where is biodiversity ?

Question 1

species-area relationship

principle pattern

Answer 1

as size of geographical area increases so to does the number of species

practical use - predict that as area is reduced, tend to lose species

Question 2

habitat loss / fragmentation

Answer 2

major determinant of modern extinctions

Question 3

sea/land phyla

Answer 3

all animal phyla ( approx 34 ) occur in the sea (one exception - velvet worms (onychophora))

two thirds ( 20 ) almost exclusively marine

Question 4

marine phyla

Answer 4

98 % live in/on the sea floor ( = BENTHIC )

2 % live floating or swimming in the sea ( = PELAGIC )

only 15% of named species are marine

Question 5

photosynthesis - sea/land comparason

Answer 5

sea : very few, large photosynthetic organisms - mainly short lived, microscopic algae

land : dominated by persistant long lived ‘large’ flowering plants

Question 6

herbivoress - sea/land comparason

Answer 6

sea : dominant herbivores - micro (copepods) majority of large animals carnivorous

land : dominant herbivores can be large

Question 7

grazing - sea/land comparason

Answer 7

sea : grazing - ingestion of entire autotroph

land : grazing - rarely removes significant amounts of communities ( indigestible e.g wood )

Question 8

autotroph

Answer 8

an organism that can produce its own food using light, water, carbon dioxide, or other chemicals

Question 9

food chain - sea/land comparason

Answer 9

sea : food chain average 5 links

land : food chain average 3 links

Question 10

abyssal

Answer 10

depths od ocean between 4000-6000m deep

Question 11

bathyal

Answer 11

relating to the zone of the sea between the continental shelf and the abyssal zone (depths 1000 - 4000m)

Question 12

hadal

Answer 12

relating to the zone of the sea greater than 6000 m in depth chiefly oceanic trenches

Question 13

littoral

Answer 13

area of shoreline where land is subject to wave action

Question 14

sublittoral

Answer 14

living, growing, or accumulating near to or just below the shore

Question 15

endemic species

Answer 15

plants and animals that exist only in one geographic region

Question 16

Alexander Von humboldt

Answer 16

latitude - 1799 onwards

Venezuela - Mexico : species identity differs with latitude

Question 17

Alfred Russel Wallace

Answer 17

number os species increases as you go from temperate to tropical regions

Question 18

planktonic diversity

Answer 18

• all 3 domains of life
• overall decline in diversity towards the poles ( saame pattern as on land )
• driven by decresing water temperatures

Question 19

species richness

Answer 19

the number of species within a defined region

Question 20

shallow water - species richness

Answer 20

• coastal marine fish/bacteria - increase in species richness towards the equator
• coral reef fish - no pattern
• amphipods/isopods/bivalves - highest before reach the equator

Question 21

deep sea - species richness

Answer 21

• increase in richness towards the equator for number of taxa of bivalves, gastropods and isopods
• forminiferans - highest before reach the equator ( single celled protists - very simple microorganisms )

Question 22

pelagic - species richness

Answer 22

• increase in richness towards the equator - ostracods, euphausiids (krill), shrimp, fish (N. hemisphere), bacteria,

Question 23

elevation

Answer 23

Von Humboldt - number and type of plant species changed as ascended volcano

species richness decreases with increasing elevation

Question 24

life below Earth’s surface

Answer 24

endemic cave communities
- chemosynthetic ecosytem (chemosynthesis is the process by which certain microbes create energy by mediating chemical reactions)

Question 25

azoic zone hypothesis

Answer 25

Edward Forbes

there was zero life below the azoic zone (550m)

hypothesis was short lived

Question 26

depth : species richness

Answer 26

species richness decreases with depth

Question 27

depth ( species richness )

Answer 27

• overall decrease in species richness with increasing depth
• diversity peaks at intermediate depths ( 0.3 - 4.7 km )
• pelagic peak - more shallow than benthic
• pressure and temperatire thought to limit species richness