Biodiversity, Conservation, and Water Systems

Flashcards covering key concepts from a lecture on biodiversity, conservation efforts, and water systems.

What is Biodiversity?

The variety of life on Earth, divided into species and habitat diversity.

What is Resilience in an ecosystem?

A system’s ability to recover when disturbed, avoiding tipping points and maintaining stability.

What is Overharvesting?

The harvesting of too many plants and animals, reducing biodiversity.

What is Poaching and the illegal pet trade?

The illegal hunting, capture, or harvesting of wildlife.

What are Invasive species?

Introduced species that threaten new ecosystems or societies.

What is The tragedy of the commons?

A situation where unmanaged, open-access resources are exploited.

What is Natural selection?

The mechanism driving evolutionary change.

What is Speciation?

The generation of new species through evolution.

What is Simpson's index?

A measure of species diversity within an ecosystem.

What does 'N' stand for in the context of Simpson's index?

Total number of individuals across all species.

What does 'n' stand for in the context of Simpson's index?

Number of individuals of a particular species.

What is Species richness?

The number of different species in a habitat.

What is Species evenness?

The relative abundance of each species in a habitat.

What is Genetic diversity?

The range of genetic material within a population.

What is Habitat diversity?

The range of different habitats per unit area.

How does Climate change threaten biodiversity?

Alters ecosystems and species distributions over time.

What are three forms of Habitat loss?

Habitat destruction, degradation, and fragmentation.

What is ex situ conservation?

Conservation outside of a species' natural habitat.

What is in situ conservation?

Conservation within a species' natural habitat.

What are three factors that make a species prone to extinction?

Narrow geographical range, small population size, low genetic diversity.

What are Direct benefits of biodiversity?

Food sources and natural products.

What are Indirect benefits of biodiversity?

Environmental services, human health, and ecotourism.

What is species-based conservation?

Conservation strategies focused on a single species.

What are examples of Species based conservation?

Captive breeding and zoos.

What is an Aquifer?

An area of permeable rock that can contain groundwater.

What is Irrigation?

Transferring water from storages to crops.

What is Run-off?

Transfer of water from a surface into a body of water.

What is a Flagship species?

Species selected as a symbol for a habitat or environmental issue.

What does Habitat based conservation involve?

Protecting and restoring habitats to prevent species extinction.

What is a Water budget?

A quantitative estimate of water in stores and flows of the water cycle.

What is Turnover time?

Time it takes for a water molecule to enter and leave a system.

What does Potable mean?

Safe to drink water.

What are three examples of Human impacts on the water cycle?

Deforestation, urbanization, and agriculture.

What is Water security?

Having access to sufficient amounts of safe drinking water.

What is Water scarcity?

Limited water availability to human societies.

What is Surface freshwater?

Rivers, streams, reservoirs, and lakes.

What is Physical water scarcity?

Limited by the actual abundance of water.

What is Economic water scarcity?

Limited by the available storage and transport systems.

What Climatic factors impact water availability and scarcity?

Low temperatures and high rainfall.

What are Methods of increasing freshwater supply?

Dams and reservoirs, rainwater harvesting, desalination.

What is Phytoplankton?

Photosynthetic plankton.

What is the maximum sustainable yield?

Highest possible annual catch that can be sustained.

What are Macrophytes?

Aquatic plants.

What is Cyanobacteria?

Blue-green algae.

What is Zooplankton?

Primary consumers in aquatic ecosystems.

What are Primary producers in aquatic ecosystems?

Phytoplankton and macrophytes.

What are Secondary consumers in aquatic ecosystems?

Larger fish, dolphins, and some whales.

What are Tertiary consumers in aquatic ecosystems?

Sharks and marine mammals.

What are examples of unsustainable wild fishing Industry practices?

Bottom trawling, gillnets, purse seine nets.