4. Biodiversity

Flashcards covering key vocabulary related to biodiversity, threats to ecosystems, and species extinction.

Biodiversity

Variety of species life on the earth.

Species diversity

Number and abundance of species present in different ecosystems.

Genetic diversity

Variety of genetic material within a species or a population.

Ecosystem diversity

Earth diversity of biological communities such as deserts, grasslands, forest and wetlands

Functional diversity

Variety of processes such as energy flow and matter cycling that occur within ecosystems as species interact with one another in food chains and food webs.

HIPPCO

Direct causes of species extinction and threats to ecosystem services: Habitat degradation and extinction, Invasive species, Population growth and increasing use of resources, Pollution, Climate change, Over exploitation

Extinction

All members of a species are gone from the earth; occurs when a species cannot adapt and reproduce under new environmental conditions.

Endangered species

Species with so few individual survivors that the species could soon become extinct.

Threatened species

Species with enough remaining individuals to survive in the short term, but because of declining numbers, it is likely to become endangered in the near future.