

A

It’s the use of massively parallel sequencing to barcode all organisms in a sample.

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14
Q

What are operational taxonomic units? (OTUs)

A

Groups of sequences considered to belong to a single spp. Only identified by assigning sequence similarity threshold.

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15
Q

What are the problems with OTUs?

A

If the marker is not sufficiently variable the single OTU may contain sequences from multiple species. This means species may be misidentified.

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16
Q

What is the current estimate for global species diversity?

A

Around 3 million to 100 million, but this is only based on the diversity of the more conspicuous terrestrial invertebrates.

Less conspicuous/charismatic species tend to be ignored.