1 | Page
ECOL111 Questions and Correct Answers
What is biodiversity? Ans: Variability among organisms and the
ecological complexes they are part of. This includes diversity
between species, within species, and between ecosystems.
Why does biodiversity matter? Ans: - Ecosystem stability
- Key resources for humans
- Inspiration and quality of life
How do we track trends in biodiversity? Ans: Using the IUCN Red
list - this is the worlds most comprehensive database on animal
groups and other parts of ecosystems across the world. This
captures info about the distribution, population size, ecology, and
threats of ecosystems around the world.
What are the five major threats to biodiversity across terrestrial,
freshwater and marine environments? Ans: - Land use changes
- Exploitation
- Climate change
- Pollution
- Invasive species
Explain how land use changes act as a driver for loss of
biodiversity. Use an example. Ans: - Conversion of land cover
(deforestation, mining)
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, 2 | Page
- Changes in management (agricultural intensification)
- Changes in spatial configuration (habitat fragmentation)
New Zealand as an example
Prior to humans, most of NZ was forest, so when humans arrived,
through agriculture, intensive grazing, introduced plants etc there
was mass forest loss throughout the country.
Explain how exploitation acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity.
Use an example. Ans: Key exploited species are marine fish,
invertebrates, trees, tropical vertebrates. A large example of
exploitation is overfishing, where we are leading many species to
extinction and also causing shifts in size distribution due to
forcing this selection pressure of fish that are favourable due to
surviving against fishing.
Explain how climate change acts as a driver for loss of
biodiversity. Use an example. Ans: - Has impact on ecosystem
functioning (e.g bush fires causing wipeout of Australian galaxiids
due to sediment run off from fires)
-Impacts migration
-May threaten 1/6 of species globally, especially marine (warming
oceans, acidification)
Explain how pollution acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Ans:
-Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (burning fossil fuels etc)
mean that there is an increase in nutrients which change the
growth rates of plants etc in ecosystems, sometimes we don't want
these increases.
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
-Nitrogen-phosphorus fertiliser
-Microplastics (we don't know a lot about them as it is an emerging
threat)
Why do we look at the effects of pollution in relation to loss in
biodiversity in relation to how pollutants move through food webs
and rainfall? Ans: So we can see how it moves through
environments and which areas are threatened by accumulation of
pollutants.
Explain how invasive species act as a driver for loss of biodiversity.
Use an example. Ans: Invasive species disrupt ecological
functioning of natural ecosystems as they either out-compete or
prey on native species.
An example of invasive species causing loss in biodiversity is the
predation of rodents and cats on New Zealand's native birds.
How far can we go as scientists in terms of conservation of
biodiversity? Ans: As scientists we can say that 'this is what will
happen if nothing is done' about a situation, but it is up to
cultural, social, and economic context to decide what will happen
in terms of policy making.
Which factors underpin conservation status assessments of rare
ecosystems in Aotearoa? Ans: - Assessing key threats on
environments
- Collecting data from GIS tools on indigenous cover and protected
cover of environments
- Overlapping these data layers to form classifications
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 4 | Page
Which factors underpin conservation status assessments of
species in Aotearoa? Ans: - There is a rules based approach for
assessing extinction over three generations:
-population size
-trend
-precautionary approach
- There is an expert panels approach where experts get together
and make assessments - though there is also some public input -
and in around 3 days this assessment is made.
- They must undergo precautionary principal looking at the worst
case scenario
- Can include some taxa that aren't formally described (it can
sometimes take many years to get a name placed on a taxa
- Criteria relevant to Aotearoa (can be diseases, introduced
predators, species doing specific things, etc that are specific to us)
- There is no legal obligation to act on assessments/to make sure
that species don't go extinct - this is a weakness in this system
Which taxonomic groups contain the highest proportion of
threatened species in Aotearoa? What are the key threats to taxa
within these groups? Ans: Data deficiency is worst for
invertebrates, maybe around 50-60% of invertebrate species are
data deficient.
Key threats to invertebrates in Aotearoa include invasive species,
climate change, and land use change.
