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Biology > Biodiversity > Flashcards

Biodiversity Flashcards

1
Q

What is biodiversity?

A

The variety of living organisms present in an area

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2
Q

What different levels can biodiversity be studied at?

A
  • Habitat biodiversity
  • Species biodiversity
  • Genetic biodiversity
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3
Q

What is habitat biodiversity?

A

Refers to the number of different habitats found within an area

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4
Q

What are the 2 components of species biodiversity?

A
  • Species richness

- Species evenness

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5
Q

What is species richness?

A

The number of different species living in a particular area

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6
Q

What is species evenness?

A

A comparison of the numbers of individuals of each species living in a community

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7
Q

What is genetic biodiversity?

A

Refers to the variety of genes that make up a species

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8
Q

How is species richness measured?

A
  • Sample organism
  • A list should be compiled of each speices identified
  • Total number of species can be calculated
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9
Q

How is species evenness measured?

A
  • Can be even or uneven based on the number of populations of each species
  • Use frame quadrats
  • Samples taken at a number of different points
  • Calculate mean of individual qudrat
  • Multiply mean value per m2 by the total area
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10
Q

How can an animal population size be estimated?

A
  • Capture-mark-release-recapture
  • Capture as many individuals of a species in an area as possible
  • Organisms are marked and released back into community
  • Time is allowed for organisms to redistribute themselves throughout the habitat before another sample of animals is collected
  • The greater the number of marked individuals recaptured, the smaller the population
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11
Q

What are abiotic factors?

A

Non-living conditions in a habitat

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12
Q

Give 2 factors that increase genetic biodiversity

A

1- Mutations

2- Interbreeding

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13
Q

What is gene flow?

A

When an individual migrates from one population to another and breeds with a member of another population, alleles are transferred between the 2 populations

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14
Q

Give 8 factors that decrease genetic biodiversity

A 
1- Selective breeding 
2- Captive breeding programmes 
3- Rare breeds 
4- Artificial cloning
5- Natural selection
6- Genetic bottlenecks
7- Founder effect
8- Genetic drift
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15
Q

What is a genetic bottlenecks?

A
  • A sharp reduction in the size of a population
  • Could be due to a natural event, such as a flood
  • Reduces gene pool
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16
Q

What is the founder effect?

A

Where a small number of individuals create a new colony, geographically isolated from the original

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17
Q

What is genetic drift?

A

Due to the random nature of alleles being passed on from parents to their offspring, the frequency of occurence of an allele will vary

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18
Q

What 3 human factors affect biodiversity?

A
  • Human population growth
  • Agriculture
  • Climate change
19
Q

How does human population growth affects biodiversity?

A
  • Destruction of habitat, e.g. deforestation
  • Separating populations, e.g. roads
  • Unsustainable hunting/fishing, e.g. overfishing of cod
  • Pollution
  • Decreases habitat/species/genetic biodiversity
20
Q

How does agriculture (monoculture) affect biodiversity?

A
  • More land is needed to feed growing population
  • Increased habitat destruction, e.g. deforestation
  • Use of herbicides kills weeds
  • Continuous monoculture causes soil depletion, reducing other plant species ability to survive
  • Decreases habitat/species/genetic biodiversity
21
Q

How does climate change affect biodiversity?

A
  • Humans burn CO2, a greenhouse gas
  • Weather patterns change
  • Changes the abundance and distribution of species
  • Some species will become extinct
  • Decreases habitat/species/genetic biodiversity
22
Q

Give 3 reasons why biodiversity should be maintained

A

1- Aesthetic reasons
2- Economic reasons
3- Ecological reasons

23
Q

Describe the aesthetic reasons for why biodiversity should be maintained

A
  • Enrich people’s lives
  • Provides inspiration
  • Recovery from stress and injury
24
Q

Describe the economic reasons for why biodiversity should be maintained

A
  • Resources for non-medical reasons (e.g. building materials)
  • Ecotourism
  • Continuous monoculture causes soil depletion, decreasing yields and requires more fertiliser
25
Q

Describe the ecological reasons for why biodiversity should be maintained

A
  • All species are part of the ecosystem
  • Provides habitat for other organisms
  • Part of food change
  • Species are a genetic resource
  • Possible source of medicine
  • If keystone species are removed, the ecosystems collapses (they maintain structure of an ecological community)
26
Q

What is conservation?

A

Preservation and careful management of the environment and of natural resources

27
Q

What is in situ conservation?

A

Within the natural habitat

28
Q

What is ex situ conservation

A

Out of the natural habitat

29
Q

What 2 ways can in situ conservation occur?

A
  • Wildlife reserves

- Marine conservation zones

30
Q

Describe in situ conservation

A
  • Habitat and species are conserved at the same time
  • Removal of invasive species
  • Supplementary feeding
  • Legal protection (e.g. poaching, trade)
  • Restricting human access
31
Q

What are the limitations of in situ conservation?

A
  • Hunting/predations is hard to control

- Unavoidable if habitat cannot be saved, e.g. climate change

32
Q

What is succession?

A

A natural process in which early colonising species are replaced over time until a stable mature population is achieved

33
Q

What 3 ways can ex situ conservation occur?

A
  • Botanic gardens
  • Seed banks
  • Captive breeding programmes
34
Q

Describe what happens at a seed bank

A
  • Stores genetic material
  • Seeds are stored so that new plants may be grown in the future
  • They are dried and stored at -20 degrees
35
Q

Describe ex situ conservation

A
  • Health of individuals can be monitored
  • Reduced mortality of young (e.g. eggs can be artificially incubated)
  • Protection fro hunting/predation
  • Reduced interspecific and intraspecific competition
  • Mates can be selected to maintain genetic biodiversity
36
Q

What are the limitations of ex situ conservation?

A
  • Few breeding individuals, genetic diversity decreased
  • Some species don’t breed well in captivity, e.g. panda
  • Expensive and long term
37
Q

Why are some organisms born in captivity not suitable for release into the wild?

A
  • Diseases (loss of resistance)
  • Behaviour (e.g. looking for food not taught)
  • Genetic races (populations cannot interbreed)
  • Habitat (stress/tension as fighting for limited resources)
38
Q

What does CITES stand for?

A

Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species

39
Q

What is CITES and what does it do?

A
  • It’s an international agreement to stop the trade in endangered species (live or dead)
  • Ensure that trade doesn’t endanger wild populations
  • Prohibits trade in wild plants
  • Allows trade in artificially propagated plants
  • Allows some trade in less endangered species
40
Q

What was the Rio Convention on Biological Diversity?

A

An international agreement to use habitats/ecosystems/organisms sustainably

41
Q

Give 4 aims of the Rio Convention

A

1- Share genetic resources
2- Share access to scientific knowledge
3- Raise profile of biodiversity with governments and public
4- Cooperate on biodiversity issues

42
Q

What is the countryside stewardship scheme?

A

A conservation scheme set up at a local level (England) from 1991-2014

43
Q

What did the countryside stewardship scheme aim to do?

A
  • Give financial incentives to land managers to look after the environment
  • Restoring wildlife habitats
  • Reducing agricultural pollution
  • Preservation/restoration of habitats important in the conservation of rare species

Biology (19 decks)

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