Biodiversity: count species, explain resilience
| English | Français |
|---|---|
| biodiversity/ˌbaɪəʊdaɪˈvɜːsɪti/ | biodiversité |
| species richness/ˈspiːsiːz ˈrɪtʃnəs/ | richesse spécifique |
What would explain this observation?
- A field with thousands of one crop can have fewer species than a small mixed meadow. Abundance and biodiversity 生物多样性 measure different things.
- Start with a prediction. State the quantities or features you would compare, then decide what evidence could distinguish two explanations.
Build the model
- Biodiversity is the variety of different species within an ecosystem or across Earth. A community with more alternative feeding and shelter relationships may depend less on any single species, supporting stability when one population changes. Human life relies on functioning ecosystems and their resources; many human activities reduce species variety.
- biodiversity: Variety of different species within an ecosystem or across Earth; species richness 物种丰富度: The number of different species recorded in a defined sample.
Which has greater recorded species richness?
A species count is one useful measure, but an incomplete survey misses organisms and does not describe every aspect of diversity. The specification’s stability account is a mechanism to explain rather than a guarantee that every diverse ecosystem resists every disturbance. Habitat condition, population sizes and interactions also matter.
Match each technical term to its precise meaning.
Use the definitions to distinguish related quantities and processes.
Choose evidence that can test it
- A species count is one useful measure, but an incomplete survey misses organisms and does not describe every aspect of diversity. The specification’s stability account is a mechanism to explain rather than a guarantee that every diverse ecosystem resists every disturbance. Habitat condition, population sizes and interactions also matter.
- Compare supplied species lists using equal area and effort. Separate number of species from total individuals, then explain how loss of one species might affect a stated network. Evaluate conservation proposals using habitat needs and monitoring evidence, without claiming that a short species list measures all global biodiversity.
Which two habits make the investigation or model in this case more defensible?
Compare supplied species lists using equal area and effort. Separate number of species from total individuals, then explain how loss of one species might affect a stated network. Evaluate conservation proposals using habitat needs and monitoring evidence, without claiming that a short species list measures all global biodiversity.
Work from known quantities
- State the known values and their units. Choose the relation because its assumptions fit this case, then rearrange before substitution.
- Known: site A has 80 individuals across 4 recorded species; site B has 60 individuals across 7 recorded species. B has greater recorded species variety despite fewer individuals. Difference in recorded richness = 7−4 = 3 species. This comparison is conditional on equally effective sampling.
Equal-effort surveys record 9 species at one site and 14 at another. Find the difference. Use the same sequence: known quantities → model → relation → substitution → unit and interpretation.
Equal-effort surveys record 9 species at one site and 14 at another. Find the difference.
The result is 5 species. Known: site A has 80 individuals across 4 recorded species; site B has 60 individuals across 7 recorded species. B has greater recorded species variety despite fewer individuals. Difference in recorded richness = 7−4 = 3 species. This comparison is conditional on equally effective sampling.
Check the conclusion and its limits
- A larger population of one species does not necessarily increase biodiversity. A missing species after one survey may reflect detection limits. Stability is supported by several interacting processes, so a species count alone cannot prove the cause of resilience.
- Return to the original observation. Explain what the result supports, which conditions it assumes, and one way to test a competing explanation.
Increasing the number of one crop automatically increases species richness. This claim is false: A larger population of one species does not necessarily increase biodiversity. A missing species after one survey may reflect detection limits. Stability is supported by several interacting processes, so a species count alone cannot prove the cause of resilience.
Biodiversity: count species, explain resilience: A species count is one useful measure, but an incomplete survey misses organisms and does not describe every aspect of diversity. The specification’s stability account is a mechanism to explain rather than a guarantee that every diverse ecosystem resists every disturbance. Habitat condition, population sizes and interactions also matter.
Increasing the number of one crop automatically increases species richness.
A larger population of one species does not necessarily increase biodiversity. A missing species after one survey may reflect detection limits. Stability is supported by several interacting processes, so a species count alone cannot prove the cause of resilience.
Variety of different species within an ecosystem or across Earth: write the technical term.
biodiversity means Variety of different species within an ecosystem or across Earth.