Studied by 3 people
Biodiversity
The variety of life on Earth
How many life forms is diversity measured on?
Three
Ecosystem diversity
The number of different habitats available in a given area
Species diversity
The number of different species in an ecosystem and the balance or evenness of the population sizes of all species in the ecosystem
Genetic diversity
How different the genes are of individuals within a population (group of the same species)
If there’s higher biodiversity, then…
Higher ecosystem/population health
If there’s habitat loss…
There’s a loss of biodiversity
Generalists
Species with broad niches that can use a wide array of habitats and resources. Able to live in many different places. Tend to be more adaptable to disturbances
Specialists
Species with narrow niches and very specific requirements. Extremely good at what they do, but vulnerable to change. The first to go due to habitat loss and disturbances
Richness
Total number of different species found in an ecosystem
Is high richness good or bad for an ecosystem?
A good sign of ecosystem health, usually means more quality resources like H20 and soil
Evenness
A measure of how all of the individual organisms in an ecosystem are balanced between the different species
What does evennness indicate?
There are one or two dominant species, or if population sizes are well balanced
Why is it good if there’s more genetic diversity in a population?
The population can respond to environmental stressors and disturbances like drought, disease, or famine
What happens if there’s more genetic diversity?
Higher chance that some of the individuals have traits that allow them to survive the environmental stressor
Mutations
A change in the DNA sequence of a cell
Adaptive trait (adaptation)
A change/process by which an organism/species becomes better suited to its environment
Fitness
An organism’s ability to survive and reproduce in a particular environment (natural selection)
Bottleneck event
An environmental disturbance that drastically reduces population size and kills organisms regardless of their genome
What do bottleneck events do?
Reduce genetic diversity
Why doesn’t the surviving population represent the genetic diversity of the original population?
Surviving population is smaller and individuals died randomly, not by natural selection
What are the problems with a bottleneck event?
Could cause difficulty adapting to ecosystem changes, inbreeding, harmful mutations, population collapse
Resilience
The ability of an ecosystem to return to its original conditions after a major disturbance
What does higher species diversity mean?
Higher ecosystem resilience, more plant species to repopulate disturbed ground, anchor soil, and provide food and habitat for animal species
Ecosystem services
Goods and services provided by natural ecosystems that are beneficial to humans
What decreases the value of ecosystem services
Human activities disrupt the ability of ecosystems to function (ecological and economic consequences)
Cultural services
The non-material benefits people obtain from ecosystems
Examples of cultural services
Aesthetic inspiration, cultural identity, spiritual experiences, tourism and recreation, education
What is disrupted by deforestation, pollution, and urbanization?
Cultural services
Provisioning services
Resources or goods harvested from an ecosystem
What are examples of provisioning services?
Food, lumber, freshwater, fisheries, medicines
What is disrupted by over harvesting, water pollution, and clearing land for agriculture/urbanization
Provision services
Regulating services
Maintains the quality of natural resources
Examples of regulating services
Climate regulation, maintaining of air quality and water quality, flood prevention, pollination
What is disrupted by deforestation
Regulating services
Supporting services
Natural ecosystems supporting processes we do ourselves, making them cheaper and easier
Examples of supporting services
Nutrient cycling, habitat for different species, maintaining biodiversity, and photosynthesis
What is disrupted by habitat loss, and filling in wetlands for development
Supporting services
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