3. G7 Biodiversity (pg.10-11)

Define Biodiversity

Answer explanation

Biodiversity is the variety of living things in a given place.

Why should we study biodiversity?

Answer explanation

It is important to learn about the different species on our planet so we can understand how we all need each other. In order for all living things to be healthy on Earth, we need to understand the balance between species so we don’t throw the balance out of whack. For example, most consider snakes varmints that are often killed by humans. Snakes feed on rats, which means if we kill all of the snakes, we would have a growing rat population that could get out of control. Around 80% of all medicine is derived from natural sources. If we disrupt the balance of biodiversity by killing snakes, we could potentially affect the growth of important plants that are needed for medicines.

Which habitat exhibits the greatest biodiversity?

• A habitat with 15 different species with about 300 individuals each
• A habitat with 10 different species with about 75 individuals each
• A habitat with 4 different species with about 150 individuals each
• A habitat with only one species with about 2000 individual

Why is "A" less biodiverse than "B"?

• Image "A" is more biodiverse.

• Image "A" has many corn plants and this makes it have high "rich" biodiversity.

• Image "A" has a lot more plants than image "B"

• Even though "A" has a lot of corn plants they are all the same species and makes this a low "poor" biodiverse area.

Tropical regions, areas that are warm year-round, have the most biodiversity.

• True

• False

Currently sharks are on a rapid decline due to overfishing. If sharks go extinct will this affect the biodiversity of the ocean?

• No, sharks are not important.
• No, sharks will only affect the seal populations.
• Yes, it will disrupt the entire food chain in the ocean.
• Yes, but only a little.

Latitude gradients in diversity says that

• Species diversity decreases as we move from the equator to the poles

• Species diversity decreases as we move from the poles to the equator

• Species diversity remains same at the equator and the poles

• The temperate zone has the maximum diversity on earth.