maintaining biodiversity Flashcards
(7 cards)
reasons for maintaining biodiversity
aesthetic reasons
economic reasons
ecological reasons
what are the aesthetic reasons for maintaining biodiversity
presence of different plans and animals enriches our lives
natural world is an inspiration for all people, writers and musicians
patients recover more quickly from stress and injury when they convalesce in a natural environment
what are the economic reasons for maintaining biodiversity
levels of long-term productivity are higher
high biodiversity provide protection from abiotic stresses
areas rich in biodiversity provide an attractive environment that can be enjoyed by tourists, provide economic advantage
cross breeding of plants, obtain best characteristics from each species, require many different varieties of plant, allow development of drought-resistance and disease-resistant crops
ecological reasons for maintaining biodiversity
removal of one species from an ecosystem may have a significant effect on the other species
the higher the biodiversity, the less of an effect the loss of a species will have
genetic resource: any material from plants, animals or microorganisms, containing genes that we find valuable
keystone species
a species on which many others depend and without which the ecosystem would change dramatically
importance of keystone species
key role in maintaining the structure of an ecological community
have disproportionately large effect on their environment relative to their abundance
helps determine the species richness and evenness in the community
human activities versus biodiversity
play a role in increasing biodiversity
natural habitats can be created such as planting of hedgerows, wilding
annual controlled burning of gorse and heather in new forest allows biodiversity to soar
sheep graze on downlands grass, allows the plantains that the galnville fritallary caterpillars feed on to thrive, allowing metamorphosis into beautiful orange-patterned butterfly
