EQ2

Question 1

How threatened ecosystems can be audited?

Answer 1

• Economic scorecard (shows an ecosystem’s ability to produce goods and services)
• Living Planet Index (monitors changes overtime in forests/marine)
• EFP (measures human impact on planet)
• Red List of Endangered Species
• Millennium Ecosystem Assessment (multi scale assessment commissioned by the UN)

Question 2

What is a terrestrial eco-region?

Answer 2

A large area of land containing distinct assemblies of species, natural communities and habitats.

Question 3

Where are the most threatened biomes?

Answer 3

In the temperate zone as they have a long history of human settlement and they are the most economically developed.

Question 4

Where is the threat shifting to?

Answer 4

The tropics as there is high population increase so high resource exploitation.

Question 5

Where is the least threatened areas?

Answer 5

Where there is very high latitude

Tundra and boreal forests are relatively unthreatened

Question 6

What are the factors maximise the threats of biodiversity?

Answer 6

• unsustainable high rate of population rise and natural resource consumption
• Poorest areas are threatened due to inequality, poor management and flow of benefits
• Agriculture, forestry, fishing on a narrow spectrum of products
• Government and business are ignoring environment and developing economically instead
• Unsustainable exploitation is promoted by legal institutional systems
• There is a lack of knowledge and understanding for the conservation of biodiversity

Question 7

What global threats are there?

Answer 7

CLIMATE CHANGE (Stern Review)

DEFORESTATION

Question 8

What are the effects of CC on biodiversity?

Answer 8

• Vegetation is shifting northwards
• Coral bleaching & ocean acidification results in coral reef damage
• Species extinction
• Rising sea levels results in loss of coastal wetlands
• Mangroves get flooded and the natural coastal defence is removed
• Tropics are drying resulting in rainforest damage
• Pest and disease risk

Question 9

What are the effects of deforestation on biodiversity?

Answer 9

Indigenous resources are threatened
There are knock on effects on food webs
Nutrient cycling
Soil Erosion
Flooding

Question 10

What local threats are there?

Answer 10

• Fires to clear forests (for settlement and development, cattle grazing, soya bean production, farming practices slash and burn)
• Controlled fires (management tool to ensure succession in National Parks or to maintain heather in Scotland for example)
• Habitat change (overexploitation, agriculture, mineral working, urban growth)
• Recreational Use (Trampling, animal disturbance, depends on carrying capacity of the area, the level of use and the management of recreational use)
• Mineral exploitation (Extraction, holes and toxic spoil)

Question 11

What are the two ecosystem processes?

Answer 11

Energy Flows (food pyramid)
Nutrient Cycling

Question 12

How can energy be lost?

Answer 12

Respiration
Decay
Excretion
Egestion

Question 13

What are the 3 stages and transitions in nutrient cycling?

Answer 13

Litter
(decay)
Soil
(plant uptake)
Biomass
(decomposition)

Question 14

How is litter removed and produced?

Answer 14

Produced by precipitation and removed by runoff

Question 15

How is soil removed and produced?

Answer 15

Produced by weathering and removed by leaching

Question 16

Why do alien species threaten species movement so much?

Answer 16

• they have enhanced survival rates and more efficient competitors than native species
• they lack native predators
• they are not susceptible to indigenous diseases
• difficult to control as they spread fast
• harm existing food webs

Question 17

What are some examples of deliberate introduction of alien species?

Answer 17

• pheasants/rainbow trout for sporting purposes
• rhododendron (from india) for scenic purposes
• hedegehog (from Scotland) to deal with the slug plague

Question 18

What is the negative of rhododendrons in the UK?

Answer 18

They hinder the development of natural vegetation and woodland vegetation

Question 19

What is the negative of hedgehogs in the UK?

Answer 19

Feed on the eggs of ground nesting birds so their pop. decreased

Question 20

What are some examples of the accidental introduction of alien species and what damage did they cause?

Answer 20

• zebra muscle on ships from North America:
  they reduced to phytoplankton by 80% so less light to algae and reduced water quality
  they cling to each other and blocked water inputs and outputs so the power stations had to be shut for cleaning
• snakes to Guam via air transport

Question 21

What is the difference between destruction and degradation?

Answer 21

Destruction: total clearance
Degradation: loss of quality

Question 22

Where is degradation more likely?

Answer 22

In large ecoregions where they may not totally clear nit degrade such as savannah areas of Africa and rainforests

Question 23

What are the stages of degradation and what does the graph look like?

Answer 23

1 - pristine system with indigenous using the area and living there
2 - maximised rate of industrial development so massive pollution and resource consumption
3 - eco-awareness develops and conservation strategies financed and improved
4- more sustainable development so ecosystems survive

Question 24

What are the roles of mangroves?

Answer 24

Reduce erosion
Storm protection
Reduce sediment runoff to reefs
provide shelter for small fish (nurseries) to avoid predators
Home to barnacles

Question 25

What conditions do mangroves need?

Answer 25

Aerobic to decompose sediment and debris

Can live in salt water as the roots filter salt

Question 26

What role have LEDCs had in management of biodiversity?

Answer 26

• protect ecosystems by default as do not exploit
• small scale farming
• conservation for tourism income

Question 27

What role have BRICs had in management of biodiversity?

Answer 27

• least conservation interest as they use natural resources for economic gain
• Brazil deforestation