Introduction to Biodiversity
Define biodiversity.
What is the number of different types of species in an ecosystem?
Name the primary cause of the current biodiversity loss/mass extinction
What is humans?
Describe what species richness measures
number of different species in an ecosystem
Describe the goal of the IUCN
Protect species on a global scale through the red list
Describe the goal of CITES
Keep wildlife trade from harming species survival
Name the two problems that genetic bottlenecks cause.
What are lack of resilience to disease and lack of resilience to environmental change?
Name two characteristics of species that are not likely to go extinct
reproduce quickly
adaptable to many environments
Explain why it is hard to measure biodiversity
Name the two goals of the biodiversity treaty
protect biodiversity
ensure proper use of genetic resources
Name two ways coral reefs benefit humans
What is provide us with food and tourism and protect coasts from flooding and waves?
Describe what a keystone species is and give an example
What is a critically important species in an ecosystem? What are otters or coral reefs?
Name three characteristics of species that are vulnerable to extinction
What is long lifespans, slow reproducing, exploited by humans, specialists, limited habitat, migratory
Explain how you would determine percent cover.
What is...
Look at your study area and estimate how much of it is taken up by each species
Identify which of the following is not a private conservation group: Earth Summit, Conservation International, World Wildlife Fund
Earth Summit
Name the roles of the IUCN in relation to governments and private conservation groups
Advise governments on sustainable resource use
Support the private groups' conservation efforts
Name three benefits of biodiversity to humans.
What are medicine, food, ecotourism, or consumer products?
Define biodiversity hotspots. List the three discussed in class
Biodiversity hotspots are areas of high biodiversity.
Coral reefs, tropical rainforests, islands
Describe what relative abundance measures and how you calculate it
Relative numbers of different species in an ecosystem, evenness.
Add up all of the individuals in the ecosystem and divide the number of individuals in each species by it. Multiply by 100
Describe the four provisions of the Endangered Species Act.
List endangered species.
Protect the listed species
Don't allow government projects that harm those species
species recovery plans
Identify three benefits of biodiversity to ecosystems
Food chain stability
Disease protection
Describe what a monoculture is, where it is typically found in the broader world, and how it relates to other ecosystems in terms of health and why.
What is an ecosystem made up of one species? What is agriculture? What is less healthy because they are less resilient to issues like disease?
Name three reasons why poor countries have more poaching.
What is...
lack of regulations
poverty
located in areas of high biodiversity
If there are two ecosystems, one of which has higher relative abundance and the other has higher species richness, explain one is more diverse.
What is...
The one with higher species richness.
Also, both are equally valid measurements of biodiversity so I would consider them separately
Contrast conservation vs. preservation. Include the protected areas of each.
Conservation allows some sustainable uses - national forests
Preservation is protecting ecosystems from humans - national parks
Developers might object to not being able to use their land.
Habitat conservation plan - attempt to protect species through trade-offs