© 2025 All rights reserved
ECOL111 Questions and Correct Answers
What is biodiversity? Ans: Variability among organisms and the
ecological complexes they are part of. This includes diversity
between species, within species, and between ecosystems.
Why does biodiversity matter? Ans: - Ecosystem stability
- Key resources for humans
- Inspiration and quality of life
How do we track trends in biodiversity? Ans: Using the IUCN Red
list - this is the worlds most comprehensive database on animal
groups and other parts of ecosystems across the world. This
captures info about the distribution, population size, ecology, and
threats of ecosystems around the world.
What are the five major threats to biodiversity across terrestrial,
freshwater and marine environments? Ans: - Land use changes
- Exploitation
- Climate change
- Pollution
- Invasive species
Explain how land use changes act as a driver for loss of
biodiversity. Use an example. Ans: - Conversion of land cover
(deforestation, mining)
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 2 | Page
- Changes in management (agricultural intensification)
- Changes in spatial configuration (habitat fragmentation)
New Zealand as an example
Prior to humans, most of NZ was forest, so when humans arrived,
through agriculture, intensive grazing, introduced plants etc there
was mass forest loss throughout the country.
Explain how exploitation acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity.
Use an example. Ans: Key exploited species are marine fish,
invertebrates, trees, tropical vertebrates. A large example of
exploitation is overfishing, where we are leading many species to
extinction and also causing shifts in size distribution due to
forcing this selection pressure of fish that are favourable due to
surviving against fishing.
Explain how climate change acts as a driver for loss of
biodiversity. Use an example. Ans: - Has impact on ecosystem
functioning (e.g bush fires causing wipeout of Australian galaxiids
due to sediment run off from fires)
-Impacts migration
-May threaten 1/6 of species globally, especially marine (warming
oceans, acidification)
Explain how pollution acts as a driver for loss of biodiversity. Ans:
-Atmospheric deposition of nitrogen (burning fossil fuels etc)
mean that there is an increase in nutrients which change the
growth rates of plants etc in ecosystems, sometimes we don't want
these increases.
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 3 | Page
-Nitrogen-phosphorus fertiliser
-Microplastics (we don't know a lot about them as it is an emerging
threat)
Why do we look at the effects of pollution in relation to loss in
biodiversity in relation to how pollutants move through food webs
and rainfall? Ans: So we can see how it moves through
environments and which areas are threatened by accumulation of
pollutants.
Explain how invasive species act as a driver for loss of biodiversity.
Use an example. Ans: Invasive species disrupt ecological
functioning of natural ecosystems as they either out-compete or
prey on native species.
An example of invasive species causing loss in biodiversity is the
predation of rodents and cats on New Zealand's native birds.
How far can we go as scientists in terms of conservation of
biodiversity? Ans: As scientists we can say that 'this is what will
happen if nothing is done' about a situation, but it is up to
cultural, social, and economic context to decide what will happen
in terms of policy making.
Which factors underpin conservation status assessments of rare
ecosystems in Aotearoa? Ans: - Assessing key threats on
environments
- Collecting data from GIS tools on indigenous cover and protected
cover of environments
- Overlapping these data layers to form classifications
© 2025 All rights reserved
, 4 | Page
Which factors underpin conservation status assessments of
species in Aotearoa? Ans: - There is a rules based approach for
assessing extinction over three generations:
-population size
-trend
-precautionary approach
- There is an expert panels approach where experts get together
and make assessments - though there is also some public input -
and in around 3 days this assessment is made.
- They must undergo precautionary principal looking at the worst
case scenario
- Can include some taxa that aren't formally described (it can
sometimes take many years to get a name placed on a taxa
- Criteria relevant to Aotearoa (can be diseases, introduced
predators, species doing specific things, etc that are specific to us)
- There is no legal obligation to act on assessments/to make sure
that species don't go extinct - this is a weakness in this system
Which taxonomic groups contain the highest proportion of
threatened species in Aotearoa? What are the key threats to taxa
within these groups? Ans: Data deficiency is worst for
invertebrates, maybe around 50-60% of invertebrate species are
data deficient.
Key threats to invertebrates in Aotearoa include invasive species,
climate change, and land use change.
© 2025 All rights reserved
