Observing And Mapping Biodiversity

Question 1

What are the 3 methods for linking past climates to biodiversity?

Answer 1

1. Geology
2. Biological materials
3. Stable isotopes

Question 2

What is the historical record of the earth (3 points)

Answer 2

1. Long warm tropical/semi tropical climate
2. Lowering of temp
3. Temperate cycles over past 1.6my, including glaciations

Question 3

What are the 3 causes of glaciation?

Answer 3

1. Eccentricity
2. Obliquity
3. Precession

Question 4

What is eccentricity and how long is it’s cycle?

Answer 4

Eccentricity is that the earths orbit around the sun is not central, it is an oval shape, 100,000 year cycle

Question 5

What is obliquity and how long is it’s cycle?

Answer 5

The angle of the tilt of the earth, between 24.5 and 22.1 degrees, 41,000 year cycle

Question 6

What is precession and how long is it’s cycle?

Answer 6

The angle of the earths axis relative to certain stars that remain in the same position, 22,000 year cycle

Question 7

What does ‘changing species affinity’ mean?

Answer 7

When climates change and species that were once present no longer are and new ones move in

Question 8

Give an example of changing species affinity to indicate climate change

Answer 8

Sheppey (London clay)

• 65mya palm trees
• 40mya warm temperate forest trees (pine)
• 20mya modern flora (sycamores beech oak)

Question 9

What are Pleistocene glaciations?

Answer 9

The multiple glaciations over the last 2my, advances and retreats every 100,000

Question 10

What is amelioration?

Answer 10

Is the reinvasion of species after the retreat of glaciers from an area

Question 11

What are foraminifera?

Answer 11

Small planktonic animal that could right in warmer temperatures and left in cooler temperatures

Question 12

What is a refugia?

Answer 12

A refugia is a location which supports an isolated or relict population of a once more widespread species

Question 13

What is a relict population?

Answer 13

A relict population is a population that was once more widespread but now occurs in a restricted area

Question 14

Give examples of land bridges

Answer 14

1. English Channel
2. New-Guinea Australia
3. Bering strait

Question 15

What types of barriers are there?

Answer 15

Oceans, mountains, and temperature extremes

Question 16

What does isolation lead to

Answer 16

Speciation

Question 17

How many biogeographic regions are there?

Answer 17

8

Question 18

What are the 3 tropical regions called?

Answer 18

1. Neotropic
2. Afrotropic
3. Indotropic

Question 19

What is the order of biodiversity of the tropics

Answer 19

1. Neotropics
2. Indotropics
3. Afrotropics

Question 20

How many eco regions are there?

Answer 20

867

Question 21

What are ecoregions?

Answer 21

Eco regions are areas that have distinct biotas (the animal and plant life of the region), they have a mixture of plants and animals that can’t be found anywhere else on earth

Question 22

What are biodiversity hotspots?

Answer 22

regions that have high priority to conservation, because of organisms only being found in that region, or because of rapid habitat loss due to high human population growth

Question 23

How many hotspots are there

Answer 23

25

Question 24

Which is more diverse, land or sea?

Answer 24

Land, 79% of all species on earth are terrestrial