Unit 2: The Living World - Biodiversity

Question 1

Ecosystem services

Answer 1

The process by which life-supporting resources, such as clean water, timber, fisheries, and agricultural crops are produced

Question 2

Environmental indicators

Answer 2

An indicator that describes the current state of an environmental system

Question 3

Five global-scale environmental indicators

Answer 3

○ Biodiversity
○ Food production
○ Average global surface temperature and carbon dioxide concentration in the atmosphere
○ Human population
○ Resource depletion

Question 4

Biodiversity

Answer 4

The diversity of life forms in an environment

Question 5

3 scales of biodiversity

Answer 5

• Ecosystem
• Species
• Genetic

Question 6

Genetic diversity

Answer 6

• A measure of the genetic variation among individuals in a population
  ○ Populations with a high genetic diversity are better suited to respond to environmental change

Question 7

Species diversity

Answer 7

• The number of species in a region or in a particular ecosystem
  ○ Higher species diversity causes more resilience to environmental changes and are more productive
  ○ Critical environmental indicator

Question 8

Speciation

Answer 8

The evolution of a new species

Question 9

Background extinction rate

Answer 9

The average rate at which species become extinct over the long term

Question 10

Ecosystem diversity

Answer 10

• A measure of the diversity of ecosystems that exist in a given region
  ○ A greater number of healthy and productive ecosystems results in a healthier environment overall

Question 11

Species’ richness

Answer 11

• The number of species in a given area
  ○ Used to measure biodiversity in a given area

Question 12

Species’ evenness

Answer 12

• The relative proportion of individuals within the different species in a given area
  ○ Tells us whether a particular ecosystem is numerically dominated by one species or whether all of its species have similar abundances

Question 13

Phylogeny

Answer 13

• The branching pattern of evolutionary relationships
  ○ Can be described with a diagram

Question 14

Microevolution

Answer 14

Evolution below the species level

Question 15

Macroevolution

Answer 15

Evolution that gives rise to new species, genera, families, classes, or phyla

Question 16

Mutation

Answer 16

• A random change in the genetic code produced by a mistake in the copying process
  ○ Mutations can affect an organism’s survival and make their chances better or worse

Question 17

Recombination

Answer 17

• The genetic process by which one chromosome breaks off and attaches to another chromosome during reproductive cell division
  ○ Does not create new genes but brings together new combination of alleles on a chromosome and therefore can produce novel traits

Question 18

Artificial selection

Answer 18

The process in which humans determine which individuals breed, typically with a preconceived set of traits in mind

Question 19

Natural selection

Answer 19

The process by which the environment determines which individuals survive and reproduce

Question 20

Gene flow

Answer 20

• The process by which individuals move from one population to another and thereby alter the genetic composition of both populations
  ○ Alters the frequency of alleles in populations
  ○ Can bring in genetic diversity to a population that lacks it

Question 21

Genetic drift

Answer 21

A change in the genetic composition of a population over time as a result of random mating

Question 22

Bottleneck effect

Answer 22

• A reduction in the genetic diversity of a population caused by reduction in its size
  ○ When a population is reduced, its genetic diversity reduces as well
  ○ Can causes individuals to be less equipped to face environmental problems, disease, or low fertility

Question 23

Founder effect

Answer 23

A change in the genetic composition of a population as a result of descending from a small number of colonizing individuals

Question 24

Intinsic values

Answer 24

Values independent of any benefit to humans

Question 25

Instrumental value

Answer 25

Worth as an instrument or a tool that can be used to accomplish a goal

Question 26

Provisions

Answer 26

A good that humans can use directly to support life

Question 27

Regulating services

Answer 27

Natural ecosystems help to regulate environmental conditions

Question 28

Support systems

Answer 28

- Natural ecosystems provide several support systems that would be very costly for humans to generate ○ Ex: The pollination of food crops and natural pest control services

Question 29

Resilience

Answer 29

- Ensures an ecosystem will continue to exist in its current state ○ Depends greatly on species diversity

Question 30

Cultural services

Answer 30

Ecosystems provide beauty that many people are willing pay for

Question 31

Theory of island biogeography

Answer 31

- A theory that demonstrates the dual importance of habitat size and distance in determining species richness ○ Depends on habitat size and distance from mainland

Question 32

Range of tolerance

Answer 32

The limits to the abiotic conditions that a species can tolerate

Question 33

Fundamental niche

Answer 33

The suite of abiotic conditions under which a species can survive, grow, and reproduce

Question 34

Realized niche

Answer 34

The range of biotic and abiotic conditions under which a species actually lives

Question 35

Distribution

Answer 35

- Areas of the world in which a species lives ○ Realized niche helps us understand the distribution of a species

Question 36

Niche generalist

Answer 36

- A species that can live under a wide range of abiotic or biotic conditions ○ Fare better under changing conditions

Question 37

Niche specialist

Answer 37

- A species that is specialized to live in a specific habitat or to feed on a small group of species ○ More vulnerable to extinction from habitat changes

Question 38

Mass extinction

Answer 38

- A large extinction of a species in a relatively short amount of time ○ 5 mass extinctions have occurred over Earth's history

Question 39

6th mass extinction

Answer 39

During the last 2 decades, scientists have stated that we are currently experiencing a sixth mass extinction of a magnitude within the range of the previous 5 mass extinctions due to human activities

Question 40

Geographic isolation

Answer 40

Physical separation of a group of individuals from others of the same species

Question 41

Allopatric speciation

Answer 41

The process of speciation that occurs with geographic isolation

Question 42

Reproductive isolation

Answer 42

The result of two populations within a species evolving separately to the point that they can no longer interbreed and produce viable offspring

Question 43

Sympatric speciation

Answer 43

The evolution of one species into two, without geographic isolation

Question 44

Polyploidy

Answer 44

The heritable condition of possessing more than two complete sets of chromosomes