Biodiversity

Question 1

what does biodiversity measure ?

Answer 1

how healthy an ecosystem is

Question 2

what are features of a healthy ecosystem ?

Answer 2

• one that has a number of different species
• one that is very stable

Question 3

how can biodiversity be measured ?

Answer 3

• it can be measured at a local scale
  e.g small habitats
• it can also be measured at a global scale
  e.g the total number of species on Earth

Question 4

what is the most biodiverse areas on the planet ?

Answer 4

rainforests
- rainforests account for only 2% of the Earth’s surface but are home to 50% of its plant and animal species

Question 5

how many ways are there to measure biodiversity ?

Answer 5

there are a number of ways to measure biodiversity

Question 6

what does species richness take into account ?

Answer 6

it takes into account the number of different species in a community at a particular time

Question 7

what does the index of diversity (D) account for?

Answer 7

• the number of different species
• and the number of individuals in that species

Question 8

state Simpson’s diversity index

Answer 8

D = total number of organisms of all species / total number of organisms of 1 species

Question 9

the bigger the number is… ?

Answer 9

the less diverse the area is

Question 10

what is meant by species diversity ?

Answer 10

• the number of different species and individuals within each species in a community

Question 11

what are the 3 different measures for biodiversity ?

Answer 11

• species diversity
• genetic diversity
• ecosystem diversity

Question 12

what is meant by ecosystem diversity ?

Answer 12

• the range of different habitats

Question 13

what kind of biodiversity is a cause of concern?
and what is this often caused by ?

Answer 13

• when biodiversity within a community that was once high starts to decrease
• this is often caused by human activity

Question 14

how do you measure biodiversity ?

Answer 14

using the index of diversity

Question 15

what is the index of diversity ?

Answer 15

• a measure of species diversity
• it is a calculation to measure the relationship between the number of species in a community and the number of individuals in each species

Question 16

what does N stand for ?

Answer 16

the total number of organisms of all species

Question 17

what does n stand for ?

Answer 17

total number of organisms of a particular species