L1: Intro to Biodiversity and Con

Question 1

What is the Wildlife Fund 1989 definition of biodiversity?

Answer 1

The millions of plants, animals, and microorganisms, the genes they contain and the intricate ecosystems they help build into the living environment (Wildlife Fund 1989)

Question 2

What is the Global Biodiversity Strategy 1992 definition of biodiversity?

Answer 2

Biodiversity is the totality of genes, species and ecosystems in a region (Global Biodiversity Strategy 1992)

Question 3

What is the textbook definition of biodiversity?

Answer 3

The complete range of species and biological communities on Earth, as well as the genetic variation within those species and all ecosystem processes (Sher and Primack, 2020)

Question 4

How many species have been identified?

Answer 4

Almost 2 million species have been identified, the majority being plants and insects.

Question 5

How many insects have been described?

Answer 5

Approx. 1,000,000

Question 6

How many animals (excluding insects) have been described?

Answer 6

370,478

Question 7

How many viruses have been described?

Answer 7

3,704

Question 8

How many fungi and protists have been described?

Answer 8

178,110

Question 9

How many species of plants have been described?

Answer 9

366,474

Question 10

How many species of algae have been described?

Answer 10

44,000

Question 11

How many species of bacteria and similar organisms have been described?

Answer 11

13,000

Question 12

What are the most species rich environments?

Answer 12

-Tropical forests
-Coral reefs
-Deep sea
-Large tropical lakes and river systems
-Mediterranean climates

Question 13

What are endemic species?

Answer 13

Are species that occur in a particular environments or habitats and no where else

Question 14

What % of species that have ever existed are extinct?

Answer 14

99.9% of species that have ever existed are extinct

Question 15

What is a mass extinction event?

Answer 15

When a rapid extinction across a wide range of species groups and geographical areas occurs

Question 16

What is the current estimated annual rate of extinction?

Answer 16

30,000 a year, given that many species have not even been described yet (EO Wilson, 1992)

Question 17

How high is the current extinction rate compared to normal background rates?

Answer 17

100 - 1000 times higher - is classified as a mass extinction

Question 18

How many species are threatened with extinction?

Answer 18

41,459
23.7% mammals
13% birds
41% amphibians (IUCN Red List, 2022)

Question 19

What was the human population in 2021?

Answer 19

7.8 billion

Question 20

What are the impacts of increased temperature?

Answer 20

-Increased temperature and incidence of heat waves
-Melting glaciers and polar ice
-Rising sea levels
-Earlier spring activity
-Shifts in species ranges
-Population declines

Question 21

How much has water temperatures increased by in the last 50 years?

Answer 21

0.75 Celsius

Question 22

How much of Co2 is absorbed by the oceans?

Answer 22

Up to 1/3