LT 1.4 The Importance of Biodiversity: Analyzing Trends in Ecosystems
In this assignment, you will explore why biodiversity is important for ecosystems and analyze data to identify trends related to biodiversity. Read each section carefully and answer the questions that follow. Use your knowledge of biology and evidence from the data provided to support your answers.
Group 1
The graph below shows how population size and genetic variation recover following a drop in both when an extreme event occurs in an ecosystem causing a mass die-off within the population.
Source 1.1 shows the population size and genetic variation within a population that experiences a mass die-off. The independent variable is the time, the dependent variable is the size of the population before and after the die-off and the amount of genetic variation within the gene pool of the population in this same time timeframe.
Question 1a
Based on this graph, does a population that has a significant drop in numbers recover both the population size and the genetic variation equally? What evidence from the graph supports your claim?
Group 2
Species biodiversity refers to the variety of species in an ecosystem. High biodiversity usually means an ecosystem is healthy and stable. Answer the following question based on your understanding of biodiversity and the graph below.
This graph shows the estimation of the thousands of genera (groups of related species) from the beginning of the Phanerozoic Eon (the most recent era of living things on earth) to today. It also shows the “Big 5” mass extinction events and five other minor extinction events during this timespan.
Question 2a
Does this graph support the idea that greater species diversity encourages more balanced (sustainable) ecosystems? What evidence do you have for your answer?
Group 3
Ecosystem diversity refers to the different types of ecosystems in a geographic area. This might include soil, water and land ecosystems that are linked together in the same area.
This graph shows the percentage of forest cover that exists in a range of human population density from 0 to 2000 people per square kilometer. The percentage drops from nearly 100% coverage to 20% as human population density increases within that range.
Question 3a
What do you predict will happen to ecosystem diversity as human population increases in density? What evidence would you cite from this graph to support your claim?
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