Chapter 8 Terms

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Biological Diversity or Biodiversity

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describes the variety of life across all levels of biological organization, including the diversity of species, their genes, their populations, and their communities. It is a concept as multifaceted as life itself, and biologists employ different working definitions according to their own aims and philosophies.

Front 2

What level of biodiversity is easiest to

visualize and most commonly used?

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Species Diversity

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Species

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a distinct type of organism, a set of individuals that uniquely share certain characteristics and can breed with one another and produce fertile offspring.

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Species Diversity

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a measure of the diversity within an ecological community that incorporates both species richness and the evenness of species' abundances.

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Species Richness

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simply the number of species present in a sample, community, or taxonomic group. Species richness is one component of the concept of species diversity, which also incorporates evenness, that is, the relative abundance of species.

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Evenness or Relative Abundance

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refers to how close in numbers each species in an environment is. Mathematically it is defined as a diversity index, a measure of biodiversity which quantifies how equal the community is numerically.

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Speciation

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the formation of new and distinct species in the course of evolution.

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Extinction

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the state or process of a species, family, or larger group being or becoming extinct (dying out, vanishing).

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Taxonomists

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classify species by their similarity into a hierarchy of categories meant to reflect evolutionary relationships.

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Every species is given a two-part Latin or Latinized scientific name denoting ___________ and ___________?

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Genus and Species

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Scientists denote _________ with a

third part of the scientific name?

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Subspecies

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Genetic Diversity

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is the total number of genetic characteristics in the genetic makeup of a species. It is distinguished from genetic variability, which describes the tendency of genetic characteristics to vary. Genetic diversity provides the raw material for adaptation to local conditions.

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Inbreeding Depression

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the reduced biological fitness in a given population as a result of inbreeding, or breeding of related individuals. Population biological fitness refers to its ability to survive and reproduce itself.

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Ecosystem Diversity

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refers to the variety of ecosystems in a given place. Within any broader landscape there is a mosaic of interconnected ecosystems. To conserve biodiversity, conservation at the landscape level is critical.

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Scientists have described about ______ species of plants, animals, and microorganisms. Estimates range between _____ and _____, with the most widely accepted estimate to be around ______.

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1.8 million,

3 million,

100 million,

14 million

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Latitudinal Diversity Gradient (LDG)

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the increase in species richness or biodiversity that occurs from the poles to the tropics. It is one of the most widely recognized patterns in ecology.

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Extirpation or Local Extinction

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the condition of a species (or other taxon) that ceases to exist in the chosen geographic area of study, though it still exists elsewhere. Local extinctions are contrasted with global extinctions. Extirpation is an erosive process that can, over time, lead to extinction.

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Background Extinction Rate

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also known as 'normal extinction rate', refers to the standard rate of extinction in earth's geological and biological history before humans became a primary contributor to extinctions.

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Mass Extinction

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is a relatively sudden, global decrease in the diversity of life forms.

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To be a mass extinction,

the following must occur:

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Extinctions occur all over the world. A large number of species go extinct.

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Quaternary Period

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is the current and most recent of the three periods of the Cenozoic Era in the geologic time scale of the International Commission on Stratigraphy (ICS). It follows the Neogene Period and spans from 2.588 +/- 0.005 million years ago to the present.

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At the end of the Ordovician, Devonian, Permian, Triassic, and Cretaceous periods, _____ of the world's species appear to have gone extinct.

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50-95%

Front 23

Today's ongoing mass extinction is

different in what two primary respects?

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1) We are causing it, and

2) We will suffer as a result

Front 24

Red List

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is a listing of animals threatened with extinction. It includes more than 6,000 animal species known to be at risk. The International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) maintains the Red List.

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Living Planet Index

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is an indicator of the state of global biological diversity, based on trends in vertebrate populations of species from around the world.

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Habitat Fragmentation

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is the process by which habitat loss results in the division of large, continuous habitats into smaller, more isolated remnants.

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Ecosystem Services

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are the benefits provided by ecosystems that contribute to making human life both possible and worth living.

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Ecosystem Engineers

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is an organism that modifies, creates or destroys habitat and directly or indirectly modulates the availability of resources to other species, causing physical state changes in biotic or abiotic materials.

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Food Security

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the state of having reliable access to a sufficient quantity of affordable, nutritious food.

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Ecotourism

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tourism directed toward exotic, often threatened, natural environments, especially to support conservation efforts and observe wildlife.

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Biophilia

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a hypothesis that suggests there is an instinctive bond between human beings and other living systems. Edward O. Wilson introduced and popularized the hypothesis in his book, Biophilia (1984). He defines biophilia as "the urge to affiliate with other forms of life".

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Conservation Biology

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is the scientific study of nature and of Earth's biodiversity with the aim of protecting species, their habitats, and ecosystems from excessive rates of extinction and the erosion of biotic interactions.

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Conservation Geneticists

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is an interdisciplinary science that aims to apply genetic methods to the conservation and restoration of biodiversity. Researchers involved in conservation genetics come from a variety of fields including population genetics, molecular ecology, biology, evolutionary biology, and systematics.

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Minimum Viable Population Size

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is an estimate of the number of individuals required for a high probability of survival of a population over a given period of time. A commonly used, but somewhat arbitrary definition is > 95% probability of persistence over 100 years.

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Endangered Species Act

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is one of the few dozens of United States environmental laws passed in the 1970s, and serves as the enacting legislation to carry out the provisions outlined in The Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES).

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Habitat Conservation Plans and

Safe Harbor Agreements are?

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arrangements that allow landowners to harm species in some ways if they improve habitat for them in others.

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Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES)

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protects endangered species by banning the international transport of their body parts. When nations enforce it, CITES can protect tigers and other rare species whose body parts are traded internationally.

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Convention on Biological Diversity

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this treaty embodies three goals: to conserve biodiversity, to use biodiversity in a sustainable manner, and to ensure the fair distribution of biodiversity's benefits.

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Captive Breeding

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is the process of breeding animals in controlled environments within well-defined settings, such as wildlife reserves, zoos and other commercial and noncommercial conservation facilities.

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Forensic Science or Forensics

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involves the scientific analysis of evidence to make an identification or answer a question relating to a crime or an accident.

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Umbrella Species

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are species selected for making conservation-related decisions, typically because protecting these species indirectly protects the many other species that make up the ecological community of its habitat. Species conservation can be subjective because it is hard to determine the status of many species.

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Flagship Species

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is a species selected to act as an ambassador, icon or symbol for a defined habitat, issue, campaign or environmental cause.

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Biodiversity Hotspots

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is a biogeographic region that is both a significant reservoir of biodiversity and is threatened with destruction. The term biodiversity hotspot specifically refers to 25 biologically rich areas around the world that have lost at least 70 percent of their original habitat.

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Endemic

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native or restricted to a certain country or area.

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Ecological Restoration

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is the practice of renewing and restoring degraded, damaged, or destroyed ecosystems and habitats in the environment by active human intervention and action.

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Community-based Conservation

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is a conservation movement that emerged in the 1980s through escalating protests and subsequent dialogue with local communities affected by international attempts to protect the biodiversity of the earth.