Lecture 7 - Biodiversity

Question 1

biodiversity

Answer 1

biodiversity is the diversity of life in all it’s forms and levels of organization, including…

• > genetic diversity
• > species diversity
• > ecosystem diversity

Question 2

Genetic diversity

Answer 2

• > includes variation within a population as well as the genetic variation between populations

Question 3

Species diversity

Answer 3

the variety of species in an ecosystem (i.e. mountain) or across a biosphere (i.e. region)

Question 4

Species richness

Answer 4

total number of species in a given area

• > used compare different scales (alpha, beta, gamma)

Question 5

List and explain the 3 scales discussed in class

Answer 5

Question 6

Ecological diversity

Answer 6

inclues all species, their relationships and their functions

• > deals with the variations in ecosystems within a geographical location and its overall impact on human existence and the environment

Question 7

Explain how loss of unique genes occurs

Answer 7

occurs when there is decreased potential for species adaptation and decreased disease resistance

Question 8

Explain how loss of species occurs

Answer 8

• > occurs when there is a loss of services to ecosystems
• > for humans, this could mean loss of medicine, food, fibres, valuable compunds that can’t yet be synthesized

Question 9

Explain how loss of ecosystem could occur

Answer 9

occurs when all of the characteristis of loss of unique genes and species + loss of systems that sustain life (i.e. clean water or air)

Question 10

DNA Barcoding

Answer 10

when you extract the DNA from an unknown organism, which gives you a DNA barcode, and imput the data into a database to identify the species

Question 11

Threats to biodiversity

Answer 11

1. Climate change
2. Habitat loss and degradation
3. pollution
4. Invasive species (exotic specie poses a threat to native species)
5. Overexploitation (over-harvesting a species; i.e. too much fishing or hunting)
6. Other potential threats
   - > threats develop rapidly and species cannot adapt fast enough
   - > the most threatened species face more than one of these threats

Question 12

Extirpation vs Extinction

Answer 12

Extirpation

• > localized loss of a species

Extinction

• > global loss of species

Question 13

The extinction vortex

Answer 13

The extinction vortex describes the forces affecting small populations that cause them to spiral into a vortex of increasingly smaller populations and endanger their long-term survival

Question 14

Phylogeography

Answer 14

“phylogenetics + geography”

• > the feild of study concered with the principles and processes governing the geographical distribution of genealogical lineages, especially those at the intraspecific level (species vs species)