lecture 1

Question 1

What is biodiversity? (non specific)

Answer 1

the VARIABILITY AMONG LIVING ORGANISMS from all sources, including terrestrial, marine and other aquatic ecosystems, & the ecological complexes of which they are part; includes diversity within species, between species and of ecosystems.

Question 2

what are the 3 most commonly referred to levels of diversity?

Answer 2

GENETIC: the variety of genes, alleles and nucleic acids contained in all living species, including individual plants, animals, fungi & microorganisms

SPECIES: variety of species, their composition and functional traits

ECOSYSTEM DIVERSITY: variety of different habitats, biological communities & ecological processes within & between ecosystems

Question 3

what is the estimated total number of species globally?

Answer 3

predicted ~8.7M eukaryotic species on Earth
predicted ~2.2M marine species

Question 4

how many accepted species are there in the catalogue of life)?

Answer 4

over 1.8 million

Question 5

How many accepted species are there on WORMS? How many species are associated with image?

Answer 5

232,281 accepted
34,067 species with image

Question 6

How many accepted species are there on WORMS? How many species are associated with image?

Answer 6

232,281 accepted
34,067 species with image

Question 7

what are some methods used to predict how many species are on Earth and in the oceans?

Answer 7

• macroecological patterns
• diversity ratios
• taxonomic patterns
• higher taxon approach

Question 8

How many species have been assessed on the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species? How many are threatened with extinction?

Answer 8

> 105,700 species
more than 28,000 threatened

Question 9

what proportion of species on the IUCN red list are marine?

Answer 9

< 15%

Question 10

What is the WWF Living Planet Index?

Answer 10

the state of the world’s biological diversity based on population trends of vertebrate species from terrestrial, freshwater and marine habitats