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enviro > Test 3 > Flashcards

Test 3 Flashcards

1
Q

What is Biodiversity?

A

the variety of life on Earth

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2
Q

What are the three ways of considering biodiversity?

A

genetic diversity (variation within a species),

species diversity (variety of different species),

ecosystem diversity (variety of habitats and ecological communities within a region)

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3
Q

What is happening to biodiversity worldwide?

A

rapidly declining at an alarming rate

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4
Q

What are the two components of species diversity?
Species ________________ and
Species _______________

A

Species Richness
Species Evenness

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5
Q

What factors of biomes contribute to high biodiversity?

A

stable and warm climates (typically near the equator),

high levels of precipitation,

diverse habitats within the biome,

a variety of food sources,

and a long evolutionary history allowing for greater species diversification

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6
Q

What is a biodiversity hotspot?

A

regions that contain a high level of species diversity, many endemic species

It must have at least 1,500 vascular plants as endemics

30% or less of its original natural vegetation.

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7
Q

What is the relationship between biodiversity and ecosystem services?

A

Biodiversity is the foundation for ecosystem service

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8
Q

ecosystem service

A

the benefits that ecosystems provide to humans, both directly and indirectly

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9
Q

According to the theory of Island Biogeography: what characteristics of islands promote higher biodiversity?

A

larger islands and islands closer to the mainland

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10
Q

What is habitat fragmentation

A

the process of breaking up large habitats into smaller, isolated pieces. This can happen due to natural events like volcanic eruptions or fires, but it’s more commonly caused by human activities like construction, farming, and industrial development.

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11
Q

effects of habitat fragmentation

A

reduce genetic variation

difficult for animals to move from habitat to habitat (starvation, dehydration, injury or death)

pose a threat to plants through genetic changes

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12
Q

What is shifting baseline syndrome?

A

a gradual change in our accepted norms and expectations for the environment across generations.

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13
Q

What is an endemic species?

A

a plant or animal that is native to a specific geographic area and is not found anywhere else in the world

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14
Q

What are the major threats to biodiversity?

A

Climate change
Habitat loss
Invasive species
Population growth of humans
Pollution
Overexploitation

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15
Q

What are some examples of disturbances? Give examples of biotic and abiotic disturbances.

A

Biotic - insect infestations, disease epidemics, and herbivory

Abiotic - extreme weather events

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16
Q

Why do we care about disturbances from the perspective of energy flow and nutrient cycling?

A

altering the movement of energy through food webs and the cycling of essential nutrients

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17
Q

When characterizing disturbance, what are the three parameters?

A

frequency, magnitude, space/scale

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18
Q

How is climate change different than a typical disturbance

A

it represents a long-term, widespread shift in average weather patterns across a large region, while a disturbance is a sudden, localized event like a wildfire, flood, or storm that disrupts an ecosystem in a relatively short time frame

19
Q

How does biodiversity relate to resilience and resistance?

A

providing a wider variety of species with different adaptations,

allowing the ecosystem to better withstand disturbances

recover more effectively from disruption

20
Q

Primary Succession

A

the initial stage of ecological succession, when organisms first colonize a new area without vegetation or other life

21
Q

Secondary Succession

A

a natural process that occurs when an existing community is disrupted by a disturbance, but the soil and nutrients remain. This restarts the ecological succession cycle, but not from the beginning

22
Q

Secondary Succession can be caused by

A

Fire
Flooding
Windstorms
Human activities, such as logging

23
Q

Which type of succession takes a long time to stabilize vs a short period of time?

A

secondary succession is faster than primary succession because the soil is already present and some plants may have survived. The process begins with pioneer species, such as lichens, mosses, fungi, and bacteria, that reproduce and grow quickly to take advantage of the resources

24
Q

What does resistance mean for a species and what does it allow for?

A

the ability of a species to withstand or overcome competitive pressures or antagonistic interactions from other species in their environment.

25
Q

What does resilience mean for a species and what does it allow for?

A

the ability to recover from disturbances or stressors, allowing the species to maintain its population and function even when facing environmental challenges like climate change, disease outbreaks, or habitat disruption

26
Q

Evolution is a two-part idea: what are the two parts?

A

we all share one common ancestor
Population changes over time

27
Q

What are some mechanisms to make species change over time?

A

Natural selection, mutation, genetic drift, and gene flow (gene migration

28
Q

Who evolves: populations or individuals?

A

only populations evolve, not individuals

29
Q

How is evolution like a puzzle with multiple solutions?

A

given the same environmental pressures and genetic variations, different evolutionary paths can lead to similar adaptations in different species

30
Q

Genetic Drift

A

The change of gene frequencies of a population over time due to random mating that results in the loss of some gene variant (random patterns of mating)

31
Q

Bottleneck Effect

A

The situation that occurs when population size is drastically reduced, leading to the loss of some genetic variants and resulting in a less diverse population (initial population dramatically decrease)

32
Q

Founder Effect

A

The situation that occurs when a small group with only the subset of a larger population’s genetic diversity becomes isolated & evolves into a different population, missing some of the traits of the original group. (emigration of a subset to a new area)

33
Q

Natural Selection

A

The process by which organisms best adapted to the environment survive to reproduce, leaving more offspring than less well-adapted individuals

34
Q

Artificial Selection

A

A process in which humans decide which individuals breed & which do not in an attempt to produce in a population of plants or animals with desired traits.

35
Q

Coevolution

A

when two or more species evolve together in response to each other’s adaptations

36
Q

selective pressure

A

an environmental factor that influences which organisms within a population are more likely to survive and reproduce

37
Q

What is the difference between natural selection and artificial selection? Give an example.

A

atural selection is based on the adaptive characteristics of animals. Artificial selection is based on the desirable characters selected by humans.

38
Q

bottleneck effect example

A

Northern elephant seals have reduced genetic variation probably because Hunting reduced their population size to as few as 20 individuals at the end of the 19th century.

39
Q

Describe how Coevolution leads to mutual evolution with an example.

A

when two species, through their close ecological interactions, evolve adaptations that benefit both parties

flowering plants and their pollinators

40
Q

Evolution is not the only possible response to change: what are two other possible outcomes and what influences whether a species evolves or does one of these?

A

extinction and migration

depends primarily on the severity and speed of the change, the species’ genetic diversity, and the availability of suitable alternative habitats.

41
Q

What are the parameters of evolutionary fitness?

A

survival and reproduction

42
Q

Species richness

A

total number of different species in a given area or ecosystem.

43
Q

Species evenness

A

a measure of how evenly different species are distributed in a community

enviro (4 decks)

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