4.2 Biodiversity

Question 1

What is biodiversity?

Answer 1

The variety of living organisms in an area.

Question 2

What are the three types of biodiversity?

Answer 2

1. Habitat
2. Genetic
3. Species

Question 3

What is species richness?

Answer 3

The number of different species in an area. The higher the greater species richness.

Question 4

What is species evenness?

Answer 4

The relative abundance of each species in an area. The more similar the population sizes the greater the evenness.

Question 5

What causes greater biodiversity?

Answer 5

Higher species richness and the better the species evenness the better the biodiversity.

Question 6

What is a habitat?

Answer 6

The area has inhabited by a species.

Question 7

What is the formula for simpson index of diversity?

Answer 7

D = 1 - ( ∑ (n/N)^2 )

Question 8

What is genetic diversity?

Answer 8

A measure of the biodiversity within a species.

Question 9

What is the problems with having low genetic diversity?

Answer 9

• May not be able to adapt to a change in the environment and the whole population could be wiped out by a single event.

Question 10

What is polymorphism?

Answer 10

Describes a locus that that has two or more alleles.

Question 11

What types of factors affect biodiversity?

Answer 11

1. Human population growth
2. Monoculture
3. Climate change

Question 12

How does human population growth affect biodiversity?

Answer 12

• Decreasing biodiversity because of:

• Habitat loss due to land being used for housing and food production.
• Over-exploitation of resources like food water and energy.
• Urbanisation and road building can isolate species decreasing their genetic diversity.
• Pollution kills species and destroys habitats.

Question 13

How has monoculture affected biodiversity?

Answer 13

• Decline in biodiversity due to:

• Habitat loss as land is cleared to make way for large fields like palm oil plantations.
• Loss of local plants and animals like weeds and pests so destroyed with herbicides and pesticides reducing species diversity.
• Loss of heritage varieties of crops as they do not make enough money do not grown.

Question 14

How does climate change affect biodiversity?

Answer 14

• Climate changes affect the environmental conditions and make areas uninhabitable and cause a change in the range of species in that area.
• This will decrease biodiversity.

Question 15

What are endangered species?

Answer 15

Species that are at risk of extinction due to low population size and/or a threatened habitat.

Question 16

What are the two main types of conversations?

Answer 16

In situ
and
Ex situ

Question 17

What is in situ conservation?

Answer 17

Conservation on site. Protecting species in there natural habitat.

Question 18

What are examples of in situ conservation?

Answer 18

• Establishing protected areas like national parks and wildlife reserves and marine conservation zones
• Restoring damaged areas like a coastline polluted by an oil spill.
• Controlling/stopping intro of species that threaten local biodiversity.
• Protecting habitats.
• Legally protecting endangered species.

Question 19

What are the advantages of in situ conservation?

Answer 19

1. often both species and habitat is conserved so it’s also less disruptive.
2. Greater chance of population recovering than with ex situ.

Question 20

What are the disadvantages of in situ?

Answer 20

1. Difficult to control factors threatening a species like predators poachers disease or climate change.!

Question 21

What is ex situ conservation?

Answer 21

Off site conservation. Protecting a species by removing population from its threatened habitat. Often last resort.

Question 22

What are examples of ex situ conservation?

Answer 22

1. Relocating an organism to a safer area.
2. Breeding in captivity and then reintroducing them into the wild.
3. Seed banks

Question 23

What are the advantages of ex situ conservation?

Answer 23

1. Can be used to protect individual animals from predators or poachers.
2. Competition for resources reduces.
3. Breeding can be manipulated.

Question 24

What are the disadvantages of ex situ conservation?

Answer 24

1. Usually only works for a small number of individuals as takes lots of care.
2. Difficult and expensive to create and sustain right environment.
3. Less successful.

Question 25

What is the CITES agreement?

Answer 25

(Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species) is an agreement where all countries agreed to make it illegal to kill endangered species.
Also raises awareness of threats to biodiversity through education.

Question 26

What is CCS?

Answer 26

• A local conservation agreement.
• (The Countryside Stewardship Scheme) In the UK payed landowners 10 year agreements to follow management techniques.