global biodiversity patterns

Question 1

define biodiversity

Answer 1

Biodiversity is the variety of life in all its manifestations (note that it is a highly value-laden concept)

Question 2

complicated biodiverse def

Answer 2

Biological diversity means the variability among living organisms from all sources including, terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems and the ecological complexes of which they are part; this includes diversity within species, between species and ecosystems

Question 3

define biological species

Answer 3

‘biological species’ – individuals that cannot interbreed successfully with other individuals that are classified as belonging to different species (species are therefore surrounded by a ‘reproductive barrier’)

Question 4

define morphological species

Answer 4

individuals that look sufficiently similar and are assumed to interbreed successfully - most common to employ this def

Question 5

what is commonly used as a measure of biodiversity

Answer 5

species richness/diversity

Question 6

why is it advantage to use species richness a measure of biodiversity

Answer 6

• intergrates many facets of biological complexity
• easy to measure
• patterns in species richness are well know

Question 7

how many different species

Answer 7

4-50million

Question 8

name and explain the biological equivalent of the big bang

Answer 8

explosion of diversity from the Cambrian onwards 550mya- best illustrated in the Burgess Shale discovered in Canada by Charles Walcott

Question 9

by when had all modern day phyla evolved?

Answer 9

end of the Cambrian

Question 10

what is adaptive radiation

Answer 10

the diversification of a group of organisms into forms filling different ecological niches.

Question 11

describe the increase in adaptive radiation

Answer 11

non linear

periods of increase, stabilization and periods of diversity loss - mass extinction events

Question 12

name the three major phases of rapid diversification

Answer 12

Cambrian
Ordovician
Mesozoic-cenozoic

Question 13

name the five mass extinction events

Answer 13

• end Ordovician
• late Devonian
• end Permian
• end Triassic
• end Cretaceous - K-T, kpg end of dinos

Question 14

evidence of a tsunami

Answer 14

fish fossils ended up in north Dakota from mexico

Question 15

name the three patterns of biodiversity

Answer 15

endemic
pandemic
disjunt

Question 16

endemic

Answer 16

restricted - not the same an indigenous

belongs to a place and nowhere else

Question 17

pandemic

Answer 17

found everywhere (cosmopolitan)
very widespread

Question 18

disjunct

Answer 18

divided

where you have populations that are divided by considerable distances

Question 19

example of endemic species

Answer 19

waboom protea nitida

Question 20

example of pandemic

Answer 20

bracken fern pteridium aquilinum

Question 21

disjunct

Answer 21

proteacae

Question 22

what is the latitudinal diversity gradient

Answer 22

• consistent global pattern - an increase in diversity towards the tropics
• works for altitude and depth

Question 23

some examples of the latitudinal div gradient

Answer 23

• swallowtail butterflies

Question 24

define a biological hotspot

Answer 24

places outside the tropics that have an exceptional concentration of plant and animal species

Question 25

how did norman myers define a biodiversity hotspot

Answer 25

area where exceptional number of species found nowhere else are undergoing massive habitat loss

Question 26

how many species are collectively found in these hotspots

Answer 26

at least one third
25 hotspots
on 1.4% of earth’s land

Question 27

what would preserving these hotspots do

Answer 27

significantly reduce possible mass extinctions

Question 28

areas that are typically hotspots

Answer 28

islands

winter rainfall areas

Question 29

figure analysis of hotspots

Answer 29

• 25 hotspots
• 44% plant species
• 35% vertebrates
• associated habitats have been reduced in area by 88% - humans
• Prominence of tropics in general (16/25), tropical forests (15/25), islands (9/25), Mediterranean-climate regions (all 5 are included)

Question 30

where are the hottest hotspots

Answer 30

Madagascar
Philippines
Sundaland
Atlantic Forest of Brazil
Caribbean
Indo-Burma
Western Ghats/Sri Lanka
East African forests

Question 31

direct uses of biodiversity

Answer 31

• food
• medicine
• biological control
• industrial materials
• recreational harvesting
• ecotourism

Question 32

indirect uses of biodiversity

Answer 32

• atmosphere/climate regulation
• nutrient cycling
• photosynthesis
• soil formation

Question 33

non-use value of biodiversi

Answer 33

• option value’ – keeping our options open

- intrinsic value (ethical responsibility)