APES Unit 2.1-2.2

Ecosystem and Services

What are the three types of diversity of life forms in an ecosystem?

Ecosystem Diversity, Species Diversity, and Genetic Diversity.

What is Ecosystem diversity?

The number of different habitats available in a given area.

What is Species diversity?

The number of different species in an ecosystem.

The balance/evenness of the population sizes of all species in an ecosystem.

What is Genetic diversity?

The biological variation that occurs within a species.

Higher biodiversity =

Higher ecosystem and population health.

What is Species Richness (r)?

The total number of different species found in an ecosystem.

What is Species Evenness?

How all individual organisms in an ecosystem are balanced between the different species

What is high species richness (r) a sign of?

Ecosystem health and quality resources.

The more genetic diversity in a population..?

The better the population can respond to environmental stressors like drought, disease, or famine.

What is a Bottleneck Event?

An environmental disturbance (natural disaster/human hab. destruction) that drastically reduces population size & kills organisms regardless of their genome.

Bottleneck events reduce.. and make the population more…

Genetic Diversity. More vulnerable to future environmental disturbances.

What is inbreeding?

When organisms mate with closely related “family” members.

Inbreeding leads to.. and why?

A higher chance of offspring having harmful genetic mutations. Because they’re getting similar genotypes from both parents.

What type of populations are more likely to experience inbreeding and why?

Smaller populations because it is difficult to find a non-related mate.

What is Ecosystem Resilience?

The ability of an ecosystem to return to its original conditions after a major disturbance.

Higher species diversity =

Higher ecosystem resilience.

What are Ecosystem Services?

Goods and services provided by natural ecosystems that are beneficial to humans (monetarily of life-sustaining)

What are the four types of Ecosystem Services?

Provisioning Services, Regulating Services, Supporting Services, and Cultural Services.

How do humans affect Ecosystem Services?

Humans disrupt ecosystem services.

Human activities disrupt the ability of ecosystems to function, which decreases the value of ecosystem services they provide.

What are some examples of Humans disrupting Ecosystem Services?

Overfishing and clearing land.

What are some Provisioning Services?

1) Goods/products directly provided to humans for sale/use by ecosystems.

Ex: Fish, hunting animals, lumber (wood for furniture/buildings) naturally grown foods like berries, seeds, wild grains, honey

2) Goods/products that are made from natural resources that ecosystems provide.

Ex: paper, medicine, rubber

How are Provisioning Services disrupted?

They are disrupted by over-harvesting, water pollution, and clearing land for agriculture/urbanization.

What are Regulating Services?

Services provided by ecosystem processes that moderate natural conditions like climate and air quality.

What are some examples of Regulating Services?

1) Tees storing CO2 through photosynthesis which reduces rate of climate change and more.

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2) Trees filter air by absorbing air pollutants, which reduces health care costs for treating diseases like asthma and bronchitis.

How are Regulating Services disrupted?

Deforestation.

What are Supporting Services?

Supporting Services support processes humans do ourselves, making them less costly and easier for us.

What are some examples of Supporting Services?

1) Plant roots filter pollutants, leading to cleaner groundwater that we don’t have to pay as much to purify with expensive water treatment plants.

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2) Bees & other insects pollinate our agriculture/crops, leading to increased crop production & higher profits.

How are Supporting Services disrupted?

Urbanization and loss of pollinator habitat.

What are Cultural Services?

Revenue from recreational activities and scientific discoveries made in ecosystems that profit other people or organizations.

What are some examples of Cultural Services?

Hunting/fishing licenses, park fees, tourism-related spending) and (health/ag./educational knowledge) that provide revenue to people/organizations.

How are Cultural Services disrupted?

They are disrupted by deforestation, pollution, and urbanization.