Biodiversity
The unique "role" that a species plays in an ecosystem
Niche
Define ecological succession in your own words
The change in species composition in an area over time
What type of succession is this any why?- a hurricane comes through an area and knocks down 80% of the trees in a forest.
Secondary- there is still soil available after the storm.
The three levels of biodiversity
Species, genetic, ecosystem (or habitat)
The key difference between primary and secondary succession
Primary- no soil at the beginning, secondary- starts with soil already present.
What is one reason biodiversity is important for humans?
Examples: pollination of crops, ecosystem services, new discoveries, health and nutrients
More stable conditions makes it easier to specialize. More niches = more species
Climax community
How does biodiversity increase the resilience of an ecosystem?
More variety of species= more likeliness that some will survive a disturbance.
The two important parameters used to measure biodiversity
Richness and Evenness
Give an example of an early pioneer species in primary succession
moss, lichen (after that ferns and simple plants)
The successional stage made up of shrubs and small trees.
Intermediate species
Which list of letters has greater overall diversity and WHY?
1: AAAYAAAABAAAACAAAAAAAAAAR
2: YYYYYAAAAAACCCCCCCBBBBBB
List 2 because it has greater evenness (even though there is one fewer different letter)
How was the man in the food forest video able to produce so much food with so little work compared to conventional (monoculture) farming?
use knowledge of succession to explain
A food forest is already a climax community, so it's self-stable. A monoculture has to be constantly kept in an early successional stage, which requires a lot of work.
Which set of letters has the greatest richness and why?
1. TTTTGGGGUUUUYYYY
2. TTGTTTUTTTYTTTHTTV
2 because it has more different letters