BIOL378 - SARAS STUFF EXAM QUESTIONS AND
ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS GRADED A++
LATEST UPDATE
ecological extinction
reduction of species to such low abundance that, although it is still present in a
community, it no longer interacts significantly with other species
Ecosystem function
The physical, chemical and biological processes or attributes that contribute to the self-
maintenance of the ecosystem.
Sampling effect
more species that you have that increases chance of having helpful species in the
system
Facilitation
increased performance with other species, certain species will have increased
performance with the presence of other species
Insurance
species that may not seem important could be in the face of disruption/species loss
Complementarity
increased coverage of available niche space (niche differentiation) with more species
available to fill those niches, filling in all potential space
,Ecosystem resilience
ability of a system to bounce back and recover after a big event
Diversity - stability hypothesis
Higher species richness = improved productivity, greater ability to recover from
disturbance
Ecosystem resistance hypothesis (rivet)
Ability of system to absorb changes in species will decline with species loss, with
potential sudden and drastic consequences as some threshold is passed
Ecosystem redundancy hypothesis
Species within similar functional groups are more expendable in terms of ecosystem
function
Insurance hypothesis
High species richness - buffer against the disruption of function in response to future
environmental change
ecosystem functioning - conservation implications
initial extinctions lead to large functional loss; need to protect species most sensitive to
loss from disturbance
Nature's contributions to people
all the positive contributions, losses or detriments, that people obtain from nature
provisioning services
any type of benefit to people that can be extracted from nature, eg food, raw materials,
fresh water
regulating services
, the benefit provided by ecosystem processes that moderate natural phenomena eg
biological control, pollination, erosion control, carbon sequestration, air quality, flood
control
supporting services
Providing living spaces for plants or animals and maintaining a diversity of plants and
animals eg maintenance of genetic diversity, soil formation
cultural services
ecosystems provide cultural or aesthetic benefits to many people eg aesthetics,
recreation and mental health, tourism, inspiration for culture, art and religious value
cultural ecosystem services
A process and framework to incorporate cultural, genealogical, place-based, and
indigenous relationships in ecosystem service assessments
Collectors curve
each time you take a sample if you get a new species you go up by one on the y-axis,
the sooner you get equilibrium, good indicator of sampling habitat well enough to know
you have most taxa there
Cumulative sample size
represents the number of individuals classified.
Alpha diversity
Measured locally, at a single site, The count of unique species/taxa, Alpha diversity =
species richness, shannon and simpson index
Beta-diversity
ANSWERS WITH COMPLETE SOLUTIONS GRADED A++
LATEST UPDATE
ecological extinction
reduction of species to such low abundance that, although it is still present in a
community, it no longer interacts significantly with other species
Ecosystem function
The physical, chemical and biological processes or attributes that contribute to the self-
maintenance of the ecosystem.
Sampling effect
more species that you have that increases chance of having helpful species in the
system
Facilitation
increased performance with other species, certain species will have increased
performance with the presence of other species
Insurance
species that may not seem important could be in the face of disruption/species loss
Complementarity
increased coverage of available niche space (niche differentiation) with more species
available to fill those niches, filling in all potential space
,Ecosystem resilience
ability of a system to bounce back and recover after a big event
Diversity - stability hypothesis
Higher species richness = improved productivity, greater ability to recover from
disturbance
Ecosystem resistance hypothesis (rivet)
Ability of system to absorb changes in species will decline with species loss, with
potential sudden and drastic consequences as some threshold is passed
Ecosystem redundancy hypothesis
Species within similar functional groups are more expendable in terms of ecosystem
function
Insurance hypothesis
High species richness - buffer against the disruption of function in response to future
environmental change
ecosystem functioning - conservation implications
initial extinctions lead to large functional loss; need to protect species most sensitive to
loss from disturbance
Nature's contributions to people
all the positive contributions, losses or detriments, that people obtain from nature
provisioning services
any type of benefit to people that can be extracted from nature, eg food, raw materials,
fresh water
regulating services
, the benefit provided by ecosystem processes that moderate natural phenomena eg
biological control, pollination, erosion control, carbon sequestration, air quality, flood
control
supporting services
Providing living spaces for plants or animals and maintaining a diversity of plants and
animals eg maintenance of genetic diversity, soil formation
cultural services
ecosystems provide cultural or aesthetic benefits to many people eg aesthetics,
recreation and mental health, tourism, inspiration for culture, art and religious value
cultural ecosystem services
A process and framework to incorporate cultural, genealogical, place-based, and
indigenous relationships in ecosystem service assessments
Collectors curve
each time you take a sample if you get a new species you go up by one on the y-axis,
the sooner you get equilibrium, good indicator of sampling habitat well enough to know
you have most taxa there
Cumulative sample size
represents the number of individuals classified.
Alpha diversity
Measured locally, at a single site, The count of unique species/taxa, Alpha diversity =
species richness, shannon and simpson index
Beta-diversity
