Biodiversity and Humans
What is a direct impact of a decrease in insect diversity in the area surrounding farmland?
Beneficial predatory insects that kill pests would be less active.
What are ecosystem services?
Benefits that wildlife and ecosystems provide to humans
A farmer notices a decrease in the food production by the farm's flowering plants. Which of the following is a possible cause for the decrease that is directly related to biodiversity?
Fewer pollinating species inhabit the ecosystem.
What are ways that reducing biodiversity directly impacts humans?
Fewer potential medicines derived from other organisms Fewer ecosystems to appreciate for beauty and recreation Fewer wild food species for humans to eat
What BEST explains why a loss of biodiversity in algae species could affect the quality of drinking water?
Fewer species of algae in a stream would limit the amount of water that could be cleaned.
There are many breeds of dogs, each with its own physical characteristics. Great Danes are large, while Chihuahuas are tiny. Poodles have curly coats, and Golden Retrievers have straight coats. These are all examples of:
Genetic diversity
What is the correct order of types of biodiversity from smallest scale to largest scale?
Genetic diversity, species diversity, ecological diversity
How could a loss of biodiversity affect worldwide energy use by humans?
Loss of biodiversity would reduce the amount and variety of available wood.
What describes an economic impact of a loss of biodiversity among fish species?
The fishing industry supports fewer workers than it used to.
What is genetic biodiversity?
The variation of traits within a species
A farmer notices a decrease in the local soil's ability to promote plant growth. Which statement explains how a change in biodiversity could have caused this change in soil quality?
There are fewer species of organisms living in the soil, so there is less nutrient cycling and soil aeration.
What is an example of genetic biodiversity within a species?
There are many different breeds of dogs.
A loss of biodiversity of plants would reduce overall plant growth due to species loss. How could this biodiversity loss affect global climate?
There would be fewer plants to sequester carbon as sugar, increasing atmospheric carbon.
What are examples of provisioning services provided by an ecosystem?
Timber Natural gas Food
Which ecosystem is more diverse: a tropical forest ecosystem or a tundra ecosystem?
A tropical forest ecosystem, because it has greater diversity of species
What could reduce species diversity?
An invasive species is introduced into the ecosystem.
A rainforest is cut down and replaced with a palm oil plantation. How could this negatively impact humans?
Animal diversity would decrease, affecting hunting and tourism.
What statement about the impact of biodiversity loss is FALSE?
As biodiversity is lost, animals in ecosystems lose their homes, but humans are not affected.
The Sagrada Familia cathedral in Barcelona, Spain, is inspired by the idea of a forest. This is an example of a ______ ecosystem service.
Cultural
There are a wide variety of ecosystems on Earth — rainforests, coral reefs, deserts, and freshwater lakes, to name a few. This is an example of what type of biodiversity?
Ecosystem Biodiversity
What is an example of diversity of ecosystems?
Ecosystems in Madagascar include rainforests, dry forests, grasslands, mangrove forests, and coral reefs.
A food scientist is looking for wild strains of plants we grow for food as a new source of genes and traits that can cross-bred into crops. How are human effects on biodiversity likely to affect his work?
He will have a harder time finding new plants to breed because biodiversity is decreasing.
What is an ecosystem service that would positively impact farmers?
Higher rates of pollination by honeybees and other insects.
What statements about humans and biodiversity are TRUE?
Humans benefit from biodiversity as a source of food, medicine, and raw materials. Biodiverse ecosystems provide benefits to humans, like cleaning water or pollination of crops.
What accurately describes a benefit to humans from ecosystems with high biodiversity?
Many species of plants produce chemical compounds that could be used to treat disease.
An ecologist argues that marine ecosystems provide climate regulation services. Which statement best supports this argument?
Marine ecosystems store large amounts of carbon.
What statement BEST supports the argument that reducing biodiversity could affect medical treatment of humans?
Most of the top 150 drugs used in the United States are derived from natural sources.
What are ways that humans benefit from biodiversity in nature?
Protection from storms Pollination of food crops Discovery of medicines Recreational areas
There are numerous species and subspecies of coffee plants, which are grown in ecologically diverse environments. The unique characteristics of some coffee beans form the basis for local economies. In this example, which ecological services are provided by the biodiversity of coffee beans?
Provisional and cultural
The plant chemical quinine is found in the bark of cinchona, a rainforest tree. Quinine is used as a treatment for the disease malaria. Quinine is an example of which type of ecological service provided by biodiversity?
Provisioning
Wool comes from different types of sheep and from other species, such as rabbit, alpaca, and goat. Different types of wool provide different benefits to the manufacturers and users of wool products. This biodiversity of species most directly affects which ecological service?
Provisioning
70% of the plants containing chemicals useful for cancer treatment are found only in rainforests. What type of ecosystem service do these plants provide?
Provisioning Services
Humans could try to pollinate food crops by hand, but this would be expensive and time consuming. Natural pollinators, like bees, will do this work for free. Pollination is an example of what type of ecosystem service?
Regulating Services
What is species diversity?
The differences between species within an ecosystem
Suppose a single species goes extinct in an Arctic tundra ecosystem and another single species goes extinct in a tropical rainforest ecosystem. How will the extinctions affect the biodiversity of each ecosystem?
The extinctions will impact the biodiversity of the Arctic tundra ecosystem more than the biodiversity of the tropical rainforest ecosystem.
What is an example of biodiversity in an ecosystem?
Tropical forests are home to many different species.
If you were attempting to measure the species diversity in an area, what would you be measuring?
number of different types of organisms living in the area
What geographic areas would have the MOST species and ecological diversity?
temperate savanna that contains forest and grassland areas
