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Biology > Module 4- biodiversity > Flashcards

Module 4- biodiversity Flashcards

1
Q

Definition of biodiversity

A

the complexity of a biological community

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2
Q

Definition of a habitat

A

area where an organism lives

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3
Q

Definition of species richness

A

number of species in a habitat or community

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4
Q

How can species richness be measured?

A

by counting the number of different species in a habitat

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5
Q

Give 2 reasons how human population growth affects biodiversity?

A

-to create enough space for housing, farming and industry to support the increasing population, humans are severely disrupting the ecology of many areas through deforestation
-increase of pollution and waste production which put burden on fragile ecosystems

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6
Q

How has climate change affected biodiversity?

A

-changes in global weather pattern, sea levels and temperatures can lead to habitat loss causing animals to migrate
-in some cases species may be directly destroyed, decreasing the gene pool available for natural selection and evolution
-the speed of climate change can mean that species can’t adapt quick enough to new conditions leading to extinction

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7
Q

How has deforestation affected biodiversity?

A

-destroys habitats so causes species to migrate or die

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8
Q

How has agriculture affected biodiversity?

A

farmers will only grow a few species based on characteristics that give a high yield which reduces the biodiversity of an area

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9
Q

How is biodiversity measured?

A

using the simpsons index of diversity
-greater the value=higher biodiveristy
-uses species richness and species evenness

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10
Q

What is the relationship between genetic diversity and number of alleles at a gene locus?

A

the greater the genetic diversity the greater the number of different alleles at a given gene locus there are coding for different variations of a characteristic

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11
Q

What is the equation for genetic diveristy?

A

genetic diveristy=number of polymorphic gene loci / total number of loci x 100

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12
Q

What ensures the basic structure of individuals within a species remains consistent?

A

-most genes are monomorphic (a single allele exists for this gene)

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13
Q

Define locus of a gene

A

position of a gene on a chromosome

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14
Q

What creates a new allele for a gene

A

a mutation

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15
Q

What are the 3 broad reasons for maintaining biodiveristy?

A

-aesthetic
-environmental
-economic

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16
Q

What are aesthetic reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

A

-presence of a variety of plants and animals enriches our lives and improves our mental health by relieving stress
-provides inspo for poets, musicians and writers

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17
Q

What are economic reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

A

-soil erosion and desertification may occur as a result of deforestation which will reduce a countries ability to grow crops and therefore profit off of this land
-large scale habitat destruction means that species with potential economic importance may become extinct
-highly biodiverse areas can promote tourism bringing economic advantages
-maintains genetic resources to call on in the development of new medicines

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18
Q

What are ecological reasons for maintaining biodiversity?

A

-all organisms are interdependent on one another for survival so the removal of one species may have a significant effect on the others

19
Q

What is in situ conservation?

A

-takes place inside an organisms natural habitat where the environment is preserved and carefully managed

20
Q

What are the benefits of in situ conservation?

A

-maintains genetic diversity and evolutionary adaptations
-preserves interdependent relationships present in a habitat therefore interlinked species may also be preserved
-is generally cheaper than ex situ.

21
Q

What are 2 examples of in situ conservation?

A

-wildlife reserves
-marine conservation zones

22
Q

What is involved in wildlife reserves?

A

-once an area has been designated, active management is required e.g controlled grazing, restricting human access, halting succession

23
Q

What is involved in marine conservation zones?

A

-purpose is not to prevent the fishermen from visiting the entire area but to create areas of refuge where populations can build up
-large areas of sea are required

24
Q

What is ex situ conservation?

A

-involves the removal of organisms from their natural habitat
-usually used in addition to in situ measures

25
Q

What are 3 examples of ex situ conservation?

A

botanic gardens, seed banks, captive breeding programmes

26
Q

What is involved in botanic gardens?

A

-plants species are actively managed to provide them with the best resources to grow

27
Q

What is involved in seed banks?

A

-seeds are carefully stored so that new plants may be grown in the future
-are dried and stored at -20deg c to maintain their viability by slowing down the rate at which they loose their ability to germinate
-however it doesn’t work for all plants as some die when dried or frozen

28
Q

What is involved in captive breeding programmes?

A

-produce offspring of species in a human controlled environment
-are often run and managed by zoos and aquatic centres
-aims to create a stable, healthy population of species before reintroducing it back into the wild
-provide species with an abundance of food, absence of predators and veterinary treatment
-problems related to inbreeding can occur
-to overcome this an international catalogue of genealogical data on individuals is maintained to arrange mating so genetic diversity is maximised

29
Q

Name 3 conservation agreements

A

CITES
CBD
Countryside stewardship scheme

30
Q

What is CITES?

A

international agreement between 180 governments that ensures licenses are required to import or export specific species in order to protect them from extinction

31
Q

What is CBD?

A

-between 150 governments
-action plans to conserve biodiversity and promote sustainable use of natural resources
-takes steps to stabilise greenhouse gas concentrations
-prevents transformation of fertile land to desert

32
Q

What is the countryside stewardship scheme?

A

-uk scheme that provides grants for farmers, foresters, woodland owners and land managers to make improvements to the environment e.g flood risk management, conservation and restoration of wildlife habitats, reduction of water pollution
-operated 1991-2014

33
Q

Define sampling

A

taking measurements of a limited number of individual organisms present in a particular area
-used to estimate number of organisms in an area without counting them all

34
Q

What is random sampling?

A

-selecting individuals by chance
-each individual in a population has an equal likelihood of selection
-you have no involvement in deciding which organisms to investigate which ensures minimal selection bias

35
Q

What is stratified sampling?

A

-some populations can be divided into a number of strata (sub groups) based on a particular characteristic
-a random sample is then taken from each of these strata proportional to its size
-can produce more accurate and meaningful results if knowledge of what constitutes to a certain characteristic is acquired

36
Q

What is systematic sampling?

A

-different areas within an overall habitat are identified which are then sampled separately
-often carried out using a line or a belt transect
-is easy to implement
-can lead to bias if sampling intervals coincides with underlying patterns within the sampling population

37
Q

What is opportunistic sampling?

A

-weakest form of sampling as may not be representative of the population
-uses organisms that are conveniently available

38
Q

How do you use a pooter?

A

-use to catch small insects by sucking on mouth piece
-insects are drawn into a holding chamber via the inlet tube
-a filter before the mouth piece prevents them from being sucked into the mouth

39
Q

Why do you use a sweep net?

A

used to catch insects in areas of long grass

40
Q

How do you use a pitfall trap?

A

-used to catch small, crawling insects
-a hole is dug into the ground which they fall into
-has to be deep enough so they cant crawl out and have a roof propped above it so it doesn’t fill with rain water
-often left overnight so nocturnal species can also be sampled

41
Q

What is a point quadrat and how do you use it?

A

-frame containing a horizontal bar that at set intervals long pins are pushed through the bar to reach into the ground
-each species of plant the pins touch is recorded

42
Q

What is a frame quadrat and when is it used?

A

-square frame divided into a grid of equal sections
-the types and numbers of species within each section of the quadrat is recorded
-where individual members of a species are hard to count e.g grass count the number of squares the species is present within out of 100 to get the frequency
-if species are large and easy to count, count the number of them within the quadrat
-calculate percentage cover for speed where a rough estimate is taken of the area in which a species covers

43
Q

How do you carry out the capture-mark-release-recapture

A

-capture as many species within an area as possible
-mark these organisms and then release them back into the community
-time is allowed so the organisms can redistribute themselves into the community before another sample is gathered
-they then compare the number of marked individuals against unmarked individuals to estimate the population size

Biology (17 decks)

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