Biology II - Chapter 5: Biodiversity and Conservation Study Guide

A healthy biosphere

A __ provides many services to humans

Green plants provide oxygen and remove carbon dioxide, and natural processes provide drinking water.

A healthy biosphere provides many services to humans:

ten to fifteen percent

About __ of the world's land is set aside for some type of reserve.

removes calcium, potassium, and other nutrients

Acid precipitation removes __ from the soil, depriving plants of these nutrients.

natural resources

An increase in human population growth increases the need for __ to supply the basic needs of the population.

disrupt an ecosystem and threaten the survival of some species.

Anthropogenic changes can __ and __.

hot spots

Approximately half of all plant and animal species are found in?

aesthetic and scientific values.

Biodiversity and healthy ecosystems have __ and __ values.

biodiversity hot spots.

Conservation biologists have identified locations that are characterized by exceptional levels of endemic species and critical levels of habitat loss. These areas are called?

global biodiversity.

Destruction of habitat, such as clearing tropical rainforests, has a direct impact on?

can start a chain reaction and affect an entire ecosystem.

Disruption of habitat, such as overfishing, can?

providing corridors that allow organisms to move between habitat fragments.

Ecologists are maintaining and improving biodiversity by?

natural resources

Evolving species might not have the __ they need.

habitat loss, pollution, the introduction of invasive species, overexploitation, and climate change.

Examples of anthropogenic changes include:

about a tenth remains

Hot spots originally covered 17 percent of Earth's surface. Only about __ of that habitat remains.

faster than new traits can evolve in some species to cope with the new conditions.

Humans are changing conditions on Earth faster than?

food, clothing, energy, and medicine.

Humans depend on plants and animals for?

mass extinction

Indicate whether the statement describes a mass extinction or a background extinction rate: A comet strikes Earth in the late Cretaceous, causing the disappearance of many species.

background extinction

Indicate whether the statement describes a mass extinction or a background extinction rate: Many organisms in the rain forest become extinct over 50 years as their habitat is destroyed to make room for farmland.

background extinction

Indicate whether the statement describes a mass extinction or a background extinction rate: Over millions of years, the population of an organism declines and eventually disappears as environmental factors change.

Invasive species

Introduced species that can significantly modify or disrupt a new habitat. These species are not a threat to biodiversity in their native habitats.

direct economic value to humans.

Maintaining biodiversity has a?

to slow the loss of biodiversity and to work toward sustainable use of natural resources.

Many efforts are underway worldwide to?

variety of ecosystems in the biosphere

Match the type of biodiversity to its definition: ecosystem diversity

variety of genes in an interbreeding population

Match the type of biodiversity to its definition: genetic diversity

the number and abundance of different species

Match the type of biodiversity to its definition: population diversity

food crops

Most of the world's __ come from just a few species.

the increasing rate of extinctions

Scientists are concerned about the __. The current rate of extinction is about 1000 times the normal background extinction rate.

1000 times the normal background extinction rate

Scientists are concerned about the increasing rate of extinctions. The current rate of extinction is about __ times the normal background extinction rate.

2050

Scientists predict that climate change will threaten approximately 25% of all land species by __.

one-third to two-thirds of all plant and animal species

Some scientists predict that __ to __ of all plant and animal species will become extinct during the second half of this century.

destruction

Sort the following item as either habitat disruption or habitat destruction: clearing rainforest for farmland

destruction

Sort the following item as either habitat disruption or habitat destruction: damming a river to allow for housing to be built

disruption

Sort the following item as either habitat disruption or habitat destruction: harvesting too many plants that are a food source for a population

destruction

Sort the following item as either habitat disruption or habitat destruction: mountain top removal to facilitate coal mining

disruption

Sort the following item as either habitat disruption or habitat destruction: over fishing a species so the populations at each trophic level must shift

renewable

Sort the resource as either renewable or nonrenewable: freshwater

renewable

Sort the resource as either renewable or nonrenewable: lumber

nonrenewable

Sort the resource as either renewable or nonrenewable: natural gas

nonrenewable

Sort the resource as either renewable or nonrenewable: nuclear power

nonrenewable

Sort the resource as either renewable or nonrenewable: petroleum oil

renewable

Sort the resource as either renewable or nonrenewable: solar energy

renewable

Sort the resource as either renewable or nonrenewable: wind

certain temperatures.

Species have evolved to live within?

the activity of other organisms, climate changes, or natural disasters.

Stable ecosystems can be changed by?

biodiversity.

The Endangered Species Act was enacted in 1973 in the U.S. to legally protect at-risk species. Other laws and treaties have since been enacted to help preserve?

1872

The United States established its first national park in __ and many more have been established since.

six billion humans

The biosphere currently supplies the basic needs for more than __ in the form of natural resources.

depends on the context in which the resource is being discussed.

