Topic 4—C: Diversity and Classification- 6. Biodiversity

Question 1

Biodiversity

Answer 1

The variety of living organisms in an area

Question 2

Habitat

Answer 2

The place where an organism lives e.g. rocky shore or field

Question 3

Community

Answer 3

All the populations of different species in a habitat

Question 4

Local biodiversity

Answer 4

• you should consider the variety of different species living in a small habitat that’s local to you
  E.g. a pond or meadow

Question 5

Global biodiversity

Answer 5

• you could also consider the variety of species on earth
• biodiversity varies in different parts of the world- it is greatest at the equator and decreases towards the poles

Question 6

How can biodiversity be measured?

Answer 6

• by using species richness or an index of diversity

Question 7

Species richness

Answer 7

It’s the measure of the number of different species in a community
- simple measure of biodiversity

Question 8

How can species richness be worked out?

Answer 8

By taking random samples of a community and counting the number of different species

Question 9

What also affects biodiversity?

Answer 9

• the population sizes of those species too

Question 10

Index of diversity

Answer 10

• another way of measuring biodiversity
• it’s calculated using an equation that takes both the number of species in a community (species richness) and the abundance of each species (population size) into account

Question 11

Index of diversity formula

Answer 11

D= N(N-1)/ sum of n(n-1)

D= index of diversity
N= total number of organisms of all species
n= total number of organisms of one species
M sign= sum of (added together)

• the higher the number, the more diverse an area is
• if all the individuals are of the same species the index is 1