Biodiversity and Conservation Biology Flashcards

A set of vocabulary flashcards defining key concepts in biodiversity, trophic levels, measurements of diversity, and specific case studies mentioned in the lecture.

Species diversity

The component of biodiversity that includes all species on earth, ranging from single-celled bacteria to blue whales.

Ecosystem diversity

The variety of different biological communities and their association with the chemical and physical environment.

Genetic diversity

The genetic variation within species, occurring both among geographically separate populations and among individuals within single populations.

Primary producers

Photosynthetic species that obtain energy through solar radiation and convert it into biomass.

Primary consumers

Herbivores that live off and feed on primary producers.

Secondary consumers

Predators and parasites that feed on herbivores (primary consumers).

Decomposers

Scavengers that feed on dead tissues or the waste of other animals.

Structural biodiversity

The basic building blocks of biodiversity, including all forms of life, different species, and levels of organization.

Functional biodiversity

The ecological and evolutionary functions associated with particular species within an ecosystem.

Nepal Biodiversity Statistics

A landlocked country of $147,000\,\text{km}^2$ that hosts $8.6\%$ of global bird species, $8\%$ of global mammal species, and $2\%$ of global flowering plants.

Conservation International Hotspots

Thirty-four identified areas covering $2.3\%$ of the world’s land surface that contain over $50\%$ of plant species and $42\%$ of terrestrial vertebrate species.

Alpha diversity

A measure of species richness that compares the number of species within one specific area to another.

Gamma diversity

A measure of biodiversity applied to larger geographical scales, such as a large region or an entire continent.

Beta diversity

The link between alpha and gamma diversity that represents the rate of change of species composition along an environmental or geographical gradient.

Species richness

A measurement used by ecologists to determine how many different species occur in a specific area.

Species heterogeneity

A measure of the relative abundance of each species in an ecosystem, representing the opposite of evenness.

Shannon diversity index

A quantitative measure that combines species richness and evenness to determine the overall diversity of an area.

Iberian lynx

A highly critically endangered species in Europe that currently only occurs in two tiny areas within Spain.

Eurasian lynx

A species common across Europe and Asia that is threatened in Spain but remains relatively stable in other Eurasia regions.