Introduction to Biodiversity

Unit #2 Vocabulary You Oughta Know Adaptations Generalists Island Biogeography Provisioning Service Specialists Climax Community Indicator Species Keystone Species Regulating Service Secondary Succession Cultural Services Ecological Tolerance Genetic Diversity Habitat Diversity Pioneer Members Primary Succession Species Diversity Supporting Services The following review questions may not cover every single detail but gives you a good scope of the section and can be used to figure out what you may need to review or work on. It will still be beneficial to look through the lectures for any missing pieces. I would suggest trying to answer the questions yourself and then use a combination of the lecture slides, any assignments or doodle notes that were given during this unit. I won’t be giving an answer key for these questions since most of them are from your notes or can easily be checked via a quick google search. If you have any questions you can also ask me during class. Module #8 - Introduction to Biodiversity 1. Describe the three levels of biodiversity. 2. Describe how genetic diversity relates to environmental disruptions. 3. Define species richness and evenness. a. Describe how species richness relates to ecosystem resilience. 4. Explain how habitat loss impacts generalist and specialist species differently. Module#9 - Ecosystem Services 1. Identify the four categories of ecosystem services. a. Describe each of the four categories and provide an example. 2. For each ecosystem service category, describe how an anthropogenic activity could disrupt that ecosystem service. Module #10 - Theory of Island Biogeography 1. Describe the theory of island biogeography. a. Explain why islands further from the mainland have lower species richness than closer islands. 2. Define the term “colonization” as it relates to island biogeography. 3. Explain why islands have more specialist species than generalist species. Module #11 - Ecological Tolerance 1. Identify three or four conditions for which organisms have a range of tolerance. 2. Describe the relationship between genetic diversity and ecological range of tolerance. 3. Describe ecological tolerance. a. Identify the three zones of ecological tolerance. b. Describe what happens to an organism or what they experience in each zone. 4. Provide an example of a physiological stressor or impact an organism could experience in conditions outside of its range of tolerance. Module #12 - Natural Ecological Disturbances 1. Identify THREE examples of natural ecosystem disruptions. 2. Define periodic, episodic, and random events. 3. Identify 2-3 reasons that earth’s climate has changed over geological time. 4. Describe why sea level has varied on earth over time. 5. Describe migration. a. Identify 3 reasons that a population would migrate. Module #13 - Adaptations 1. Define adaptation. 2. Describe how adaptations arise in a population. 3. Define natural selection. 4. Describe what a selective force is and provide an example. 5. Explain how environmental change can lead to evolution or extinction of a species. Module #14 - Succession & Keystone Species 1. Describe primary and secondary succession. 2. Define keystone species. a. Provide an example of a keystone species and explain the significance it has in its habitat 3. Define an indicator species. 4. Describe what a pioneer species is. a. Provide an example of a pioneer species. 5. Describe what a late-successional or climax community is. a. Provide an example of a late-successional or climax species. Module #59 - Invasive Species, Endangered Species & Human Impacts on Biodiversity 1. Describe TWO characteristics of invasive species. 2. Identify a specific example of an invasive species. Describe a human activity that could result in the introduction of this invasive species into a new ecosystem. a. Propose a solution to control the spread of the invasive species identified above. 3. Explain why r-selected species are more likely to become invasive than K-selected species. 4. Describe a specific effect that invasive species may have on native species in an ecosystem. 5. Describe TWO factors that can lead to a species becoming endangered. 6. Describe ONE characteristic of K-selected species that makes them more likely to become endangered than r-selected species. 7. Identify a piece of international or US legislation that protects endangered species and describe how it can prevent extinction of endangered species. 8. Explain how natural organism interactions in an ecosystem can lead to species endangerment. 9. Identify a taxon with an especially large portion of its members that are endangered. 10. Identify each of the threats to biodiversity in the acronym HIPPCO. 11. Describe an anthropogenic activity that directly causes habitat fragmentation and describe an ecological impact that results from this fragmentation. a. Propose a solution for the cause of habitat fragmentation identified above. 12. Describe how anthropogenic climate change can lead to the loss of a specific habitat. 13. Describe how animal agriculture has contributed to a loss of biodiversity. 14. Describe TWO ways in which humans can mitigate the loss of biodiversity.