Biodiversity

The location marked on the map indicates a biodiversity hotspot. What would scientists expect to find at this location?

• An ecosystem with very few plants and animals living in it.

• An ecosystem with a large variety of plants and animals that is threatened.

• An ecosystem that has experienced a disturbance that it cannot recover from.

• An ecosystem that has experienced a disruption in the flow of matter and energy through it.

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Coral reefs are found in coastal ecosystems. Coral reefs have a high biodiversity. Which statement is true about coral reefs?

• Matter and energy are not easily passed throughout a coral reef.

• Coral reefs usually contain only a few different types of fish and coral.

• Coral reefs would not be able to recover from an ecosystem disturbance.

• There are many different species of plants and animals found on a coral reef.

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Wetlands are natural parts of watershed systems. Wetlands provide benefits many benefits. Which of these is a way that wetlands directly benefit humans?

• provide nesting grounds for birds

• decrease erosion along shorelines

• reduce flooding in adjacent towns

• increase biodiversity near the ocean

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Which of these describes a way in which humans could increase biodiversity in a marine ecosystem?

• They could introduce new species to the ecosystem.

• They could limit fishing to only one kind of fish in the ecosystem.

• They could ban boating, snorkeling, and scuba diving in the ecosystem.

• They could restrict the amount of each type of fish or shellfish harvested from the ecosystem.

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Which of these characteristics is often used as a measure of an ecosystem’s health?

• the variety of species that live there

• the number of people who live there

• the amount of pollution that occurs there

• the types of activities that can be done there

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Which ecosystem most likely has the greatest biological diversity and therefore the highest sustainability?

• a tank that includes several goldfish

• a tundra region that has many penguins

• a pine tree in which three groups of birds live

• a rainforest that has many different types of plants and animals

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How does the biodiversity in an ecosystem relate to how quickly an ecosystem can recover from a disturbance?

• The number of species increases the ability of the ecosystem to recover from disturbance

• The number of species decreases the ability of an ecosystem to recover from the disturbance

• The number of species present in an ecosystem remains constant before and after a disturbance

• The number of species does not affect the time needed for an ecosystem to recover from a disturbance

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What can you tell about this population of king penguins and their icy Sandwich Island ecosystem from the photo? Choose two(2) that apply.

• There is low genetic diversity in this population of king penguins.

• It is likely to be one of the largest bird populations in the ecosystem.

• Not a lot of species diversity can be seen in this photo.

• A lot of species diversity is shown in this photo.

Answer explanation

The population of penguins is quite large; apart from vegetation in the background, penguins are the dominant species seen in the photo.

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An ecosystem with _____ biodiversity is better able to recover from a disturbance becaue the more biodiverse an ecosystem is, the _____ likely it is that some organisms will survive and continue to grow.

• high ; more

• high ; less

• low ; more

• low ; less

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This photo shows restoration efforts at a former open-pit mine. How will the restoration of this land most likely affect populations of organisms in the surrounding area?

• Biodiversity will likely increase.

• Population sizes will likely decrease.

• Stability will likely decrease.

• Disturbances will lkely increase.

Answer explanation

The restoration of a disturbed area might help existing species recover and new species to populate the surrounding area. All of this would result in increased biodiversity for the ecosystem.

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