Biodiversity Flashcards
(182 cards)
What is biodiversity [biological diversity]
The number and variety of species an ecosystem on earth
Give an example of a more bio diverse place then the tundra
Rain forest
What is the fundamental unit of biodiversity
The species
How is biodiversity often understood as or measured as
The number of types of plants, animals and microorganisms
Define species
All organisms capable of breeding freely with each other under natural conditions
What are three types of biodiversity
Genetic diversity, species diversity, structural diversity
Define genetic diversity
The genetic variability among organisms, usually referred to individuals of the same species
Define species diversity
A measure of diversity that takes into account the quantity of each species present, as well as the variety of different species present
Define structural diversity
The range of physical shapes and sizes within a habitat. Structural diversity is crucial for biodiversity because it creates microhabitat
Is it true that ecosystems is more structural diversity will be more biodiverse
yes
Why do humans worry about extinction if there’s so much by diversity out there
Species extinction is a natural process. And biologist estimate that a new species will, on average become extinct after approximately 1 million years. human activity is speeding up the rate of extinction
What does EO Wilson estimate
That the current extension rate is 1000 times faster
What is threatens by the loss of biodiversity
Food supply (when an entire species and plant variety is lost),
natural medicines and potential new medicines,
there is a significant economic impact on tourism and forestry when accompanied by habitat destruction,
it also has potential to cause serious disruptions in biogeochemical (ex. normal carbon uptake by natural ecosystems)
Why must some species be defined based on their morphology rather than reproduction behaviour
Because sometimes we do not know enough about the species
Who is considered the father of taxonomy
Carl Linnaeus
What naming system did Carl Linnaeus establish
Binomial nomenclature
Define binomial nomenclature
The pharmacist of naming species where each species inside a genus name followed by specific name: the two words taken together for that species name
What words are capitalized in binomial nomenclature
Genus is, species is not
Give the order of the taxonomic ranks of classification
Kingdom, phylum, class, order, family, genus, species
What is taxonomy
Studying or classifying organisms [the sides of classifying living things]
If we go back far enough every living thing is related to every living thing, meaning we all have what
A common ancestor
The trick of taxonomy is basically figuring out what
Where all the branches of the evolutionary tree in finding convenient labels
What system is used to classify all the organisms on earth
The phylogenetic tree
What is a phylogenetic tree
It illustrates the evolutionary relationships between all living things [basically the tree of life]