The classification of a resource as renewable or nonrenewable depends on?

Background extinction

The gradual process of species becoming extinct

not evenly distributed.

The human population continues to grow, and the growth is not?

Species diversity

The number of different species and the relative abundance of each species in a biological community; It is not evenly distributed over the biosphere. As you move geographically from the polar regions to the equator, __ increases.

Bioremediation

The use of living organisms, such as prokaryotes, fungi, or plants, to detoxify a polluted area

Ecosystem diversity

The variety of ecosystems present in the biosphere

Genetic diversity

The variety of genes or inheritable characteristics that are present in a population

economic value

There is value in maintaining healthy ecosystems that are beautiful or interesting to study. It is difficult to assign __ to these services.

beautiful or interesting to study.

There is value in maintaining healthy ecosystems that are?

True

True or False: Biological control is the attempt to control invasive species by introducing another organism to the ecosystem.

True

True or False: The ocelot is a species greatly affected by overexploitation; they are hunted and killed for their fur at a greater rate than the species can recover.

bioremediation

Using organisms such as fungi to detoxify a polluted area is called ____.

introduced species with no natural predators, consume natural resources at a rate that cannot be sustained, population is not limited by predators or local environmental factors, and compete with other organisms to the point of eradication

What are characteristics of invasive species?

a species of bird in danger of extinction because they are continuously hunted by humans and not allowed to recover, a species of tree declining in population as they are harvested for wood by lumber workers, and whales being hunted by whalers for oil products faster than they can reproduce

What are examples of overexploitation?

fragmentation of habitat

What causes the edge effect in habitats?

when temperatures increase,

When __, species that cannot adapt die. This threatens the survival of the species as well as other species that depend on it for survival.

the natural extinction rate

Which defines background extinction?

groundwater exploitation

Which human-caused disaster requires the greatest recovery time?

Members of species can move safely from one area to another.

Which is an advantage of the habitat corridor?

wolves

Which organisms are affected most by biological magnification? A) algae, B) plants, C) wolves, D) mice

commercial crop species.

Wild species serve as reservoirs of desirable genetic traits that might be needed to improve?

invasive species

__ can have a profound effect on an ecosystem's biodiversity.

Introducing other organisms to an ecosystem (for example, predators)

__ can help control invasive species.

Biological communities

__ can recover, given time. The larger the affected area, the longer it takes.

Anthropogenic changes

__ changes to the environment are changes induced by human activity.

corridors

__ don't completely solve the problem (biodiversity).

The natural process of extinction

__ is not what concerns scientists.

The Endangered Species Act

__ was enacted in 1973 in the U.S. to legally protect at-risk species.

Eutrophication

a form of water pollution that destroys underwater habitats for fish and other species; it occurs when fertilizers, animal waste, sewage, or other substances rich in nitrogen and phosphorous flow into waterways, causing extensive algae growth

Natural resources

all materials and organisms found in the biosphere, including minerals, fossil fuels, nuclear fuels, plants, animals, soil, clean water, clean air, and solar energy,

Mass extinction

an event in which a large percentage of all living species become extinct in a relatively short period of time. The last __ occurred about 65 million years ago.

pollution

changes the composition of air, soil, and water.

Edge effects

different environmental conditions that occur along the boundaries of an ecosystem. For example, edges of a forest near a road have different abiotic factors, such as temperature, wind, and humidity, than does the interior of a forest.

Extinction

entire species permanently disappear from the biosphere when the last member of the species dies in a process called?

Acid precipitation

occurs after sulfur and nitrogen compounds react with water and other substances in the air to form sulfuric acid and nitric acid.

Nonrenewable resources

resources that are found on Earth in limited amounts or that are replaced by natural processes over extremely long periods of time.

Renewable resources

resources that are replaced by natural processes faster than they are consumed. The supply of these resources in not unlimited. If the human demand exceeds the supply of any natural resource, the resource might become depleted.

Endemic species

species that are only found in one specific geographic area

Overexploitation

the excessive use of species that have economic value.

Biological magnification

the increasing concentration of toxic substances in organisms as trophic levels increase in a food chain or food web. The __ is relatively low when it enters the food web.

Habitat fragmentation

the separation of an ecosystem into small pieces of land; reduces genetic diversity because it reduces the opportunities for individuals in one area to reproduce with individuals from another area.

Biodiversity

the variety of life in an area that is determined by the number of different species in that area; it is increased by the formation of new species and decreased by extinction. It increases the stability of an ecosystem and contributes to the health of the biosphere. There are three types of __ to consider: genetic diversity, species diversity, and ecosystem diversity.

Sustainable use

using resources at a rate at which they can be replaced or recycled while reserving the long-term environmental health of the biosphere