biodiversity (module 4) Flashcards
(19 cards)
Components of biodiversity: Species biodiverstiy
Species richness
the number of species in an area
Components of biodiversity: Species biodiversity
Species evenness
How close in numbers the populations of each species in an environment are
Components of biodiversity
Habitat biodiversity
The number of different habitats found within an area.
Components of biodiversity
Genetic biodiversity
Number of different alleles within a species.
(Alleles are different versions of a gene-increases variation)
Biodiversity
Includes all living organisms (plants, animals, fungi, bacteria, genes, habitats)
Endemism
When a species is unique to a single place
Population
Many organisms of the same species living in the same habitat at the same time
Community
Many different populations living in one area at the same time
Ecosystem
A community together with a non-living environment
What does it mean when a community is stable
It has a high species evenness and richness.
The existence of more than 2 alleles at a gene locus
Polymorphic gene
Monoculture
An agricultural practise where only one species is grown over a large area
Give 3 reasons why it is important to maintain biodiversity
- Food security (food chain altered)
- Maintain a balanced ecosystem
- Inter-dependence (depend on eachother)
- Drug development
How can biodiversity be measured?
Not the equipment used
- Distributuion- Where the species is found
- Abundance- How many of each species are present
Sampling
Random
- Selecting individuals by chance
- Each individual in a population has equal opportunity of being selected
- E.g. Quadrats, use a random number generator to select co-ordinates (there should be a large sample to be representative)
Sampling
Non-random
- Selecting individuals not by chance
- Each individual does not have an equal chance at being selected
Sampling
Opportunistic
- Occurs when the researcher makes sampling decisions during the process of collecting data
- Common in field research
- Weakest form of sampling
Sampling
Stratified
- Occurs when there are obviously different populations or habitats and the researcher wants to make sure they sample from all of them
- May lead to over representation of some areas
Sampling
Systematic
- Different areas within an overall habitat are identified and then sampled seperately E.g. moving inland from sea
- Can be done as a line transect or belt transect
- Used when an area is varied
- Area divided into a grid and quadrats are measured at fixed, pre-determined intervals
